White Men Deserve a Break

Happy Fourth of July. During lunch at work, I came across Roland Merullo’s “In Defense of The White Male”, published in the Boston Globe yesterday. It’s reproduced below in normal font, commentary on italics.

 

EVERYWHERE I TURN these days I encounter the term “white male,” almost always used in a pejorative way.

Everywhere I go I see teachers in Ferraris. Research scientists drinking champagne. I try to drink a Coke on the bus, and they took away my pass!

 

I understand the reasons for this.

Expansion and domination by Europeans and their descendants—a patently heterogeneous set, although having in common being of light skin. Pretty obvious, no need for…   

 

There are abundant examples — both in history and current events — of boorish and evil white men. Hitler comes to mind. Stalin. Mussolini. On a much lesser scale, certain unmentionables in present-day D.C.

Oh, you’re going by examples and foisting that simplistic thinking onto straw White HataZ.

 

For one example, it’s not difficult to look at the assembled power brokers of the Republican congress, smiling as they eliminate funds for the health care of women, and see them as part of an evil empire of powerful, pale-skinned, masculine creatures.

Well, women AND men—white AND non-white—stand to be affected. But why ruin the “poor white males” thesis with obvious facts?

 

And I’ve met enough obnoxious white men in my own life to understand the contemptuous tone in which “white male” is so often used.

Yeah, “obnoxiousness”, not “usual ruling class” is what brings out a “contemptuous tone”.

 

But these blanket condemnations are part of a very narrow and skewed reading of both history and current events. While it’s certainly true that white men have started wars, participated in torture, and committed rape, they/we have not cornered the market on evil behavior. Idi Amin comes to mind. Pol Pot. Baby Doc Duvalier. Hirohito.

Somewhere, a fourth grade student instantly developed a solid plagiarism lawsuit.

 

Not to mention certain notorious female camp guards and serial killers.

I stand corrected: third-grader.

 

It’s not hard to argue that white men have done more harm in history — from the keeping of slaves to the genocide of Native Americans, and a thousand other examples — than any other single group. But it can also be argued that they have done more good — in combatting evil regimes, in developing medicines, in inventing everything from the automobile to the cellphone to various methods of birth control. White men discovered penicillin, Novocain, the drug regimen used to treat people afflicted with AIDS.

Well, slavery, colonialism, and racist social mores do put a hamper on non-whites’ autodidactism and procurement of lab space.

 

In many places the chances are good that if your home is on fire, it will be a white man who comes to put it out.

Kowtow to him for meeting his job description! Wait, not yet. Is his last name González?   

 

And, if it were not for the millions of white men who gave their lives in World War II, we might all be starting the work day with the Nazi salute.

You mean, start the day with the White Power salute? Oh my, it’s like males that have light skin do NOT share a single ideology. Who knew!

 

Associating us only with evil deeds, selfishness, and violence is as misguided as making general disparaging statements about any other group: women, blacks, Muslims, homosexuals.

Yes, that’s the essence of repugnant discrimination: bad stuff = skin W / religion X / gender Y / orientation Z. Though I’d take exception to the “as misguided” thing because, in this continent (from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego), “discrimination” against women, homosexuals, and varied races has historically been known as “everyday life”.  

 

Yet, in certain circles, it has become acceptable — even laudable — to do just that.

Why of why must these historically disenfranchised groups bellyache among themselves! Can’t people see that it’s happenstance when a white cop kills a black man and a white jury absolves him? If only routinely stop-and-frisked, non-shot black and brown folk could look inward and realize their anti-white attitude is racist. Surely if suffragettes had been nicer, women would be earning $0.90 of the male dollar–instead of merely $0.78.

 

Not long ago I had an exchange with a former student of mine — we were discussing women’s rights and abusive men — and she told me I had no right to speak on the subject. “We were made to be silent for millennia,” she said, “now it’s your turn.” That kind of revenge must be satisfying, and particularly soothing to those who’ve been hurt by men — no small number. Ultimately, though, understandable as it may be, the impulse toward revenge leads nowhere except to a seesaw of oppression and fury.

Right, because only “revenge” is behind claiming a voice suppressed for millennia, concerning only women’s rights and vicissitudes. Fuck. You; that is condescending and hysteric shaming. 

 

I thought of arguing with her that my right to speak on those issues derives from the fact that I have two daughters and have been married for 38 years to the same good woman.

“Relax doll face; my home is Poon Central.” 

 

But those aren’t the true reasons. The true reason is that I am a human being, and the welfare of all human beings concerns me.

As long as they know their place.

