In order for the systems of racism to be dismantled, the
responsibility lies upon the shoulders of white people since we are the ones
who have created, benefitted and continue to benefit from these systems of
inequalities.
This is not a debate. White privilege exists and what is
more, this country, The United States of America, functions within a white
supremacist system. This is fact. Furthermore, when we debate the validity of
these proven facts, we negate the experience of people of color by denying the
realities that are, which only results in perpetuating white supremacy.
Note, if one is already experiencing resistance to the above
mentioned realities, check in with that resistance. Where is it coming from and
why? Don’t give into the defensiveness and keep reading.
It is time to move past denial and debate and enter
acceptance and action.
These writings will be a historical evaluation of the
origins of white supremacy in this country and they will each be tied back to
events taking place today. This is not white guilt for what has happened in the
past; rather, this is white study of the historical systems that were put in
place that are still alive today that perpetuate the systems of white
supremacy.
Before we begin, there are a couple of distinctions that
need to be made:
1.
Racism – is a system of power that only
white people can perpetuate because white people are in control of power in
this country.
2.
Privilege – benefit(s) that one does not
work for but are endowed with i.e. being born white, straight, male, physically
and mentally able, etc.
White supremacy is not only limited to ‘white power’ that is
often associated with skinheads, neo Nazis, the KKK and other racist groups
white power groups. White supremacy is an all-encompassing term that refers to
the white power that controls this country. Not all white people are racist and
subscribe to racist ideologies; however, all white people live under and
benefit from a white supremacist system because white people have been and
still are in power in this country.
If one is to dismantle systems of white supremacy, then one
must begin by looking at his or her privilege. Being white is a privilege in
this country. Being white does not mean that one is inherently racist; but one
must be aware of the privileges that come with simply being a white person.
If one is to dismantle systems, one must recognize that
white supremacy permeates every ‘system’ i.e. education, corrections, business,
housing, etc. within the United States. Dismantling racism must occur at every
level within the white supremacist system and none can be overlooked.
Today’s topic:
Manifest Destiny
During the 19th century as the colonists
continued to ‘settle’ the ‘new’ world, more and more white Europeans ventured
to the ‘new’ world. Today’s unpacking of langue will begin with analyzing the
word ‘settle’ which has two pertinent definitions: first, ‘to fix, resolve or
appoint definitely and conclusively’ and two, ‘to put in a desired state or
order’.
When we consciously, or knowingly make a choice, to refer to
the colonists as ‘settlers’, we are in turn saying that they were putting order
to the ‘new’ world. What is ironic about this term is that there was upheaval
when they arrived because they were displacing and murdering an entire
population of peoples. To expand, if we consider the connotation of ‘fixing’
that applies to ‘settle’, this suggests that the continent needed to be ‘fixed’
and that is what the white colonists were able to do. Words matter. History matters. Context
matters.
John O’Sullivan, a journalist of the time, is credited as
being one of the first to suggest a ‘divine’, meaning God given right, destiny for
the white European expansion of the ‘new’ world. Did O’Sullivan have a
conversation with the indigenous populations that already occupied those lands
and did they graciously turn over the land because they too agreed that O’Sullivan’s
God had decreed that they should be given the land?
Nope.
What is more, O’Sullivan further explained this divine
destiny to expand westward was so that a moral dignity and the salvation of man
would be established over the land. This sense of religious purpose must be
unpacked because ‘saving the heathens’ is a Christian notion that has been used
to justify imperialism and colonialism for generations throughout the world.
For many who believe in certain western religions, spreading
the word of God is an important tenant of their religious practice. The term ‘heathen’,
which is defined as ‘an individual of a people that do not acknowledge the God
of the Bible’ and because the indigenous populations that lived in the ‘new’
world did not believe in the God of the Bible, there were generally considered to
be heathens.
Taken further, in the Declaration of Independence, the
document that the colonists drafted citing the abuses of the British prince and
justifying their need to separate themselves from Great Britain, the last abuse
they referenced stated this:
He has excited domestic
insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of
our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
‘…merciless Indian
Savages’ is how the colonists of the times referred to Indigenous populations
of the land. ‘Savage’, when referring to a person, is defined as ‘uncivilized’.
