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[–] 93 points 9 months ago (6 children)

Part of being “white” is getting to decide who is “white.” This is only possible because “white” is a completely made up category. We shouldn’t even engage with the term.

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  • [–] 21 points 9 months ago (3 children)

    Fair point but it's so deeply rooted. Don't we have to engage with it to some extent in order to eliminate it?

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  • [–] 17 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    I’ll just let my comment above stand as an example of how I think it should be engaged with. You can recognize that it’s a fantasy people have without participating in the fantasy.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (1 child)

    It’s true that white is a made up term made to justify owning slaves and on that front it’s a meaningless way to group many different ethnicities. On the other hand as a white person I have to acknowledge that I am lumped in that group. I have privileges, and responsibilities because of it and there are social groups and spaces that are not for me. I can’t absolve myself of being white by saying white isn’t real.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago

    I agree. It’s not about absolution. It’s about breaking down a culturally constructed instrument of oppression by refusing to participate in it. I can’t tell the world to stop treating me better because they think I’m white, which I believe is part of your point. But we do what we can, when we can, with knowledge of what we can and can’t.

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