CNN’s John Blake published a fascinating article on white Americans’ position in society. While I found many of its points, like his use of Glenn Beck’s antics, to be stretches and some of them, like his use of extremists like James Edwards (who runs the white supremist blog thepoliticalcesspool), to be quite offensive, the piece raises some interesting questions. As a disclaimer on the article, I understand trying to cover all sides of the argument but Blake’s writing makes the opinions of the fringe white nationalists he interviewed seem more relevant than I think they actually are. Quite frankly I do not think that the majority of white Americans believe that they’re under attack due to their race, and I differ with John Blake in this regard.
Nonetheless, the article raises an interesting question on whiteness in America. Is America going to accept white ethnic pride (not in the sense of bigotry but in the way other ethnic groups have organized)? Multiculturalism is making huge strides in America, as the Blake article concludes. While minorities have long played an enormous role in shaping American culture from the periphery, they are now, more than ever, at the center. With Barack Obama in office, Sonia Sotomayor on the bench, and the ever-increasing diversity in Hollywood, American minority groups have come a long way since 1968. As the article points out, the face of America can no longer be assumed to be white (if in fact that assumption was ever valid), the diversity of our nation can thankfully no longer be swept aside because of white monopoly over positions of influence in society.
This growth in multiculturalism coupled with the prediction that Latinos will replace whites as the majority ethnic group in the US, leaves white Americans on the verge of being a minority for the first time since colonial days. My big questions in relation to this news are: will white Americans be allowed to mobilize as a race as the other minorities have? Will Caucasian American ethnic groups organize on college campuses and be accepted? Will there be continued growth in “Whiteness Studies?”
Harvard already has an Expos 20 course dedicated to the phenomena of being white in American society, and I would expect classes like this to continue to appear in American academia. Nonetheless, I am not sure if America is ready for Caucasian Americanism. White pride is so intertwined with white supremist movements, that I do not think that Americans (white, black, brown, ect) are ready for any serious and explicit Caucasian-centered organization and activity. Personally I am afraid that if I joined any kind of Caucasian American Organization or voiced white pride (not in terms of being better or against other groups but in terms of being proud of my ethnic heritage as a white American) I would be labeled as racist.
While many may write this issue off as extremists barking up reasons to revive “we speak English here so should you” xenophobia, the growth in academic interest in whiteness suggests that there may be something substantial in the white question. I’d really like to hear what people think about this, comment away!
Photocredit: Wikimedia Commons