One cannot be a vocal advocate of Southern heritage and culture without encountering the topic of race on a regular basis. It shouldn’t be that way but it is, so it must be confronted head-on.
I have been reading recently about the concept of White Privilege – what our accusers define as an unearned, unmerited advantage that Whites have over other races. To that I answer, “Guilty As Charged.”
Let’s look at this White Privilege that gives me an “unfair” advantage over others:
I have the privilege of being raised by both my mother and my father in a stable home where drugs, alcohol, and crime never intruded.
I have the privilege of being raised by parents who understood the value of education and insisted that I and my siblings take learning seriously.
I have the privilege of being taught at an early age that making sacrifices today in order to have something better tomorrow is one of the keys to progress.
I have the privilege of having grandparents who taught my parents these same values – and generation upon generation before them.
I have the privilege of learning about the Western European culture – the music, the literature, the science, the art – that has enriched the lives of all who care to take advantage of that culture; freely bestowed on all who care for the finer things of mankind.
I have the privilege of having a strong work ethic instilled in me from a young age.
I have the privilege of being raised in a Christian home and taught about the wholly undeserved love of a God who would sacrifice His only Son to pay for my sins.
All these privileges were given to me, completely undeserved and unearned. They were given to me by the generations that came before me because they put the best interest of their children above all else. If other races or other groups of people choose to live for their own immediate gratification with little thought for the fate of their descendants, then that is their choice. It is my fondest hope – and expectation – that one day my grandchildren, when accused of White Privilege, will proudly proclaim “Guilty As Charged”.
AMEN!
May all of our children and grandchildren be left such a lasting legacy as this.
Did you ever stop to consider that the racism of the past has contributed to some of the ills that many minorities face today and had that racism produced by whites not occurred, these problems would not exist to the extent they exist today?
But then again, look where I am posting this…A very White blog…honoring the Confederacy that was founded on the Cornerstone of white supremacy!!
You make a good point: European-derived cultures tend to make their own luck, and the price of that luck is one that many people would not want to pay. It takes a lot more to organize an orchestra and write a symphony than to bash out twee-rock or techno, and creating a civilization with rule by law is inconvenient to say the least. Yet the long-term benefits are the best. I can’t feel guilty for inheriting these things either, nor for pointing out that diversity doesn’t work, and that North America as a European colony is a place where European-derived peoples feel the most comfortable. It’s nonsense to apologize for reality; we can condemn hateful and evil acts without losing sight of common sense.
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Billy Yank: Yes, our racist society has prevented minorities from reaching the heights of achievements that otherwise would have been theirs if they had remained in such places as Africa and Latin America.
Oh, and by the way Billy, I wonder how we in the South (black and white) would be doing today if your ancestors hadn’t launched a war of aggression against us, wrecked our economy, plundered what was left, and imposed economic domination which has lasted to this day. None of this has been much of a privilege.
If my history is correct racism in America has not been along color lines. I remember reading about Italian Gettos and Irish Gettos, and Jewish Gettos. I remember seeing signs that said ” Dogs and Irish keep off the grass”. I remember ” No Irish or Italians need apply”. With hard sacrifice and the hard work of parents described in the article, these peoples have become mainstream Americans and are now the ones being described as RACIST. I guess if you refuse to take responsibility for your own life and that of your children and wait for somone else to take care of you , you inherit the right to call other people RACIST.
Billy Yank; what ills? I would have thought that even those completely blind to all that is around them would have realized after the 2008 presidential election that they are out of ammunition. Although it was wrong for Africans to have been brought in horrible conditions on slave ships, most of which were owned and operated by New Englanders, their descendants live in much better conditions than the descendants of those who remained. Naturally, I do agree that if the ills of which you write existed today, it would come from racism produced by whites. Speaking of which, did you know that the Klu Klux Klan was started in Ohio? Also, Virginia and Georgia outlawed slavery the 1600’s, though their bans were overturned by the British government. Of the thirteen original states, all slaveholding, many Northern ones had outlawed slavery by 1861. Unfortunately, some also outlawed the slaves themselves. Instead of being given their freedom, they were sold to the South, and because of their race they were not allowed to return to those states. In other parts of the North, people like Ulysses S. Grant were allowed to keep slaves several years longer than were their Southern counterparts.
Aside from the many instances of racially motivated Northern cruelty, there was prejudice in the South, although it was brought about by Reconstruction and thus never became as strongly rooted a tradition as in the North. Remember, Reconstruction was a period defined by Yankee usurpation of the rights of Southerners who had supported the Confederacy with the intent of destroying the Southern culture and causing complete, vindictive subjugation. Former slaves, if sympathetic to the Union’s cause, might be given political power to gain support for the carpetbaggers and to humiliate their former masters. While nothing excuses racial discrimination, it was your people who drove mine to it, and without them, it would not have occurred. We in the South no longer condone this prejudice, and wonder when you will let go of yours against us.
Finally, you say that the Confederate Colonel is “a very white blog”. This is strange to me, as you have no way of knowing what most of its readers look like. Why do our greatest accusers of racism always see things in color? As a Southerner, I judge by morals. I also object to the notion that the Confederacy was “founded on cornerstone of white supremacy”. Please refrain from making impolite comments regarding my ancestors and writing about political or cultural entities of which you clearly know nothing.
