The Time Has Come for White Americans to Make Their Ultimate Sacrifice.
Trevor Noah beautifully articulated the concept of social contracts recently in an unscripted reaction video to the hate crimes perpetrated by Amy Cooper and Derek Chauvin. But, there’s one specific contract, an ancient one dating back at least to 7th Century Arabia, that we honor as U.S. Americans, in particular, and throughout the world to varying degrees. As with most cultural and addictive brand habits, the U.S. is a primary exporter.
For people who describe themselves as white, asking the question today, “What can I do?” I have the answer. But, this is not a thought piece. This is an action piece. With only one action that everyone can take immediately, at home, to cause profound and lasting change. It is a simple one, but one that many may fear at first and likely won’t want to hear because it is by no means easy. (It is not the only thing to do — it is the only effective first thing to do.)
The contract U.S. Americans have been exercising requires us all (immigrants, too) to agree to and regularly reinforce a specific vocabulary. A shorthand for power and dominance. The most powerful word in American English is responsible for the murders of George Floyd, Brionna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Freddie Gray, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Malcolm, Martin and more than fifty million (50,000,000) Africans in the Middle Passage. The word is so powerful, that as Claudia Rankine explains it has transcended into a brand.
The word is, “white.”
European Americans must make their ‘ultimate sacrifice’ and stop wielding the brand of Whiteness — immediately because it alone is the word that murdered George Floyd. I can already hear the opposing arguments, “It’s just a word.” “It’s a description, that’s all.” But, as a descriptor, the word falls woefully short. If a European person is white, and an African is black, then an Asian person is what — yellow? If we say that calling a person “white” is normal, but today we can clearly see how calling an Asian person “yellow” is absurd, then what are we really saying when we cling to this framework?
Imagine for a moment that we are not humans but visitors on this planet, how does the word “white” describe a human being? Where in the biological makeup of human beings does Whiteness exist? How does it characterize who Europeans are or true skin color? (This last point becomes even more evident to anyone who’s taught colors to a child with crayons.) What does “white” say about a person’s heart, intelligence, work ethic, virtues, or origin?
If we’re honest, we realize it does none of these.
“In the West, white is typically associated with purity, innocence, and completion. It is considered to be the color of perfection. When depicting good vs evil, we all know what color represents goodness.” — Joel Wagner, UX Designer, from The Psychology of Design: The Color White in Marketing and Branding
But, as a brand, white out-performs all others. A brand is created when a word merges with a feeling, sentiment, or concept and transcends its own original meaning. This is the case with Whiteness. It has intentionally been collapsed with “goodness,” “purity,” “cleanliness,” “rightness,” “intelligence,” even “white weddings,” and being “better than” (just like any brand would be better than it’s competitors in some meaningful ways). However, to become a popular brand, it needs constant reinforcement and massive marketing. Massive.
To understand Whiteness’ vast power we can discuss it first in commercial terms beginning with a brand giant. In 2015, Apple spent an eye-popping $1.8 Billion dollars on advertising. When we think about Apple’s brand allegiance and the millions of adoring iPhone fans, we can see how scary this conversation really is. After years of personal investment into the cult of Apple, think of how incredulous (and potentially angry) a person would be if some random essay demanded they immediately surrender their iPhone.
Now, think of Whiteness.
What is the image that comes to mind when I say, “Jesus Christ?” Blonde hair, blue eyes, white robes? A person would not be wrong for these associations that have been so deeply ingrained in all of us. White Jesus may be to Whiteness what Micheal Jordan is to Nike. This constant reinforcement of brand through religion, textbooks, word of mouth (as I write this I realize that I opt into the notion of Whiteness whenever I refer to myself as Black), and “mainstream media” (movies, TV, radio, print) allows it to “outspend” all other brands.
Whiteness is so large and all-encompassing that it has become a nation unto itself — allowing anyone to claim it, but granting full citizenship to a very few. It’s a club that people are so embarrassed to belong to because of its benefits, that they publicly eschew their membership to it with suntans and self-deprecating humor about being “too white.” If Whiteness was a stock, it would be traded at $1M per share. It is the cornerstone of Manifest Destiny.
What is the purpose of the word “white” then? The function of the word “white” is to classify. Specifically, it was used to classify the enslaved and non-enslaved to more easily quell violent uprisings of indentured servants (The Servant’s Plot of 1663 is one example). We must then ask, “What purpose is that classification serving in 2020 when we are all supposedly free and equal?”
The word “white” elevates the bearer into the dichotomy of good vs. evil while degrading the other. This moral superiority was critical for the conflation of biblical teachings as justification for chattel enslavement — which depended upon Christianity as a primary tool to both enslave and keep Africans enchained. This false morality had a side benefit as well. It allowed others to guiltlessly participate in the oppression (think of the three other officers who helped murder George Floyd).
When a person in 2020 uses the word “white” to describe themselves, they are using the same word that their ancestors used to justify ownership of humans (after teaching themselves to believe Africans were inhuman). This word is a historical tool that was used to suppress, rape, dominate, murder, intimidate, and cling to power. The ultimate race card. The trump card, if you will.
