whiteness and race issues (again)

I wrote this as a reply to a post on another blog looking for comments on "how can white people build an anti-racist white culture",   which i thought was an odd thing to attempt since as long as it's a "White" culture it's reinforcing racial identity - and thus racism.  in any case, here's what i came up with off the top of my head. 

I'm curious what ya'll will think, so feel free to comment....

the url for the original blog post is  http://angrywhitekid.blogs.com/weblog/2005/11/antiracist_whit.html

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a few points:

1) I’ve noticed over and over again that much of what gets described as "white" privilege in America is actually class privilege. people of color are far more likely then white people to be poor (the average black family's income is just over $10 thousand a year compared to around $48 thousand for white people), so it's understandable that so many people associate "whiteness" with being relatively well off. what people forget, however, is that the vast majority of poor people in this country are white. these ties closely into point 2...

2) white people are not a culturally, ethnically, or economically homogenous group. Anglo Saxons actually only form around 8% of the total population of the US, the other 64% of the population identified as "white" is composed of assimilated ethnic minorities - who on average are MUCH less wealthy then the white elite.
As an example, there are aprx. 30 million Scotch-Irish Americans (12-16% of the total population), and their average incomes are far below the "white" average (I don't have a solid exact figure). Appalachia, where they are most heavily concentrated, is one of the single poorest regions in the entire country - it's essentially a giant reservation for poor Celts. Irish, Italians, and eastern European Americans are also majority poor and working class. The fact that the wealthiest 2% of the population owns something like 80% of the countries wealth, and most of them are Anglos, severely distorts the average "white" income figures I listed earlier. If we look critically the fact that Anglo Saxons (who have traditionally seen non-Anglo whites as culturally and even racially inferior) are disproportionately wealthy doesn't really do a damn thing to tangibly improve the lot of poor and working-class whites. The experience of "whiteness" experienced by the majority of poor white people is a very, very different thing then the experience of middle and upper class whites - a distinction that most Radicals and Academics forget to make.
If we were to - as a culture - recognize the distinct experiences and struggles of Celts, Slavs, Italians, and other invisible minorities instead of lumping them in with the relatively elite Anglo minority; our entire social structure would be turned upside down. The first step of that process is recognizing their existence in our rhetoric and analysis.

3) If the vast majority of "white" people whose cultures have been actively repressed and marginalized were to reclaim their own cultures there would be no need for them to "appropriate" other people's cultures. People appropriate because their looking for something deeply important that has been stolen from them and they cannot find within the bounds of "whiteness" - so they look outside of it.

4) also, there is a critical difference between disrespectful appropriation and a respectful and open dialogue and exchange between cultures and traditions. There is nothing inherently wrong with "white" people practicing Tai Chi or acupuncture (to refer to the earlier posters examples) - especially if these medical techniques address health problems that pharmaceuticals cannot address. It’s just plain dumb to suggest that people should not take advantage of a medical technique that addresses a legitimate health problem because to do so would be appropriation. It would be stupid to say Asians can't use aspirin and it's equally stupid to say white people can't practice Tai Chi. If Tiger Woods can Golf then the Beastie Boys can Rap, and it's really that simple. The more critical issue is whether interactions between cultures are respectful or patronizing.

5) structural racism is still very much in effect - just look at the prison system. in my experience it's much more productive to focus on organizing then it is to sit around and endlessly deconstruct everything. If you want to combat racism, do it by organizing against things like the drug war that affect millions of peoples lives every day.

6) On the personal level, no one cares how many black (or Asian, Indian, Chicano, etc.) friends you have, and as long as you think of them as your "black" friends instead of as your friends there's gonna be tension. Basically recognize and respect differences where they exist but focus on what we have in common. cuz if we can't work together we're all fucked.

to summarize, the best thing for "white" people who want to build an anti-racist culture to do is (a) stop assuming that skin tone correlates to class status, (b) learn about and ASSERT your own history culture and identity, (c) be consciously respectful of other peoples cultures, (d) take action to oppose structural racism whenever and wherever you find it, (e) and finally chill the fuck out and stop creating unnecessary counter-productive tension.