Calling all white people, part 15: Stop the toxic idealism…a.k.a Pollyanna bullcrap

Calling All White People, Part 15

(A periodic attempt to mobilize white people for something other than supporting just other melanin-deficient folks and maintaining a status quo of a nation geared toward whiteness as the baseline and the norm)

By An Average White Guy

TODAY’S EPISODE: Shut up, Darth Pollyanna; the world ain’t that ideal and you know it

[To find other installments of “Calling All White People,” click here]

If only we would just stop talking about race and dividing each other by race. Once we stop doing that, everything will be fine and racism will go away.

*cough* *choke* *wheeze*

Sorry, I swallowed something wrong while convulsing with laughter there…

I am sick and tired of people saying words like the ones three paragraphs ago. And let me tell you, most people of color are sick to death of it. Because all too often it’s a white person aiming those words at a Black person to convince them that talking about racism is only worsening the racial divide and pushing us all farther apart.

As I’ve seen some Black people doing online lately in response to that, it is worth noting that while it might technically be true that if we just thought of each other as one human race we would eliminate racism, that doesn’t really match with human history and the natures of most people. Not to mention that we can always find ways to divide each other (gender, religion, caste level, etc.).

No, to spout that “Darth Pollyanna” bullcrap is to basically deny the reality that people of color face in a nation built around white supremacy.

But it’s even worse than that. If someone does this kind of thing…or if you do, or even do something that hints at such overly idealistic retorts…they are actually blaming the person of color and also declaring that they are going to do little or nothing to change any of the things that underlie and reinforce racism.

Because it’s like this: First, you’ve told the person of color, “By pointing out that you and members of your ‘race’ are treated unfairly or inequitably, you are making the problem worse. Just be quiet and wait for some distant future time when the inequity stops all on its own.”

Which is ridiculous, as problems of bigotry, social inequity and hate don’t resolve on their own. It takes work. It’s also blaming the victim and telling them to suck up their victimization.

Second, the white person spouting such claptrap is also saying, “The only answer is to stop thinking in terms of race. Nothing else will help. I don’t think in terms of race and therefore I am doing the only thing worth doing. Therefore I am good and I am absolved of any further reflection or work. It’s up to the rest of the world to catch up with me.”

Aside from the fact the person (hopefully not you; but almost certainly, you are acquainted with or related to some of these people) is probably doing things everyday that help prop up racism, white supremacy and systemic inequities, there is the issue that to say “I’m good and I wash my hands of doing anything more” is so selfishly and dismissively lazy that it almost feels like pure evil.

Look, Darth Vader in “Star Wars” felt he was bringing order to the galaxy and ultimately peace. He didn’t see himself as evil no matter how many deaths he caused and pain he inflicted. But he was evil. And all these Darth Pollyannas who think we need to stop pointing out racial injustices as part of a perfect worldview that will never come about are evil, too.
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3 thoughts on “Calling all white people, part 15: Stop the toxic idealism…a.k.a Pollyanna bullcrap”

  1. Will there ever be a time as far as you are concerned, that white people will not be called “polyanna” or your aka’s. It feels like hatred and a divide that I am not a part of. I don’t categorize “non-white people”… and because your approach is shot-gun, it lends little credibility as far as I am concerned. 🙁

  2. If you hate white people so much, don’t move to a white area. People in southern Maine are the least ” racist ” in the whole state and most Mainers are die hard liberal/ Democrat so what’s the issue? Most white people here have a strong sense of white guilt over slavery they had nothing to do with seeing that they weren’t even alive yet and by the way Jews ran the slave trade , not whites . Jews also run the democratic party which has consistently put black people in poverty & relying on benefits for yrs and taught them in schools that they are victims / will always be victims because they’re black which is bullcrap. The Irish were slaves and forced into slavery / including sex slavery and blacks and Irish were forced to breed with each other which is why many blacks have Irish ancestry. Germans ,Italians ,Scottish were also discriminated against , not just blacks . White people aren’t the problem. The government is the problem. Ask the average Native American if you can trust the government, they’ll tell you no .
    I’m part Russian and have been hit with racist comments my whole life so yes whites experience racism too. I’ve also lived in all black and Mexican neighborhoods and couldn’t get a job because of discrimination and got treated like crap on a regular basis .
    Also white privilege is a myth . Go to the Appalachians or anywhere in a small white town and you’ll see people poor as dirt, unemployed because they can’t find work , on ebt etc but I guess they’re just white trash , right ?
    Read The Protocols of Zion ,watch the movie Hellstorm and The Greatest Story Never Told and read the Talmud/Torah . Zionism is the problem not ” white supremacy “.
    All major media is owned by Zionist Jews and they love to blame whites for everything and talk about ” white supremacy ” but guess what , they are trying to start a race war in the U.S.
    They are the supremacists . GEORGE SOROS funded Black Lives Matters to start a race war and he is a Zionist Jew .
    The Southern Poverty Law Center and the ADl are also owned by Zionist Jews . They hate black people and they refer to all non Jews ( goyem ) as cattle .
    Guess how they treat nonjews and BLACKS in Israel ? Like garbage . In short ,stop blaming whites for everything and do something about Zionism and the U.S. Government. They’re the problem.

  3. Good post. It sets my teeth on edge when I hear another white person say, “I don’t see race.” It is the epitome of the kind of nonsense people living in a privilege bubble tell themselves. Numerous psychology studies indicate that it’s a lie besides. Saying this type of nonsense does not actually let anyone off the hook of thinking about racism and working toward a just society for everybody. It’s the same kind of laziness that makes people think that because they voted, they have done their part to participate in government.

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