Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey

Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey                               7520  (740)

Saturday, April 28, 2007-1:45 P.M.

I got a bulletin in my "MySpace" box today from someone on my friends list named [NAME DELETED BY REQUEST].  Now, I have over 700 friends, many of whom I've met through comedy shows and some who have just surfed on to my page and thought I would be a good friend.  I'm not sure which one this guy is, but he is not someone I call friend in "real" life.  He posted this diatribe, and I thought I would share it.

Date: Apr 28, 2007 12:47 AM

Proud To Be White

Someone finally said it.

How many are actually paying attention to this?

There are African Americans, Mexican Americans,

Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Native Americans, etc.

And then there are just Americans.

You pass me on the street

and sneer in my direction.

You Call me "White boy," "Cracker," "Honkey,"

"Whitey," "Caveman" ..

And that's OK.

But when I call you, Nigger, Kike, Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner, Gook, or Chink ... You call me a racist.

You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you,

So why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?

You have the United Negro College Fund.

You have Martin Luther King Day.

You have Black History Month.

You have Cesar Chavez Day.

You Have Yom Hashoah

You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi

You have the NAACP.

You have BET.

If we had WET (White Entertainment Television) . We'd be racists.

If we had a White Pride Day ..

You would call us racists.

If we had White History Month

We'd be racists.

If we had any organization for only whites

to "advance" OUR lives

We'd be racists.

We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,

a Black Chamber of Commerce,

And then we just have the

plain Chamber of Commerce.

Wonder who pays for that?

If we had a college fund that only gave

white students scholarships

... You know we'd be racists.

There are over 60 openly proclaimed

Black Colleges in the US ,

Yet if there were "White colleges" ..

THAT would be a racist college.

In the Million Man March,

you believed that you were marching

For your race and rights.

If we marched for our race and rights,

You would call us racists.

You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you're Not afraid to announce it.

But when we announce our white pride ..

You call us racists.

You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us.

But, when a white police officer

Shoots a black gang member

or beats up a black drug-dealer running

From the law and posing a threat to society .

You call him a racist.

I am proud.

But, you call me a racist.

Why is it that only whites

can be racists?

There is nothing improper about this e-mail.

Let's see which of you are proud enough to send it on.

This is not a RACIST bulletin. I have nothing against any of you, but I am proud. Pass it along.

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Now, I thought I should respond, but after writing my response, I realized that there is probably precious little I could do to change this guy's mind.  He has some problem with black people, probably a bad experience early on, and that sort of conditioning is hard to overturn.

Despite that, I thought I made some pretty good points, so I'll share my response with you.  I hope you enjoy it.

Dear Ringmaster,

The problem with your logic is that white Americans do not identify themselves primarily as "white," we identify ourselves by national origin, ie "Italian-American," "Irish-American," et al.  Unless the individual is a complete mutt, in which case there is usually some American Indian floating around in the mix, which would not make them exclusively "white" anyway.

I have no problem with the institutions you list, the NAACP, black colleges and the like, because they are necessary social remedies to even the playing field for blacks in America who have never really socially recovered from slavery and the Jim Crow policies that followed.

And let's face it, being called "cracker" by a black person is WAY less hurtful than being called "nigger" by a white person.  There is a social inequity in the deliverer of the invective and the receiver that renders "cracker" light and meaningless.  "Nigger," however, is pushed downhill and has much more weight and causes much more emotional damage.

White people generally feel that race isn't even something they possess, it is a quality that only blacks, Latinos, Asians and others are imbued with.  You never hear discussions of "white-on-white" crimes, although they happen every day and are much more common than any other kind of crime.  Whites only use the term "white" when it is necessary to distinguish themselves from other races.

Any discussion of race, as you intend to start with this bulletin, must consider that our shared goal must be the acceptance, tolerance and equality of all races.  Unfortunately, for whites, this means the insistence that blacks assimilate into white culture, which is akin to asking Jews who survived the holocaust to speak German and eat schnitzel.

I believe in an America that is truly a melting pot and embraces Italians and Irish and Germans and Asians of all types, Puerto Ricans and Mexicans and Native Americans and yes, even African-Americans, Jamaicans and other ethnic groups that call themselves "black."  And I am no less proud of my Italian background in the face of Martin Luther King Day and BET and other "black" institutions.

You need to get over whatever negative feelings there are in you that prompted you to write this bulletin, or they will eat you alive.  America is always going to be a melange of different races, ethnic groups and religions, and the freedom of these peoples to worship, enjoy their national heritage and practice their customs is guaranteed by our Constitution, and you'll never change that.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get into my Japanese car, put on some blues and go get some Chinese food.

Ralph