Per white supremacy, the dominant culture is the default culture. Per white supremacy, the dominant culture is the American culture. Per white supremacy, anything other than white is not American and requires a qualifier. African-American. Latin-American. Native American. But white people? Ya’ll are just American. You’re white.
It wasn’t always this way. You used to be Italian. You used to be Polish. You used to be Irish. You used to be Dutch. But, per white supremacy, when your ancestors arrived here you were not American. That title was reserved for white Protestants born in this country. Join me in an eyeroll in that irony in that because this country was literally taken over by a bunch of immigrants from England, and a hundred years later they’re claiming to be the most American Americans ever. Smh. Classic white people, amirite?
Let’s look at history and see how you lost your cultural identity and became “white.” During the 19th century, Italians and Irish were flocking to America to become maids, farmers, and textile workers. This period mainly spans from 1880-1920’s. Luckily for them the 1790 naturalization law reserved citizenship for white-skinned people only. But, at the time, America was a widely Protestant country – and the Irish and Italians were fiercely Catholic. So, the Irish looked out for their countrymen, and the Italians looked out for theirs. As citizens they get to run for government, build businesses, become fireman, policeman, and do all the things people do when they’re trying to create a life for their families. But, per white supremacy – ya’ll can’t come up too high because naturalized citizen or not, you’re still not American. Your skin is white, but you’re not American. Your accent, your food, your religion all sets you apart from Protestant Americans. Irish and Italian citizens weren’t held in any higher regard than black Americans. They were called “Negroes turned inside out.”
So what did the Irish and Italians do after receiving the rude awakening that though they immigrated here and have become citizens; they were treated as poorly as the black Americans whose ancestors had been brought here in chains two hundred years prior? Well, they joined with the free black citizens in the Northeast and worked together. They looked to the black Americans to guide them as they learned the ropes in this new country as oppressed citizens.
Just kidding. Both the Irish and Italians figured out that in order to gain access and legitimacy as white Americans, they would have to be complicit in the oppression of the black citizens. They did this with gusto, and it is well documented. For example, poor immigrants often worked alongside blacks, often times doing the same jobs, but for cheaper. They’d gain business this way. They created unions to protect against the hiring of black workers. And once they got to be successful business people themselves, the immigrant business owners would be sure to NOT hire blacks. They’d hire their own because how could they ever prosper if the white ruling class saw them comfortably working and living amongst black people?
While the white-skinned Europeans are trying to establish themselves in part by participating in the oppression of black families (slavery wasn’t enough to deal with, now we had the white Europeans coming here to let us know we’re second class citizens, smh), southern black families were leaving the south and moving up north. And the white-skinned immigrants who were right on the cusp of being accepted into the unwelcoming but aspirational bosom of whiteness that they did not want the blacks to come in and ruin what they’d spent time building.
According to David R. Roediger, in 1919, Irish thugs in blackface (of course) attacked Polish neighborhoods in Chicago. They were trying to convince the Polish population that as Poles they were also “white” and needed to work together with the other white immigrants to fight against the blacks who were immigrating up north. Roedinger writes,“Poles argued that the riot was a conflict between blacks and whites, with Poles abstaining because they belonged to neither group.” But the Irish gangs considered whiteness, as is often the case in America, as anti-blackness.
[Sidebar because I need to make sure you understand the impact of what the Irish did here. They interpreted whiteness as being ANTI-BLACK. Now, why can’t whiteness be great and blackness be great? It was a threat to them. If black is great, they’d have to compete with us and legitimately recognize our worth as fellow humans. Well, we know that wasn’t about to happen. This is the beginning of the fear of black strength, power. This is the beginning of white people feeling threatened by a black person being outspoken about how amazing they are. We were supposed to internalize this anti-blackness and put whiteness on a pedestal the same way the immigrants did. We were supposed to buy into the idea that black is less worthy, less beautiful, less deserving of everything we helped this nation create. Some of us did (We call them coons. You can’t, don’t catch hands for saying that to your black friend. You’ve been warned.)]
