The whole concept of whiteness is the destruction of unique cultural traditions in favor of class collaboration. There is Irish, Italian, Spanish, Germanic culture, etc. But they all get enveloped in the cultural cemetery that is “whiteness,” at least that’s the case in the US. You can see the same process starting within sects of the Latin American community as well.
IMO we really ought to be encouraging white people to decolonize and re-engage with their ancestry in a way that reveals and teaches them how their cultures were devoured in service of the ruling class. Because the fascists are doing just that, but misleading them along the way (which is one reason I think there is such a heavy emphasis on Norse mythology in a lot of white nationalist symbology; white people are ignorantly reclaiming lost culture in service of capitalism rather than opposition to it).
Excellent points. I’ve never really thought of the expansion of whiteness as a process of class collaboration but it makes sense.
I have an inkling that even Irish and Southern Europeans have only been considered white for 20–30 years or so. I vaguely recall reading this somewhere but I forget where. I’m thinking Tariq Ali, but I could be wildly incorrect. From experience, though, even within my lifetime, I remember hearing anti-Irish jokes in school. Either way, hard to get Ireland and Greece to tank their economies in favour of Germany, France and Britain unless the decision-makers feel some kinship with their counterparts in the rest of the EU.
The whole concept of whiteness is the destruction of unique cultural traditions in favor of class collaboration. There is Irish, Italian, Spanish, Germanic culture, etc. But they all get enveloped in the cultural cemetery that is “whiteness,” at least that’s the case in the US. You can see the same process starting within sects of the Latin American community as well.
IMO we really ought to be encouraging white people to decolonize and re-engage with their ancestry in a way that reveals and teaches them how their cultures were devoured in service of the ruling class. Because the fascists are doing just that, but misleading them along the way (which is one reason I think there is such a heavy emphasis on Norse mythology in a lot of white nationalist symbology; white people are ignorantly reclaiming lost culture in service of capitalism rather than opposition to it).
Excellent points. I’ve never really thought of the expansion of whiteness as a process of class collaboration but it makes sense.
I have an inkling that even Irish and Southern Europeans have only been considered white for 20–30 years or so. I vaguely recall reading this somewhere but I forget where. I’m thinking Tariq Ali, but I could be wildly incorrect. From experience, though, even within my lifetime, I remember hearing anti-Irish jokes in school. Either way, hard to get Ireland and Greece to tank their economies in favour of Germany, France and Britain unless the decision-makers feel some kinship with their counterparts in the rest of the EU.