Thoughts on being a Caucasian American

[SuitedSixes]

I'm white in America and I often wonder what my "culture" is. I'm not sure we really have one. Is it because we don't have anything that's ours, or is it because there is something "wrong" about White pride?

Is it because we, as a race, haven't been in this country that long in comparison to others? We really don't have a music that's ours. Rock and roll, maybe, but the influences of that are a mixture of things that we can't take credit for. My ex-wife is from Mexico. If I told her I hated mariachi music, it was an insult to her and her culture. If someone tells me that they hate rock, I figure they probably like rap. When was the last time you went out for American food? What was it? French fries? Not ours. Hamburger? Pizza?

Is it because being pro-white equates to being racist? In high school we had a Black Culture Club. There are "Historically Black Colleges" there is "BET." Substitute "white" into any of those any you have controversy. The single most hated group in this country is the KKK. Their methods are certainly wrong, but their underlying tenants are being pro-God and pro-white.

There is no name that causes us to go into a fury. Every other race has a demeaning name that can cause radio hosts to get fired. Call me "honky" or "cracker" and I'll laugh. The terms "redneck" or "white trash" are more economic monikers than racial. Call a group of black women "nappy headed-ho's" and you lose your job after being front page news for a week, call a white woman a "straight haired ho" and you may rile up a group of feminists, but most likely everyone will just think you're a chauvinist.

Have we been taught to be apologetic for being white? Is there a guilt that we are supposed to feel because our ancestors invaded a land that wasn't theirs, wiped out natural resources and forced the natives onto reservations, stole others from their homelands to come here and work in our fields and sweep our floors?

I don't know what the answers are, but I'm white and it's wierd.

[Kirstie Alley]

Degen's evil twin?

BTW,

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When was the last time you went out for American food? What was it? French fries? Not ours. Hamburger? Pizza?

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wtf?

[daryn]

you can still be white and have culture, although maybe it depends on how far removed you are from "the old country". my family still does a ton of traditional italian stuff and i could see myself continuing that trend if i end up with a similar girl.

[guids]

Meh, my take on it is that everyone in america is pretty much the same, like 90% of people, no matter what your race, religion, etc, are all pretty similar, and hold fairly similar views, its just that the only people that get any attention are the 10% of whack jobs that get imus fired, wear white hoods and burn crosses, etc, and these people implant just enough divide between people so that you feel the way you do enough to make a post on a message board about it, but otherwise dismiss most of it.

[gumpzilla]

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I'm white in America and I often wonder what my "culture" is. I'm not sure we really have one.

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I used to think this when I was younger. I think it's because I used to equate "culture" with things like opera, or old music, or bitchin' ruins. Since then, I've come to feel like America has a pretty distinctive culture. There are a lot of attitudes about things that I think are more typical of average Americans than average people of other countries. The one that comes to mind is a certain obsession with success (usually defined as financial success) and dominance.

As far as the racial side of the issue goes, I think a good chunk of the issue is that a lot of specific European parent cultures have been smashed together under the heading "white." It's my understanding that white being a catch-all for people of European descent is a fairly recent phenomenon, and if you go back even a hundred years different nationalities were viewed more as ethnicities. So it could be that the perceived lack of culture is simply because it's too vague (EDIT: and young) a group to have a catch-all culture developed over hundreds of years.

[Bond18]

Try living in another country for a while and you'll find you had culture you never realized. Its a good experience overall and gives you some perception to your race/nationality and what it means.

I agree though, that we whites have to be a hell of a lot more careful with what we say than everyone else. Consider it the trade off for being at a massive financial advantage in our country. Yea i know, it doesn't sound nice, but its true.

[turnipmonster]

there are a lot of region based cultural things in the US, like being a southerner, etc.

[guids]

I think it also has to do with the fact that a lot of white people have lame customs. I mean, Im italian, 2nd gen, we do a lot of italian things (columbus day parade, st. josephs day etc), and these are all fun. What are you english guys going to do? eat some bangers and mash? Wear some wooden shoes if you are dutch?

[Borodog]

Our culture is produced by incorporating the best parts of all cultures.

[prohornblower]

Country music isn't White-America??? That is our culture. The Scots-Irish who landed in Appalachia and were all about family and hard work. Things that made this country great.