What made the native populations ‘uncivilized’? The fact that they fought back
against imperialist foreign colonists that were murdering them, taking their
land and challenging their way of life? Or was it the fact that the indigenous
populations did not believe in the God of the Bible?
‘Savage’ was the white
European definition of the indigenous populations and should be noted as such.
So to continue with the
theme of white entitlement that has been discussed in past editions, let us
review the current levels of white entitlement the white European settlers
practiced: a). traveling to a foreign land uninvited and b). establishing
colonies by taking land away from indigenous peoples and c). then justifying
the further expansion into the already occupied lands after already displacing
thousands by using one’s own God all while dehumanizing the indigenous people ‘savage’
and ‘heathen’. The white Europeans
literally took this continent from indigenous populations and justified their
actions because they claimed their God had ordained their actions.
There was no thought
about the indigenous people and their lives, their lands, their cultures, their
histories, their customs or their Gods and Goddesses. If there had been, the
white Europeans would had left the ‘new’ world and traveled back to Europe. One
cannot rationalize that the white Europeans traded goods with the indigenous
populations and portioned off lands for them in good faith and brotherly love;
today, many Native Reservations are the poorest lands in the country with the
highest rates of addiction and alcoholism as well as the highest rates of
suicide. Not to mention, that the indigenous populations were dramatically
reduced due to disease, war, and genocide. These are not coincidences.
White entitlement began
hundreds of years before this country was ‘founded’ and it was white
entitlement that stole this land and ‘founded’ the United States of America. The
colonists did not stop until all of the northern American territories seeing as
some central American territories were acquired as well. Wars were literally
fought to take ownership and control over lands that were already occupied by
indigenous peoples because not surprisingly, indigenous people did not want to
give up these lands. White entitlement could not be satiated until all of the
territories had been acquired.
One more, important
distinction of white entitlement that needs to be addressed is the belief that ‘divine’
destiny which later was referred to as manifest destiny was behind the
justification for white Europeans to claim already occupied lands. To suggest
that one’s God had ordained the seizure of lands is the utmost example of
entitlement. For those that believe in God, they know not to question or
challenge Him for His word is law. And if God ordained something to be, well
then, it must be i.e. because God ordained the white Europeans to move west,
then they must obey God’s desire and move west.
Furthermore, the fact
that ‘God’s desires’ for the white man to expand further west is suspiciously
in line with the white ‘settlers’ desires to continue to expand. There is no
proof that God exists which in turn means that there is no proof that God did
indeed ordain the white ‘settlers’ to move west and thus further displace the
indigenous populations that already occupied the land.
There are theories that
suggest that trauma can be passed on through genetics meaning that certain
populations like African-American or Native-American peoples experience higher
levels of trauma because of the trauma their ancestors experienced at the hands
of the white colonists and slave traders and owners and I personally believe in
this theory.
In light of what is
currently happening in this country between white people and their inability to
address their white privilege or acknowledge the fact that the United States of
America functions off a white supremacist power structure, I believe that another,
different and more dangerous genetic trait of entitlement has been passed on
through the white population of this country. This is a generalization and I am
by no means a sociologist or geneticist that has actually researched this
theory; however, whether it be passed on by nature (genetics) or by nurture
(conditioning), the level of white entitlement that is still present in the
country today is astounding.
One last word that has
yet to be defined which is an oversight on my part and that is ‘entitled’,
which is defined as, ‘furnish with grounds for laying claim’. When I suggest
that white people are ‘entitled’ it means just this, that they feel an innate
ability to lay claim to anything and everything. This sense of entitlement
permeates white people’s being as can be seen in their actions throughout
history and continues today because white people have not truly completed the
work to dismantle white supremacy in this country.
If white privilege is not
checked by white people, meaning if white people are not aware of their power
in United States society and do not work to dismantle their unearned privilege,
then they will only result in perpetuating white entitlement and the systems of
racism that are a product of white privilege and white entitlement will only
grow stronger in this country.
White people, it is time.
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