A news article was posted about a man who was arrested in his trailer with meth. We made a joke about him being “proud” of that, while poking fun at his silly tattoo. Some people took great offense to this. It resulted in a backlash of racist comments, and people defending this guy’s tattoo, saying that “White Pride” is OK:
Look, Florida’s a very diverse place. The cool thing about living here is that self-proclaimed rednecks, overheated New Yorkers, French-speaking Haitians, and alligator wrestling natives are all in it together, and for the most part, WE ALL GET ALONG. This is cool.
So back to the argument. Why is it OK to say “black pride,” “gay pride,” etc. but it makes people uneasy when they hear “white pride?”
A redditor presented this argument in a clear, concise way, so here it is:
What White Nationalists Don’t Get
A common and seemingly reasonable argument for white pride or white nationalism is “why can’t I be proud of my culture?”
Well, you can. Always have been able to. We have Irish pride celebrations, we have German drinking festivals, we have Serbian food festivals. Any European culture you can think of has multiple organizations in North America dedicated to taking pride in their heritage and NO ONE gives them shit for it.
But, you see, when you start talking “white pride”, that’s not a culture. That’s a skin colour. There is no white culture, never was. There is no pan-European culture, never was. Europe is a continent, not a culture or ethnicity.
Now, some of you are probably about to go “But wait! Black pride! How is that okay?” Well, easy. Go find a black person and ask them if their ancestors were slaves. When you find one who says “yes”, proceed to ask them “what country in Africa were your ancestors from?” Do you know what their answer will probably be? “I don’t know.” This is because their culture was taken from them. It was beaten out of them. They were enslaved, Christianized, and then white washed. The one unifying feature they have as a people is that history of slavery and that history of being black. They can’t have Liberian pride, or Congolese pride, or “insert African country” pride because they have no fucking idea where their ancestors came from other than the broad region of West Africa.
Meanwhile us white people can often trace our ancestors to specific cities and regions. I can trace my mother’s maiden name to a single fucking village in Ireland. I know where I came from. I don’t have white culture, I have Irish culture.
So that’s why white pride makes you an asshole but black pride actually makes sense.
Also, here’s a quote from the late George Carlin that sums things up nicely too:
“Pride should be reserved for something you achieve or obtain on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth. Being Irish isn’t a skill… it’s a fucking genetic accident. You wouldn’t say I’m proud to be 5’11”; I’m proud to have a pre-disposition for colon cancer.”
