ur current view of American white ancestors. They run the natural panoply of good and evil, just as I imagine every group of people’s ancestors did. It’s just that white ancestors’ actions mattered more. On the one hand, that led to a country that has broad prosperity and freedom that millions around the world want to immigrate to. On the other hand, it is arguably built on a foundation of racism.
Power Doesn’t Equal Evil
In criticizing the history of white people in America, we are basically criticizing their outsized power. Yes, it was unfair, but that unfairness was something our white ancestors benefited from, not something they innately deserved. In some cases, the Civil War seems like a big deal. They sacrificed themselves to redress the imbalance. Can white Americans take pride in that?
On the other side, more controversially, Southern Americans have ancestors who fought on the wrong side of that war. But those Americans had their own reasons. Most were not slave owners, but objected to a federal government compelling them to change their ways. We are all glad those ways were changed, but must the children of the white South spit on their fathers’ graves?
Surely, regardless of race, there are good and bad people running around at any point of history. Even people who are oppressed are capable of acting badly. But white Americans are struggling with whether they can still hold dear the memory of their families.
White Americans Should Not Feel Ashamed
I suggest that they still can, and should. The legacy of whiteness, whatever we take that to mean, will always contain slavery and Nazis and brutal imperialism, but it will also contain the Enlightenment and classical music and Impressionism. The interesting thing is that the positive legacy of whiteness belongs to everyone. There is no such thing as cultural appropriation regarding Bach or Gershwin, because the great white artists belong to everyone. That’s a legacy to celebrate.
White Americans should think about what their forbears wrought. Some of it is terrible; much more of it is wonderful. We can consider both in considering the legacy of our ancestors, who are flawed, as we are, but also forward-thinking and more open to accepting others than other country on earth has been.
Part of moving forward, part of making our country a better and more equal place, is understanding that, flaws and all, we as white people took on this challenge. We haven’t perfected it, but we are willing to. Let’s keep working.