Not talking about "the rumor" isn't going to make it go away.
No one really uses the term "whitey" anymore. Except for rumor mongers and a diarist trying to make a point, albeit maybe not as well as I'd hoped. Divisiveness is not intended. The term is used here as a cliche. Thanks to Marketgeek for helping me work out what is, hopefully, a better intro.
Where do I start? There are so many things to say - obvious and maybe not so obvious.
Here's the thing: Black people (and other minorities) often bitch about Whitey. It's catharsis for a group that has loved and sacrificed a great deal for this country, but which has also experienced terror in this country. We all know the history of this country, and blacks have earned their bitching rights. So have Native Americans and many other groups. To paraphrase one writer, blacks are patriotic, they've just learned to sleep with one eye open.
Railing against Whitey is not directed toward whites as individuals. For the most part - and this really needs to be understood - railing against Whitey is a way of expressing outrage at a SYSTEM that does not respect or even necessarily recognize all of its citizens, particularly those who are on the lower economic scale. Even Malcolm X recognized the folly of confusing the system with individuals:
"I am not a racist.... In the past I permitted myself to be used...to make sweeping indictments of all white people, the entire white race and these generalizations have caused injuries to some whites who perhaps did not deserve to be hurt. Because of the spiritual enlightenment which I was blessed to receive as a result of my recent pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca, I no longer subscribe to sweeping indictments of any one race. I am now striving to live the life of a true...Muslim. I must repeat that I am not a racist nor do I subscribe to the tenants of racism. I can state in all sincerity that I wish nothing but freedom, justice and equality, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all people."
In this country, railing against the system without railing against white people is complicated by the fact that the majority white population is in charge of the system. I know many whites don't feel "in charge", but it is what it is. Majority rules.
Some say that talking against Whitey is racist. If you punch me in the face and then hold me down with your foot on my neck, is it racist if I call you an SOB? Speaking out against that which has done you harm is not racist, it's human. Can speaking out against the system turn into something less noble and more insidious? Absolutely. But in spite of some who may veer into injurious overtones when railing against Whitey, speaking out against an unfair and unjust SYSTEM is never, in and of itself, racist. Because Whitey is a corporate/prison/industrial/governmental sytem that makes life for the working class more difficult, no matter skin color.
Working and middle-class whites, and anyone else who has been left behind by the system, should be railing against Whitey, too.
On the radio the other day I heard someone say that one cannot have political power if one does not have economic power. That person can have political influence, but not political power. So where does that leave the millions of us who are not economically powerful? Railing away at Whitey is not a substitute for active, appropriate, effective strategies to improve conditions, both as indivuals and as a group - but, damn, it sure does feel good sometimes!
After what we've seen happen in this country over the past 8+ years, I would say that it's time for all of us to rail against Whitey. And to make sure that we haven't started thinking like Whitey and being complicit in Whitey's policies. Because let's face it - too many of us have dropped the ball and were looking the other way while this country was being led over a cliff.
The good news: we've had a rude awakening, but WE'RE BACK! Regardless of who wins in November, I think we recognize, more than ever, our responsiblities as citizens to get involved and take ACTION.
Much of this website is devoted to pointing out not only what Whitey has done and continues to do, but also what we can do to take back OUR COUNTRY.
It's what women did in the early part of the century to obtain the right to vote.
It's what blacks did mid-century to demand equal rights under the law.
It's what immigrant farm workers have done over and over to ensure that they are treated with just a little dignity.
It's what people in a thousand communities across this country do every day to make their communities just a little bit better.
As long as we have a government that thinks it can waste our resources with impunity, I say rail away!
As long as we have a government that thinks it's ok to wage pre-emptive war on a country that, in real terms, poses no threat to us - rail away!
As long as we have a government that continues to collect tax money from us while doing very little to come up with effective solutions to the pressing issues of the day - energy policy, social security, health care, education, deteriorating infrastructure, wage stagnation (how long are we going to talk about the same things!) - rail away!
Rail away and call
Rail away and write
Rail away and email
Rail away and join a community group
Rail away, rail away, rail away!