Kofi is a fake white man!
fakeKofi M. G. W. Opantiri,
Los Angeles, CA.
I am the eldest child of two boys and a girl born to an American-African father and a French-Canadian (white) mother. Born in New York City in 1949, the “one-drop” rule informed me early on that I was Negro and colored. Like millions of American-Africans, I became black in the late 1960s as well as Afro-American and African-American later on. Nowadays, I am black, American-African and African.
During a break at work one day, the conversation dwelt briefly on my being an American-African that looked white. At one point, with her infectious laugh, one of the ladies stated, “Awww, Kofi is just a fake white man.” I smile every time I think of that moment.
The photo is of me, my daughter, step-son and daughter-in-law.
Being a non-racist straight white man
Kenton Skiba,
Flagstaff, AZ
There is a stereotype put with being a straight white man that we are all racist. For the most part, I do believe it is true. I grew up in a small town with a white majority and a lot of those people really proved this stereotype. They made almost everything racist and it was hard to be around them. Because of this, I can understand the stereotype that is put onto white people. However, a stereotype does not and should not speak for everyone that it could apply to. Straight out of high school I joined the Army. There was so much diversity in the Army and because of that, I did not see much racism there. Everyone seemed to get along better and rather than hate on someone just because of their race, they all worked to get stuff done. That was the place that I felt more comfortable being in. I know there are a lot of people that are good people and aren’t terrible and that’s where I am most comfortable.
SOC215 at Northern Arizona University
White Guy on Journey Toward Justice
John Reiff,
Pelham, MA
Like most White folks, I was oblivious to my White privilege for a large part of my life, even though I believed racism was wrong. For the past 20 years I’ve been exploring the beliefs, attitudes, feelings and behaviors woven into my White identity, working to undo them in me and to find ways to act against racism in the systems I’m part of.
I’m a white man. The villain.
ERIC JAROCH,
Canby, OR
My wife is Puerto Rican and a former Director of Software Engineering. I’ve watched her struggle her whole career in a profession dominated by white men. I’m a recently retired government manager who tried to be involved in multiple diversity actions/events over the years. However, as a white male my opinion/voice was either trivialized or ignored. I was treated as the cause of all discrimination and told I should have no say in how to overcome our current challenges. I’ve listened to my wife’s experiences and watched my mother in law tell my wife for decades she needs to straighten her naturally curly hair to be more beautiful. I believe racism and other types of discrimination occur in all ethnic groups, but the message I consistently hear is that it’s only white men who are the problem.
Easy Acknowledging Privilege, Hard Surrendering It
Jason Snyder,
Staten Island, NY
As a middle aged white man, if I’m wearing the right costume and assume the right attitude, I can go just about anywhere and do just about anything without question. I get the benefit of the doubt by default, and most of the time I’m totally unconscious of it. I wouldn’t be happy at all if it were taken away.
Hatred hurts the hated and hater
Dan Creamer,
Sandpoint, ID.
I grew up in the Jim Crow South. Being white I always felt both guilty and angry about the way black people were treated. In the Marine Corps, I accepted a bottle of wine from a black Marine and drank from it without wiping off the bottle or my mouth and he remarked on it. We talked about race some and went our separate ways. Two weeks or so later that Marine saved my life by stepping in front of another black man wanting to shoot any white man. It shames me that I have lost touch with him…
Native American. White Man. Our Gold.
Berthetta Lynne Hill,
Kansas City, MO.
Rich white straight man who tries
Bill Thomas,
United Kingdom
I don’t know if it’s even ok to say this, but I am so tired about feeling embarrassed for the race I am part of.
I am doing everything I can to change and encourage others to change. I try to remember to refer to my colleague Maria as they rather than she, as they used to be known. I push myself to react no differently whether it’s a black man or white woman walking towards me down a London side street. I’ve stopped using “guys” as a non-gender-specific collective noun. And I push myself to find ways to raise the game for women at work who might otherwise get stuck a paygrade below me due to historic precedent.
But through all of that, I’m tired. I know that no-one ever accuses “all white men” of being the problem, but that’s how I subconsciously interpret things. When my wife highlights that the man will get the job instead of her (despite his lack of planning, and due to his over confidence), I can help but feel there’s something in there aimed at me. When white cops kill a black man and it makes the national news, I question whether the problem is with white people – would a black cop have done the same thing?!
I will keep trying, and keep pushing for change. I come from privilege, and I know that my worries are nothing compared to those in other races. But it’s not 100% plain sailing either.
The confederacy did not raise me.
Emily,
Philadelphia, PA.
I am a white American. My family is here because the Turkish government was committing genocide against Anatolian Greeks in the early 1920s. My grandmother lost her family and came to NY, and when Smyrna was burned she had no home to go back to.
