By Ian Jobling • 6/5/08
We live in a time when most Americans deem it acceptable to use the word “white” as a term of insult. For example, in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, the hero, Neo, tells the Architect of the Matrix, “You can’t make me do anything, you old white prick!” It speaks volumes about our society that such a racial insult can be put in the mouth of a movie hero without provoking public outrage. The term “white” in this case implies that whites are excessively rational, controlling, and, indeed, mechanical—after all, the Architect is actually the personification of the machines that run the Matrix. Such is the typical meaning of “white” when used as an insult. The related connotations of sexual repression and lack of spontaneity are often implicit as well. It’s worthwhile to think through how exactly to respond when “white” is used as a term of insult, just as we did in the article What Do You Say When You’re Called a Racist?. Napoleon once said:
If I always appear prepared, it is because before entering an undertaking, I have meditated long and have foreseen what might occur. It is not genius that reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do…, it is thought and preparation.
The key to conquest is to prepare, prepare, prepare.
Here’s one possible response, if a white person makes the remark: “Using ‘white’ as a term of insult is an expression of racial hatred, and that offends me. Turn it around. Imagine a black person said, ‘I can’t do well on the SATs because I’m too black.’ We would think any black person who said that was suffering from morbid, sick, self-loathing. We’d recommend that he seek mental help. And I feel the same about you! I demand an apology! I don’t want to spend any time around people who promote racial hatred!”
If a non-white makes the remark, you can vary it as follows. “Imagine I said, ‘He can’t do well on the SATs because he’s too black.’ I would be hounded out of decent society. And you should be too! … etc.”
This response has its strengths and weaknesses. Most Americans would be deeply, viscerally offended if the same sort of insult were directed at non-whites, so forcing them to imagine that situation will be effective in communicating your grievance. Racial hatred is the most loathed of emotions in today’s culture, so the term will hit the offender very hard, especially since he will be unable to plausibly deny that he is guilty of this sin. However, this response does also suggest that you endorse the deadly cliché that blacks are capable of doing as well as any other race on the SATs and are merely held back by low self-esteem. Thus, this response conflicts with the broader philosophy of race realism, and clever opponents can always exploit such contradictions.
Another possible response is: “Whites have accomplished far more than any other race. Ninety-seven percent of major scientists have been white. Whites were the first to abolish slavery and have fought to end slavery all around the world. Whites invented the concept of human rights and representative government. Yet all we ever do is denigrate them. Why don’t we ever talk about how compassionate and creative whites are?”
I’m not entirely satisfied with this response either because it doesn’t deal out the full measure of fury and scorn merited by the racial abuse that provoked it. I want the offender to know that he is a hater, and, even worse, a masochist who hates himself.
So, do you have any suggestions?