After the flyers posted on campus last weekend that read “It’s okay to be white,” I’m reminded of an issue that seems to permeate and resonate with this country: white supremacy, which has been primarily specified in the false notion that multiculturalism means white exclusion.
Perhaps it was merely coincidental that racist vandalism happened to fall the morning before the dedication of the National Pan-Hellenic Council Plaza by the Divine Nine, historically African American fraternities and sororities, who unveiled the ongoing project. This event, like all events uplifting, celebrating and empowering multiculturalism, is a success every time, especially in a time now where white nationalists continue to make their voices heard, whether by ignorance, an attempt at a protest like the posting of flyers or by those from the highest offices of this nation.
Particularly, though, is how damaging the message was: It’s okay to be white. In an era where people are now combatting racism – whether on a macro or micro level – by holding people accountable for their actions, somehow accountability has been severely twisted to be a riot against white people. Accountability is not hate; likewise, multiculturalism is not white exclusionist, even if the primary benefactors of multiculturalism are people of color.
If white people feel excluded from the conversation or the celebration, I have a stark wake-up call that somebody may need to hear: It’s not always about you.
There always seems to be an issue when people within the majority (straight people, white people and/or men) are not the constant center of attention, especially in this country. When we celebrate women, queer people and/or people of color, it is not to say anything else except that we are celebrating these groups of people.
Why do we specifically celebrate minorities? Because in this country and most others – historically, politically and socially – minorities have been systematically oppressed by the powers invested within the majority. Now that we’re moving to a more progressive (and some would say “liberal”) outlook on the world, we are finally acknowledging how equality moves: forward and together.
Until about 50 years ago, minorities were not equal. Women, queer people and/or people of color were openly and legally discriminated against, especially people of color. While this still happens today, and I won’t pretend it doesn’t, racism has changed. Racism takes many forms, and while it may seem to many that racism has ended, racism still exists. Racism does not end with a law. Racism ends when society eradicates it out of our laws, our schools, our homes and throughout the general public, like on campus last weekend.
When America continues to reinstate white supremacy with soft phrases like “It’s okay to be white,” equality is not yet fully achieved. White people do not need to be the center of politics, the media or an event. Realistically, white people have historically and continuously dominated society as a whole, and while many are moving forward toward full equality, there are still those that decry their presence as a means of existential validation and as a means to assert that white people will not secede their power.
White supremacy has been the ongoing problem within our country, and I’m exhausted by the efforts to further oppress the voices and vast array of cultures that have always been and will continue to be the influence of American society.
To be clear, it is okay to be white, but to be frank, nobody ever said it wasn’t.
