renouncing whiteness

[Forstater, Mathew]

It is impossible not to benefit from being white in a white supremacist society.
You do not have to try to benefit from being white, and even if you try not to
benefit, you cannot be totally successful. It doesn't matter if you believe you
are white or not or whether you believe such a thing as 'race' exists.  If you
go into a bank for a loan, you do not have to wink at the lending officer and
whisper "hey, I'm white, give me a loan" or "give me a lower interest rate."
You have a better chance of getting a loan than an equally qualified African
American (for example) and a better chance of getting a lower interest rate than
an equally qualified African American. There are zillions more examples.

You can simultaneously:

1) deny the biological, etc., validity of racial categories;

2) be aware of the social reality of racism and race antagonism;

3) use your white privilege (if you are white) to further the interests of
people of color;

4) speak out against white supremacy

please add to this list

Mat

-----Original Message-----
From: Doug Henwood
To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
Sent: 11/22/00 11:48 AM
Subject: renouncing whiteness

How does the white race go about abolishing itself? I heard a story 
once about Ted Allen getting into a cab and having the driver address 
him in a conspiratorial, racist fashion as a fellow white person. 
Allen denied he is white. But whiteness isn't a matter of 
self-identification alone, is it? It's how you're treated throughout 
your life. What is to be done?

Doug