So since the election, I’ve been hearing the same pseudo-racist whine from a lot of people that usually goes along with the tune “it ain’t easy being white”. Or some variation on that. People who say that make me want to slap the shit out of them. “Ain’t easy”? Just because a black guy is president? Oh, wait, because there hasn’t been a white boxing champion since…whenever? Come on. If you seriously believe that’s all there is to it, go rent a place in the ghetto. Go live there for awhile and talk to some people. When the only job your great grandpa had was working to barely put enough food on the table for his kids to live, so they could get stuck in the same cycle…and on and on, you’ll think differently about things. Especially when your college educated grandfather, who came out and got a great job working for bosses who really thought that job was a white man’s job and lived in an beautiful house that was worth something when your pappy or you inherited it. Even now, you’re still inheriting the product of racism. Just because you feel “shitty” that not every single president was the same color you are, or that stars in sports you casually watch aren’t white people doesn’t mean that you’re not still benefiting from centuries of prejudice.
Even if your white family was poor going back generations, they still had an advantage that black people didn’t have. If they would have taken a bath and saved up for a suit, they would have had more of an advantage in most parts of this country and in most situations when they applied for a job than a black candidate. Especially if it were one of the “good jobs”. We still have the lingering remnants of a caste system even today. There are still old white assholes in charge who don’t think black people make “good doctors” or “good lawyers”, even if the president happens to be one. Or “good programmers”, for that matter. So, it actually isn’t “tough to be a white guy”. It’s just not as easy as it was when a big chunk of the population was being denied the same rights as you or your ancestors had.
Anyway, it’s that passive aggressive racism that really pisses me off. With normal racists, I know they’re nuts, but with the passive aggressive kind, I know they’re just petty, ignorant, and self-centered. I have pity for people who have mental problems like most of the aggressive racists, and think they should be getting some help for what obviously is to me a symptom of a worse mental condition…but the passive aggressive ones need a slap upside the head because they should know better but don’t.