Today, we can see how absurd it is. Abandoning this binary identification with Whiteness pulls the rug up from under the entire construct of White Supremacy, which depends on having its polar opposite, and loosens its grip on the individual psyche as well as the institutions that uphold it (such as “police” which emerged from slave patrols). The very word, “white,” calls race consciousness into being, provides a context for the hierarchy, and gives license to the inequity that inevitably follows. It’s impossible to classify yourself as ‘white’ without co-signing a system that has you as ‘better than.’
A warning.
The ego will stop many readers from seeing the truth in these statements even as the memory of George Floyd’s final pleas echoes in their minds. Those who benefit from the moniker (directly or indirectly) will say, this is reductive Pollyanna thinking or just plain wrong. They will say that I’m accusing them of creating the word “white,” that it doesn’t have “that” much power, or that, “this won’t make that much of a difference.” Or worse, that this is “another example of PC culture.” We know that labeling something “PC” is often an expeditious way of silencing dissent rather than listening to new perspectives. (It’s also part of a larger movement of deemphasizing the importance of language-that I will not address here.) Others will say that the real issue is of police brutality not what we call ourselves. What do the police “protect and serve” if not Whiteness? Removing the umbrella name brand will exclude many of these individual officers from their honorary membership in the club.
But, most of all, the biggest benefactors of whiteness will instinctively fear this idea because they actually believe that they are white — rather than simply a beneficiary of the title. Although ego (this book is the best I’ve read on the subject) itself is another conversation, it needs to be mentioned here that race is perhaps ego’s greatest disguise. There is no race consciousness without ego attachment. If a person’s identification is wrapped up with a racial construct (either side), who will they be without it? It is this fact that makes the challenge of separating race from identity so perilous. And yet, it must be done. (A trick to spotting ego is asking, “Is this about who I want to ‘be’ or ‘what’ I want to accomplish?”)
So, why should so-called white people give up something so valuable? This question is only for those who are sick and tired of being here — again. Those who feel that part of their souls died when George Floyd’s left his body, those who believe they have something better than shallow liberal ideals to offer their children when they look into their eyes to answer “what did you do?”, and those who are desperate to advance from this shameful state as a nation. The answer to the question is self-evident to these people — for they have had enough, too. Enough of the guilt and the embarrassment of ignorance. And, they stared into the remorseless eyes of his murderer, who was sworn to protect and serve their Whiteness, not George Floyd’s life.
Now, for the good news. There is no such thing as a “white person.”
It’s all made up. There is not now, there has never been, nor will there ever be, a white man or woman that walks this planet. Scientifically, Whiteness does not exist in the human race. Even albinos are not “pure” white like the background of this screen. It’s a construct: one that served so-called whites and all who identified with Whiteness (including African Americans) very well. The same is true for so-called Black people. What does exist are people from specific geographies and people with various shades of brown skin. That is humanity.
This is a call for so-called White-Americans to reclaim their roots for the sake of their own sanity and for healing in the U.S. to begin. The veneer has been stripped. We’re at a liberating place in history where those of German, Scottish, Irish, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Polish, English, and everywhere in between can claim their heritage.
For people asking the question, “What can I do?” I have an answer. It is a simple one, although it is by no means easy.
When newscasters use “white” and perpetuate the old caste system, European Americans should write a letter to the newsroom. When forms ask them to check that box (which is rarely if ever alphabetized and somehow always has “White” appearing on top), they should check “Other” and write-in “European American” in the space to the right. This for the sake of humanity.
European Americans should resist the trap everywhere — especially in their private conversations with other European Americans (i.e. “He was just some random white guy.”) This may seem like a lot to ask, but is it? If the next murder or tragic loss of life can be avoided by dropping one five-letter word from our collective vocabulary, wouldn’t it be worth making the attempt?
This is not an, “if everyone would just,” essay. This is believing that we are now at the point where, “everyone must,” act purposefully if we want to live in a free and thriving society. This is not a final step, nor a first step. I believe it is the only true next step to create an opening that is transformative and worthy of this moment. Then, as we witness our own minds form around this new possibility, we can watch what unfolds and emerges to fill this intentional void.
Will this change things tomorrow? No.
But, we’ll see things fundamentally change much sooner than if every “white” person marched on Washington today.
*Addendum:
I have received a lot of positive feedback from this writing (including personal pledges to stop using “white” to describe themselves). I’m grateful for it and yet I wish that the comments made it to the “Responses” below instead of my personal inbox. These comments would be helpful for others to see, read, and discuss. But, this may be the nature of such an extreme yet simple ask. People need time to process it — privately.
Also, I’ve heard any number of versions of, “Well, if you stop saying ‘white’ another word will take its place.” or “How will this stop X, Y, Z from happening?” My answer to this is simple. If it is agreed that:
- the word “white” has little function today and is a vestige of a racist era
- a person can have sufficient identity as an Italian, Swede, Russian, or European American without “white” (it does not define who they are)
- and the potential of changing this one aspect of one’s vocabulary is easy to do and could make the difference between life or death for another human being
— then, why not try it on as an experiment to see if it makes a difference for a week, a month, a year as a first step? (Many have said they will!)
I promise that it was this word that murdered George Floyd — or rather the system that this word, “white,” sets up and empowers with each utterance. U.S. American racism is layered, so the removal of this word is likely to unfold new possibilities for us all and that is the point. Removing it is the most important and real first step any European American can take. But, it will not be the last step as others will undoubtedly unfold from it. Who knows what we will all discover together when the veil is lifted and we can finally see each other more clearly without this smudged lens?
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