Very well said. I too am very privileged – and thankful.
I agree Col we are Blessed to have been born in the USA, the South and to a God Fearing Family!
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This is possibly the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read…
I came across this blog by accident and have to register my astonishment that this sort of attitude actually still exists in America.
A few flaws I would like to point out:
By listing each of the above attributes as characteristics unique to the concept of “white privilege,” you seem to be suggesting that these attributes (e.g. stable family, strong work ethic) are possessed only by white people. Having been fortunate enough to have been raised among diverse family and friends, I can’t count the number of white families I have known who do not fulfill the above “standards,” nor the number of non-white families who do.
I congratulate you on having been raised in what seems to be a stable and well-off atmosphere, but I also suggest that this has less to do with the inherent qualities of your race than it does with the arbitrary circumstances of your coincidentally white family.
I also can’t help but take offense at your suggestion of the superiority of Western European Culture. Certainly I think Europe contributed many, many great things to the world, but it was not at all alone. If you value education as much as you claim, you might have learned about the scientific and artistic contributions of cultures all across the globe. Certain ancient South-American cultures, for example, are credited with mathematical operations that exceeded those of their European counterparts at the time. (Might I also point out that Western European culture is also credited with many glaring mistakes. Columbus, for instance, upon “discovering” America was under the impression that he had reached India.)
In short, the real attitude expressed in this blog seems to be not “white privilege” but “white supremacy,” which–in case anyone has forgotten–is the assumption that the white race is superior to all others. As a university student pursuing a degree in biology, I could refute this idea with any number of biological arguments, but I will content myself with simply naming this attitude for what it is: racism.
Elisabeth,
Thank you for writing. While we disagree on some points, your comments are well thought out and are aimed at making your point. Others, such as Kevin’s (just prior to yours) are just plain immature, pointless, and are the equivalent of an 8-year old taunting others on the playground. I normally wouldn’t approve a comment such as his, but did in this case just as a contrast to yours.
Let me try to respond to your points as best I can. It is not my intent in this reply or in this blog to try to change anyone’s mind – that happens with time and experience. When I was in college, as you are now, my views were quite close to yours. That was in the early 1970’s. I wanted the world to be as I thought it should be, and that is a good thing as long as we are able to distinguish between our wishes for the world and the reality of the world.
First of all, let’s make sure that we are on the same page here. When we are talking about racial groups, we are talking in statistical terms – hard data, random samples, averages, bell curve distribution, etc. Once we are outside the realm of statistics, we are no longer talking about race, but about individuals. We can all come up with examples of individuals who are on either end of the curve and are exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. That’s interesting, but meaningless for this discussion.
You take offense at my “suggestion of superiority of Western European Culture”. I am not merely suggesting it, I am stating it as a fact. Cultures vary widely, and while other cultures certainly have their strong points and their great achievements, I have no doubt at all that when ranking the different cultures, Western European Culture comes out on top. That ranking, of course, varies depending upon what your values are and what you see as being good or bad. To that I would add that if one does not believe that his own culture is superior, then the right thing to do is to find the best culture and adopt that culture. That was what more-or-less happened in this country before multi-culturalism became official policy.
In your last paragraph you said that “white supremacy” was the real point of the blog. You also said that you could refute this with any number of arguments. To that point, I agree completely. By nearly every objective measurable criteria, the White race does NOT come out on top (close, but not on top). A bit of research (which you appear to have already done) will clearly show that, so “White Supremacy” is obviously not the point of this post or of this blog.
By the same token though, there are very significant measurable differences between the races, and anyone claiming otherwise is clearly not looking at facts. The fact that Whites do not come out on top refutes any “White Supremacy” arguments, so what is the point of this post? The point is that “White Privilege” is used as an excuse for the relatively poor performance in society of some other races. I am genuinely sorry that they are in such a situation, but that does not change the reality of that situation.
As for any ideas that I smugly sit on a hill tossing rocks at those below, I should point out that my actions say otherwise. In addition to my job as president of the software company that I founded in 1995, I am vice-president of a non-profit corporation that provides logistical support to missionaries working in Sierra Leone, West Africa. I have personally financed the construction of a classroom building there. Sierra Leone is hardly a White outpost of Western European Culture. I try to help others in any way that I can, but that does not mean that I close my eyes to the differences among groups of people.
Again, thank you for your thoughtful comments.
Dear Sirs,
Yours truly, of a mixed ancestral and cultural background, Dutch, overseas Chinese, Malay, and northern New Jerseyan, and born outside these united States, has had to cope with these, as well as voluntarily sampled, other cultures (and ideologies and religions), and had, in several aspects unfortunately, a quite egalitarian formal education in the New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.
The Celtic and Christian-based traditional Southern culture, both judging from this website, and put in practice by yours truly, has a nobility that is also very practical in these united States today, a code which, through self-esteem, humility and personal responsibility, encourages respect, kindness and generosity, to all.
Those of us from non-Southern backgrounds would do well, to recognize and adopt at least part of this unique culture.
Thank you.
A New Jersey Copperhead
I would hate to experience “white privilege” in South Africa these days.
Liberals….do they ever read….anything that isnt gubmint-stamped, professor-approved propaganda?
“May the sun always be on your face, and your home eventually amongst the diversity you worship.”