The confederacy does not serve my family. To the white Christians we were not white enough to be allowed to assimilate, but at some point we did. My father was born less than white, and because of cultural shifts he became a white man. I was born in 1987 and have always enjoyed the privilege of his whiteness. I actively use language and context to disallow the idea that to be American is to be a middle class white person. I will never accept my country as being primarily for whites. This country is for everyone. Lest we forget.
More Than Just a White Male
Rylan A Brooks,
Mount Joy, PA
I have never been discriminated against in my life, based on my skin color and my gender. I have seen discrimination first hand on many occasions, once towards one of my best friends. The level of anger I felt was indescribable. I was raised in a household where everyone is equal, where no one person is better than another, and I greatly appreciate that. No one person should be faced with discrimination based on their skin color, based on what gender they assume, or their financial status. The fact that this is still rife in today’s society is completely unfathomable.
Ownership of historic racism helps heal
Pamela New,
Charlotte Amalie,
St Thomas, VI
From an upbringing in Apartheid South Africa where I became involved in the Struggle (so much less ‘skin in the game’ than my Black peers). Finally settling in the US Virgin Islands across the Atlantic, and with a similar race ratio. Post disaster capitalism in full-swing after our big hurricanes of 1995 and 2017. It’s still a white man’s world. I’ve worked hard to address my implicit bias, but still carry the mantle of collective white responsibility for what remains an unjust society based on melanin.
Difference between Phillando and me? Nothing.
Barry,
MN.
As a black man, who – though I hate the phrase, acts very “white”, I feel as though you have act a certain way to fit into society and get less harassed. I don’t act white on purpose, it’s just who I am; how I was raised. Nonetheless, this “act” shouldn’t have to be.
We all know the number 1 rule, don’t scare white people. When this happens, we die.
This bothers me. And, there is a small amount of guilt, because why am I not dead too? What made me so special to escape with a warning and my life.
Is it because I drive a nice car, wear business clothes, don’t have dreads? Because I’m middle class, don’t sound black-american, or some other litte thing. Is it because I have a white sounding name, and both work in a white rural area and live in a predominantly white suburb? Is it because my fiance is white and if people see us together then I must be “safe” one?
What makes my life worth more, than that of my brothers?
It is because I was a good little negro and didn’t scare the white man.
It is because I have to supress my pride and my identity, my fierceness, my swag, when I confront authority eye to eye, man to man.
I have to be a smiling non-threatening “friendly black” and they mostly leave me alone.
Sometimes I sick of it. I am black, and proud. “I am a man.” Stop killing us.
Black And White Together Always Better
Mike Magee,
Baton Rouge, LA
Being a 60 year old white man my live would not be as full and joyful without my black friends.
Taxi rejection opened white man’s eyes
Steven J. Scott
Los Angeles, CA
White Male Teacher Looking to Help
Newo Zoils,
Minneapolis, MN.
I understand that as a white male in America I have in many unconscious ways perpetuated racism. I and my family have also benefited from over hundreds of years of white privilege. This is a systemic problem in America that continues to be unresolved. I am a teacher and one can see racism continue to play out in the racial achievement gap. In education people are constantly trying to explain the achievement gap by pointing the finger at the students home life, and other factors out of the school’s control. It’s very easy as a teacher to do this. I think every white teacher, and every white person in America needs to take a long look at the history (and continued history of racism in America), and first acknowledge that it exists, and that if you are white you have benefited from being white. Racism isn’t about isolated cases about how individual white people grew up, or feel like they’ve been treated, or feel like they believe X,Y,and Z. If we look carefully we can see that racism is, and has been a huge problem in the United States and continues to be a huge problem.
I think after realizing this the only response that makes sense is to look at oneself and ask: How am I part of this problem? As a teacher I am constantly asking myself: How am I treating or thinking about my students of color differently? Am I? Are other people? How do people of color feel in my classroom? In my school? How can I do my absolute best to make sure I am equitably serving ALL of the students in my classroom? As a society I think we have to take this approach. We as white people, largely in power STILL in this country need to ask, how can our country equitably serve ALL people regardless of race? I think this is a continual process of growth and reflection. I know I am far from having any definitive answers or even understanding my own relationships with race, but I am interested in listening to people of color’s experience in America and striving to do what I can to equitably treat and serve all people.
Little brown girl, white man’s world
Beatriz Mallory
Newfoundland, PA
My father was one of the first black men to work at IBM in the late 50’s; my mother a Puerto Rican who migrated to NY to go to college. My father embedded this mantra in my head from a very age. I was a “little brown girl” in a world dominated by people we could never be. Thus, I had to be not just as good at everything as any white person could be — I had to be far better. This tenet was not lost on a growing mind experiencing integration unfold as IBM transferred us from city to city, but the constant pressure to be perfect were to ricochet through our family’s complex life, and still reverberate today.
