First off, the topic of ethnic differences and how they impact society, as well as other methods of delineation in society (ie; social status, economics, sexual orientation, gender, etc) was the focus of my Sociology class last semester, and a topic that I absolutely loved from an academic standpoint. What I appreciated in Hiep's talks and in that sociology class was that both held that there was no "one correct answer". There is no denying that in the past there have been injustices perpetuated in this country based upon race, gender, and even religion. But what I do feel is correct is that the extent that we are forced to "atone" for it today is unjust and inefficient.
I feel no White Guilt, because I don't feel I have anything to apologize for on behalf of my family or my bloodline. I'm third generation Polish-American on my father's side, and my maternal side is predominantly German and has been here since the western expansion. I'm an eastern and central European descent, with my family during the western expansion marrying into native blood instead of conquering it. What a lot of people forget about the history of this country is that for a good period of time, being Polish would have marked me as undesirable and a second-class citizen. In Europe, our country was conquered and beaten by so many other nations that our national identity has been forever skewed and altered by those that occupied us.
But nobody thinks of that history when they look at me, because I look "Just like every other white person". I have been accused of racism, my family exploiting slaves, and perpetuating a cycle of hate just because of the color of my skin. I have jokes made about my ancestral country's military and the intelligence of my kinsman even today, even though many don't realize today why they make those jokes or how inaccurate they are. And it does bother me sometimes, even if I will pass off a few Polish jokes myself to take the lingering poison out of them. But I don't like bing identified as "White", because I feel it lessens and homogenizes who I am and where I came from. I'm an American, and I'm an American that works hard to remember that every single person that asks to emigrate here is just like my own ancestors in some way.
If you want to categorize me, compartmentalize me, or label me, I understand that. It's human nature, and making labels is how we make sense of the world around us. But I am more than the color of my skin, and I am more than an ugly page in history. I have my own subcultures, my own communities, and my own values. All of them transcend who I was born as or where I come from. They are a part of me because I choose to be a part of them.
My name is Abraham John Kwiatkowski. I am a human being, and I hope that that is the first label people see me as after they learn who I am.
Applications
I have prejudices, but they come from my views of subcultures and what they hold as pervading values. I hate the drug subculture; not because of the propaganda that the government puts out about a "War on Drugs", but because I had to live in the same home as my brother who showed that those who use drugs as a subcultural icon develop into selfish and greedy people that will search for others to blame and to have their problems fixed for them. They don't care about what they do to others to get their next high, and they value their chemicals more than they value other people.
I hate hardcore MMOers (Massive Multiplayer Online Gamers). These are people that will search for any way to cheat in a game or exploit whatever loophole they can, and forget to just have fun with a game. They will ridicule anyone that attempts to just play, instead of treating the entire thing as a numbers shuffling system, and often they will make this pursuit of fictional numbers and meaningless "wealth" into a badge of elitism to alienate others.
These are broad strokes that can be just as damaging of stereotypes as anything said about a race, gender, religion, etc. I need to stop using them as my definitions of everyone that identifies with these groups based on just the bad things I have seen.
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