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May 26, 2009
The precarious epistemological status of white people
Robert Jago asks if there is an "espistemic 'white' community"; a more interesting question than one might think. In other words, is there a community of "white people" who think of themselves as a community after the fashion of, say, black people or natives/aboriginals?
His suspicion is there isn't.
There are a couple competing black communities for damned sure. Maybe the most prominent out there says ‘we’re black’, if you want to be black you’ve got to be ignorant and like a lot of self-destructive crap, and if you don’t, then you’re not black.
But are there honest to god – ‘white people’? Some ‘in-group’ of pinkish human beings that says that if you don’t believe in some list of things, then you aren’t a whitey like them.
Setting aside a "white power" fringe of political extremists, I imagine few to none of those pinkish human beings think of themselves as "white people" (as opposed to thinking of themselves as "Irish" or "Italian" or as "Canadians" of no ethnic tribe in particular).
I believe I have a suggestion, nonetheless.
Despite our subject being a community defined in large part by its absence, I have a working definition to meet Jago's criteria: White people are people who cannot make the kinds of observations Jago does about "Hollywood Indian crap" or say things like "if you want to be black you’ve got to be ignorant and like a lot of self-destructive crap".
This is because all white people are "racists". As a matter of law, one might add "white people" are people who can be charged by a human rights commission for quoting the above sentiments. In this light, white people are a community identifiable not only by their absence but by their silence.
Though I gather white people can also be identified by their peculiar tastes...
Posted by Ghost of a flea at May 26, 2009 07:57 AM
Comments
White people have tended to be Christian, too, and/or have grown up in a Judeo-Christian-based society, which causes them to say and believe things that make them favourite targets of the human rights commissions.
Being white is bad enough but being white and Christian automatically makes you a colonialist occupier genocider racist crusader.
Posted by: Josephine ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.ghostofaflea.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 26, 2009 06:46 PM
Mea culpa.
Posted by: Josephine at May 26, 2009 06:48 PM
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