White Culture
I thought long and hard about what to blog about. I haven’t had the time to blog, nor have I had any ideas. I had just settled on ranting about how college destroys my creativity, when suddenly, inspiration struck.
As some of you may know, I spent this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, attending a conference with a few friends from school. It was a twelve hour car ride both ways. On the ride back, I happened to have the night shift. Luckily, I had a “copilot” to keep me company. My copilot is a good friend of mine and he was able to help me process some of the things we encountered during the conference. We engaged a lot of racial issues, and being a person of color, he was able to give me fresh perspectives that I had never thought of before. Here are some of the results of our conversation and my musings (as well as a few things discussed in my classes).
When asked about their culture, most white Americans will be confused. It seems that many Americans don’t really feel that they have a culture. I think this is partly because we live in a “melting pot” society. Most white Americans come from a variety of different cultural backgrounds, and as a result, have trouble identifying with a specific culture. For example, when my friend asked me about my heritage, I told him I was Dutch, German, and a multitude of other things. He asked if I was engaging my Dutch or German identity. Well, I was very confused, and said that I didn’t really identify with either. I had previously come to the conclusion that whites definitely have a “white culture,” but I had never thought of this before.
However, when whites don’t recognize that they have a specific culture, they view themselves as the norm. The way they act, think, sing, cook, form relationships, and so on becomes the standard, and anything else becomes abnormal or deviant. It’s simply the way we work as human beings. So when we, as white people, fail to recognize our own cultural identities, we almost subconsciously invalidate other cultures, which often coincides with other races.
But when we begin to explore our heritage and our culture, we begin to recognize that the way we think, act, and live might not be the standard. There might be other valid ways of life. Furthermore, it helps us to recognize the complex diversity within white culture. This then gives us the tools we need to help us engage racial diversity.
So my goal for myself is to explore my culture. This doesn’t have to be something difficult or complicated. It simply involves asking questions. Where do my family traditions come from? What kind of food do we eat? How does my heritage affect the way I think? And there are so many other questions to tackle. I’m excited for where this adventure will take me, what I will learn about myself, and what I will learn about others.
Since I think it’s relevant, I’ll leave you with a few pictures from my trip. These were taken at the Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Site.
As some of you may know, I spent this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, attending a conference with a few friends from school. It was a twelve hour car ride both ways. On the ride back, I happened to have the night shift. Luckily, I had a “copilot” to keep me company. My copilot is a good friend of mine and he was able to help me process some of the things we encountered during the conference. We engaged a lot of racial issues, and being a person of color, he was able to give me fresh perspectives that I had never thought of before. Here are some of the results of our conversation and my musings (as well as a few things discussed in my classes).
When asked about their culture, most white Americans will be confused. It seems that many Americans don’t really feel that they have a culture. I think this is partly because we live in a “melting pot” society. Most white Americans come from a variety of different cultural backgrounds, and as a result, have trouble identifying with a specific culture. For example, when my friend asked me about my heritage, I told him I was Dutch, German, and a multitude of other things. He asked if I was engaging my Dutch or German identity. Well, I was very confused, and said that I didn’t really identify with either. I had previously come to the conclusion that whites definitely have a “white culture,” but I had never thought of this before.
However, when whites don’t recognize that they have a specific culture, they view themselves as the norm. The way they act, think, sing, cook, form relationships, and so on becomes the standard, and anything else becomes abnormal or deviant. It’s simply the way we work as human beings. So when we, as white people, fail to recognize our own cultural identities, we almost subconsciously invalidate other cultures, which often coincides with other races.
But when we begin to explore our heritage and our culture, we begin to recognize that the way we think, act, and live might not be the standard. There might be other valid ways of life. Furthermore, it helps us to recognize the complex diversity within white culture. This then gives us the tools we need to help us engage racial diversity.
So my goal for myself is to explore my culture. This doesn’t have to be something difficult or complicated. It simply involves asking questions. Where do my family traditions come from? What kind of food do we eat? How does my heritage affect the way I think? And there are so many other questions to tackle. I’m excited for where this adventure will take me, what I will learn about myself, and what I will learn about others.
Since I think it’s relevant, I’ll leave you with a few pictures from my trip. These were taken at the Martin Luther King Jr. Historical Site.
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