I recently had a discussion with a political correctness crowd that had the opinion that one is not allowed to talk bad about minorities. We must do all we can to not offend them and only highlight their positive aspects. Furthermore they should control the narrative about all stories about them, removing the chance for any justified criticism from a person that is not among the minority in question.
I know these people mean well. They are driven by honest compassion and trying to make the world better by healing past wounds and injustices. But I think that what they do is not only counterproductive. It is itself a new form of racism/sexism, ... .
The real privilege of white men is to not be defined by race/gender/ ... . A white man can be an intellectual, a manager, a worker, a redneck, an asshole, a gentleman, a criminal, a racist, ... in short anything he wants. Whiteness is a blank sheet, it is inherently meaningless. White people are simply defined by what they do.
This is not the case for the less privileged. These are defined by who they are, of course to varying degrees. Others expect them to behave in a certain way. And if the leave their confines they are met with immediate backlash.
In the past women had to stay home and care for the family. Nowadays, things have changed. Women must be strong, greedy and work all day. Choose career over family. Stay-home mums are now a problem, backwards and holding other women back.
But a man can still do whatever he wants. He can be successful in the job, but he can also decide to stay home and get much approval for this choice. Sexism still exists, and women are still the victims, because they are not a blank sheet that can be filled with whatever, there is a clear expectation, much more so than for men.
Furthermore, anyone is allowed to criticise white men. And this is not a weakness of whiteness, it is their biggest strength. Think about native Americans. Ohh these amazing people that are so attuned to nature. They are so kind and love animals.... Fuck that!
There are as many native assholes as there are white assholes. When you think that one is not allowed to say this because these are marginalised people and already suffer enough, then you are saying that you think they are too weak and fragile to face the real world. That they need special support. And not actual support, just a mental one. Because all we do is talk different about them. They are still factually marginalised.
Whites are not defined by their race. Everyone can talk shit about them. And that is their true strength, whiteness is not perceived as a race, it is really the 'absence' of race. If we want to give all people this power, then we need to stop thinking in terms of race, but treat everyone as individuals. Don't only judge whites by their actions, but all people. And that means that you accept the choices of others, and also tell an asshole that he is an asshole, also if that asshole happens to be black.
Or alternatively imagine you would be a minority and then others always put on their gloves when dealing with you. Not talk openly when you are in the room. Would you like being treated differently because of your race? Discrimination sucks, but the opposite of discrimination is still discrimination.
