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Whiteness | Us and Them: Part Six
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Whiteness | Us and Them: Part Six

The Origins of White Mentality

Relocating the Conversation

  • The discussion begins by asserting that the mentality attributed to "white people" originates from Europeans, necessitating a realistic conversation about this group.
  • It emphasizes the need to state obvious truths when engaging with Americans and Westerners, who often operate from distorted frameworks.

Reality vs. Fiction

  • The speaker argues that Western discussions often start from points of hallucination or fantasy, making it exhausting to engage in meaningful dialogue.
  • There is a critique of how basic factual realities are continuously litigated, derailing serious discussions and wasting time.

Frameworks of Dishonesty

  • The speaker highlights that terms like "so-called white" or "so-called civilization" are used to underscore the unreality embedded in Western frameworks. These categories obscure actual reality and serve ideological functions.
  • A distinction is made between physical realities and constructed racial identities; for instance, there are no true "white" or "black" people as defined by color but rather shades of human skin tones.

The Fabrication of Racial Categories

Historical Context

  • The concept of race is described as a fabricated category created for political and economic reasons, which has led to different experiences and histories for people classified as “black” or “white.”
  • Historically, before these categories were invented, humans recognized differences based on geography and culture rather than superficial traits like skin color.

Evolution of Whiteness

  • The notion of whiteness is relatively recent (350–400 years old), emerging alongside colonization and slavery; prior to this period, Europeans identified more with their nationalities than any racial identity.
  • There was no historical unity among Europeans based on race; instead, they engaged in violent conflicts against each other long before colonialism began. Examples include the Hundred Years' War and the Thirty Years' War.

Living Conditions in Historical Europe

Peasant Life

  • Most Europeans lived in extreme poverty during medieval times; conditions included one-room huts shared with livestock and high mortality rates due to famine and disease. Life expectancy was low, with many children dying young.
  • This history contradicts any notion of a unified white identity since most lived under oppressive feudal systems where they were treated as property rather than equals.

Social Hierarchy

  • Feudalism created stark class divisions where peasants had no rights or autonomy; they were bound legally to landowners much like tools rather than human beings with agency.

Cultural Resistance to Change

Pagan Roots

  • Before Christianity's arrival in Europe, pagan practices dominated European cultures involving blood sacrifices and idol worship; these traditions persisted even after Christianization adapted them into new forms.

Continuity Over Time

  • European culture has shown remarkable resistance to change over millennia; despite modern advancements such as industrialization, core cultural values have remained consistent since ancient times.

Civilizational Envy

Renaissance Misconceptions

  • The Renaissance is critiqued as not being an original flowering of genius but rather a reappropriation of knowledge from Islamic scholars who preserved classical texts during Europe's so-called Dark Ages.

Contributions from Other Cultures

  • Key advancements such as algebra, medical texts (like Ibn Sina’s), navigational tools came through interactions with Islamic civilizations while Europe was still struggling with basic hygiene issues.

Birth of Racial Constructs

Bacon's Rebellion

  • Bacon's Rebellion (1676) illustrated class solidarity between poor whites and enslaved Africans against elite planters leading to the creation of racial categories designed to divide them for control purposes.

Legal Definitions

  • By establishing legal definitions around whiteness within slave codes shortly after this rebellion, elites ensured that race became synonymous with privilege while enforcing social hierarchies.

Understanding Whiteness and Its Historical Context

The Concept of Psychological Wage

  • The term "psychological wage" refers to a social status that elevates individuals above others on the societal ladder, leading them to defend an exploitative system in exchange for this perceived privilege.
  • David Roediger's concept of "the wages of whiteness" highlights how this psychological benefit is tied to racial identity and systemic exploitation.

Historical Elasticity of Whiteness

  • Theodore Allen documented that the definition of who is considered white has historically shifted based on economic needs and political contexts.
  • Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine were initially not regarded as white upon their arrival in America, facing severe discrimination despite their European heritage.

Racial Dynamics Among Immigrants

  • Political cartoons depicted Irish immigrants with ape-like features, illustrating the racial prejudice they faced alongside Black Americans.
  • Frederick Douglass noted the irony in Irish immigrants aligning with slaveholders in America to gain the privileges associated with whiteness.

The Transformation of Italian Identity

  • Italians, particularly from Southern Italy, were classified ambiguously between white and black in late 19th-century America, often living segregated lives alongside Black workers.
  • The lynching of 11 Italian immigrants in New Orleans marked a significant event that contributed to shaping Italian American identity and led to Columbus Day being established as a federal holiday.

Eugenics and Racial Classification

  • Early 20th-century eugenicists categorized Eastern Europeans as racially inferior compared to Northwestern Europeans, reflecting deep-seated prejudices within American society.
  • Jews were distinctly classified by eugenicists as a threatening racial category separate from other immigrant groups, highlighting systemic racism prevalent at that time.

Cultural Erasure and Suspicion

  • German Americans faced cultural erasure during both World Wars despite being largely classified as white; some were even interned like Japanese Americans.
  • English settlers formed the foundational identity of American whiteness through colonialism and slavery while promoting ideologies claiming equality yet practicing dehumanization against non-white populations.

Conclusion: Consistency in Dehumanization Ideology

  • The founding culture of America was built on contradictions—proclaiming equality while simultaneously denying it based on race. This reflects an ingrained belief system where not all people are viewed equally despite claims otherwise.
Playlists: Us and Them
Video description

In Part Six of Us and Them, Shahid Bolsen relocates the entire conversation about so-called white people back to reality — starting with the most basic fact: physically, no human being is white. Steven Biko said it in the dock. Black and white are opposites. Humans are not birds. The category was never biological. Then Bolsen traces the actual history — what European peoples were before the concept of whiteness was invented, and why it was invented. The intra-European hatred, the feudalism that was slavery under different branding, the pagan blood sacrifice that your days of the week still commemorate, the occult tradition that runs unbroken from the Germanic tribes through Freemasonry to the founding of America. The Renaissance as a copy-paste project from an Islamic civilization that was producing algebra and surgery while European peasants slept with their livestock. The Bacon's Rebellion origin of racial categories — manufactured not from hatred but from fear, specifically the fear of poor Europeans and enslaved Africans organizing together. The Irish who became white by enforcing the racial order against Black Americans. The Italian lynching that became Columbus Day. The Harvard professors whose eugenics Hitler cited by name. And the closing line that strips the entire American ideological project to its actual operating code: all people are equal, but not all people are people.