 

At the root of the oppression of women, an oppression which denied and continues to deny them equal status and opportunity, was what Hemingway — a quintessential white male, much in disfavor in certain circles now — called “those dirty, easy labels.”

The quote’s about labeling 1920s U.S. expat authors, of which Hemingway was one. The quote: “Staring at a statute of [a general]…, with a cold beer in his hand, [Hemingway] declared: ‘the hell with [Gertrude Stein’s] lost-generation talk and all the dirty, easy labels’”. For actual Hemingway nobility, “A Moveable Feast” is recommended, especially the part about Hemingway’s ingratitude toward Stein and blaming her lack of taste on menopause. Truly, the snowflake Pharisees do not deserve Papa.

 

For centuries, females were considered less intelligent, less dependable, fickle, flighty, hysterical [Like telling men to shut up about women’s stuff?]. That was the rap [not “rap”, because this white male’s “with it”], and it infiltrated the culture in everything from hiring practices to the naming of hurricanes.

AAAAND? Should that recognition not move towards some sort of reparative stance instead of “Past is past; we all enlightened. Let’s move on”?  

 

From Jews to African-Americans to homosexuals to Irish, Italian, and now Middle Eastern immigrants, hatred began by tossing all of them into a group, and attributing to that group the most unattractive characteristics imaginable. What is being done to “white males” now, it should go without saying, is not on a par with what was done to those people.

BUT?

 

But the instinct to label and blame is born of the same kind of group-think.

Historical injustices, borne out of fact and customs, are not group think.

 

Maybe one fine day we’ll learn to eschew labels, or at least see beyond them, and focus on the humanity we share.

As long as those that are not white het males ain’t uppity.

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Don T
Poor choices, mixed results. ¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre! Titans4Eva
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Low Commander of the Super Soldiers

A delayed but very emphatic well done.

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It’s almost like you have the mindset and perspective to see through the bullshit. WEIRD!

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Or as they say at my work;

“How ’bout dem Broncos?!?!”

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

“As a white Christian man; other people getting rights and treatment that is equivalent to mine infringes on my rights!”

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Overt and “subtle” systemized racism and sexism; that’s the way to go.

Romonobyl

I’m sorry, but someone has to throw in a counterpoint.
I fully believe in equal pay, I can’t understand why that’s even debatable. In all my work experience, the pay was dictated by position, gender or race has never been considered. I also realize that the world doesn’t reflect my existence, which unfortunately isn’t always considered amongst many. Any case where pay is limited by anything other than position, and I’m sure it exists, needs to be stopped. That’s a non-issue.
On that note…
There were those who got all bent up because Gal Gadot didn’t get paid as much for Wonder Woman as some of the male performers in similar superhero movies, taking into consideration the success of the movie. What they failed to notice was that she, like almost every major performer in a movie, had a performance clause. If the movie was a hit, she gets more. It was, so I assume she did, and now she can write her own check on her next movie as an established
performer. Hollywood just cares about the $$$, little else matters.
Counterpoint #2: Let’s assume the equal work/equal pay thing becomes a reality, which I have no problem with whatsoever. Then someone starts a campaign to withdraw the equally archaic laws considering child support, alimony and child custody. I can only imagine the face-swallowing and backpedaling. I have personal experience with this.
All stories have two sides, I just have a hard time passing judgement until I hear both…not that my judgement even really matters, something else I’m well aware of.
For those old enough to remember, Mary Tyler Moore got paid way more than Ted Knight, and that was in the ’70s.
/end rant.

ballsofsteelandfury

Pay based on position is largely a public sector thing. The private sector, in some states more than others, operates in a different way. It, unfortunately, lends itself to bias in who gets the higher pay. In a perfect world, there would be no bias, but here we are.

Romonobyl

Unfortunately that is all too true, and totally wrong, which is why I addressed that in the first paragraph of my rant. I support all laws correcting that wrong.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

A big part of the problem is the being white and male we are oblivious to these behaviors. There is loads of studies and data out there that show it, but until you are on the receiving end of it is hard to locate, if you will. Meanwhile it is not getting better, but at least it is getting exposed.

For example; a modern “progressive” company like Uber is run like Mad Men out of the 50s.

King Hippo

and the ultimate point should be…any even marginally self-aware white dude KNOWS his life has been way the fuck easier due to his whiteness and his penis-having, so if someone throws a little undeserved generalization-based shade his way…he ought be able to put it in context and handle it just fine and dandy.

/tis also not likely to come with attack dogs, fire hoses, bullwhips, or the force of law for generations, so there’s that to keep in the back of one’s mind while nursing’s one’s honky fee-fees

blaxabbath

I’m sorry, what was that? I was too busy yelling at a cop for giving me a ticket instead of hunting down the trash that stole my wallet.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Brown trash no doubt.

litre_cola

Fuck me that was well done Don T.

Romonobyl

I agree.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

I wholeheartedly agree. For the first part I’m not in the mood, but I have started in on the beer.

King Hippo

sometimes we toss people into ovens instead of groups ,, ppl forget that

/up top, fellow WASPs!!

Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

Sorry to change the subject, but getting close…

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Romonobyl

Oh, that spotlight must be moving to our right! Drinking time started hours ago.

Mr. Ayo

Pictured: 8am.

And a sun beam.

Romonobyl

I know I’ve said this before, but I keep it simple as far as race goes. I judge a man by his brains, heart and balls (something similar applies to women, of course). Square those away and I couldn’t give a shit about the packaging. One thing I’ve told my sons as they grew up was that whenever you see someone acting a fool and you think “well isn’t that a typical…”, stop and think about a person of your own race acting similar. Without fail, there will always be a comparison.
All cultures have their negatives and positives, nobody is immune from the human condition. With that in mind, my only prejudice is against white trash, and the Patriots…which is almost the same thing.
Why is live and let live (within reason, of course) such a difficult concept?

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blaxabbath

One thing I find funny about the victimization of white males is that they don’t deny that they can take it; in fact, this is the crux of their argument! It’s all about how everyone just keeps taking more and more from them — financially, culturally, socially, etc — and their only argument is that, simply put, it isn’t fair.

Women don’t say, “I am strong enough to handle child rearing but it’s not fair that women have to deliver 100% of babies. Antonio Cromartie should have to carry just ONE to term.”

African American’s aren’t like, “We’re doing just fine under a government that throws our men in jail for any old thing but, for the sake of fairness, how about an incarceration rate that isn’t 6x that of whites?”

No — the only groups that are concerned about fairness are white men and the corporations they run.

Romonobyl

If I had to carry a baby to term, I’d probably have to be hospitalized for at least 7 of those 9 months.

King Hippo

we’d also have “frequent abortion rewards” cards on our keychains. Next one is free!

blaxabbath

I know I’d have ’em! No way an abortion could be less comfortable than wearing a condom.

  • ^ Banner

  • Romonobyl

    Sorry, can’t self-pander for a banner, Jeebus knows I tried.

    blaxabbath

    But I’m Sill.

    blaxabbath

    We were made to be silent for millennia, now it’s your turn.

    Dude has a point. That is as annoying as shit. Find that chick and kick her wages down to 45 cents on the dollar.

    Unsurprised

    /Opens while drunk

    Oh, good. Don T post.

    if suffragettes had been nicer, women would be earning $0.90 of the male dollar–instead of merely $0.78.

    Susan B. Anthony and the suffragettes were racist cunts who actively excluded African-Americans from the movement. Which is probably why Latina women make $0.52 on the dollar.

    As long as they know their place.

    I literally raised my beer glass at this.

    Also, Hemingway can gargle my balls.

    blaxabbath

    Pretty sure I’ve never read Hemingway but, poor guy, I have to admit that I hate him simply because every dickwad that I’ve ever known who thinks he’s so fucking smart and doesn’t think Speakeasy Stories is high art will ALWAYS claim to be a fan of Hemingway (and cigars and seductive women and wine and good whiskey — basically Ron Swanson less the hands-on stuff).

    I bet his work is actually pretty good. After all, white males tend to only find the greatest art to ruin for everyone else.

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    Rikki-Tikki-Deadly

    Pick up “The Sun Also Rises” and try to go drink for drink with the protagonist. By page 30 you will be finished drinking (or in the hospital), but you should keep reading, because it’s a very enjoyable story.

    blaxabbath

    Don’t tell me what to do, I’m a white man!

    ballsofsteelandfury

    Of course this was Boston. Only entrenched racists could publish this in a major newspaper in a major city and not understand how tone deaf it is.

    Unsurprised

    It’s a shame North Korea can nuke Honolulu now, but not Boston. Because Honolulu is worth keeping, but I’d happily let Kimg Jung-Un nuke Beantown.

    blaxabbath

    BETTAH NOT SHOOT THAT MISSAHL AT FENWAY! THAT NEIGHBAHOOD’S GOT ENOUGH BLACKS AS IT IS!

    (note: the ICBM tested appears to be black)

    JerBear50

    So it’ll be late getting here?