Ok, back to the history you weren’t taught in school or at home –
In the early 20th century Chicago experienced an influx not only of white immigrants from Europe, but blacks from the South, white groups who felt threatened by black arrivals decided that it would be politically advantageous if the Poles were considered white as well. All the white-skinned Europeans abandoned their native languages, the children and grandchildren of immigrants were taught to fit in and to leave behind their own traditions and cultural identifiers when they were out in public. This was an act of assimilation, an act of trying to melt into the American way of life. At home their traditions continued, but they weren’t spoken of outside the house. Last names were changed to be more American sounding and less offensively ethnic to the bland white tongue who would raise a fit if asked to pronounce a last name that had too many syllables or too many accents.
[Sidebar: To be honest, you’d think with so many immigrant populations neglecting their own roots in favor of whiteness that today more “white” people would be resentful and wary of the white supremacy that made abandoning the traditions and cultures of their homeland necessary. But I guess in 2017 they’re so far removed from their original cultures, and so invested in their own white identity that benefiting from white supremacy and continuing to perpetuate it against black and brown bodies is much easier. That’s a whole other post entirely.]
This pattern of assimilation continued through nearly every nationality that immigrated here. Jews? White. Polish? White. Italian? White. Dutch? White. Irish? White. French? White. German? White.
You know who was in this country longer than any of those immigrants that arrived between 1880-1920? You know who has and never has attained the acceptance into dominant white culture? Black people. To be fair, neither have Native Americans, Mexicans, Asians…but I’m an expert on black shit, so that’s what I write about.
Here’s how this relates to my kids and why they’re black, and being raised as black. When I take them to the doctor I used to write in biracial. I’ve seen forms where I’ve written this in, and had it corrected by the hospital or doctor’s office staff to simply – ‘black.’ This country does not care if you have white family. This country still operates under the One Drop Rule. This country does not care if your great-grandparents were from Jamaica and a little island off the southern coast of Italy. If you’re not white, you’re other. It isn’t right. It isn’t fair. But it is reality. We’re raising our kids to live in reality. And the reality of this nation is that white as the dominant and default culture is everywhere. You can choose to watch television and never see a person of color. You can live in neighborhoods that are only white. You can send your kids to school without any other brown or black students in attendance. You can go to the movies and watch movies about white families. You can open magazines on the newsstand with pretty white girls on the cover, with their flaxen extensions flowing in waves down their back. Whiteness is everywhere. We soak it in when we don’t realize it. My kids are getting a full lesson on whiteness every moment of every day. They’re bombarded by it. It’s unavoidable.
What they aren’t confronted with at nearly the same rate are positive images about black and brown life. Black empowerment, black love, black dignity is rarely amplified alongside white culture. Why would it be? The dominant culture is never going to amplify blackness and celebrate it because that is viewed as a threat to whiteness. Black people retained their culture. We held fast to our traditions – it was all we had. We even created new traditions and cultural norms. And while Irish, Italians, Polish, Jews, etc were busy trying to be ‘white,’ we accepted that we never would be. We flourished in spite of the racism and bigotry that was and is so heavily woven into our lives as black citizens in a white country.
My children are being taught about their culture in ways many white families are not able to or don’t have the interest in teaching their own. John’s family was Italian (they’re white now). They eat a lot of pasta though, and if I had to say one thing they retained that is fiercely Italian – it’s a commitment to food and their family. But he’s never been to Italy. His parents haven’t either. And they don’t speak Italian. John’s great-grandparents told his mother not to speak Italian. The kids purposefully weren’t taught to speak it. To avoid being victimized by the white Protestant Americans, his formerly Italian family were forced to shun their cultural identity and adopt the new American way of life. A white way of life. Conversely, my mother is Jamaican and my father descends from American slaves. I can speak and read in patois, I’ve been to the slave auctions where my ancestors were bought and sold, I’ve visited my great-grandfather’s town in Jamaica. I can cook all the southern favorites, speak in flawless AAVE, and I know what a pear is when my aunt says it vs. when my dad says it.
I am the sum of all the cultures that created my family. Our children will be the same.
But achieving that means they will be learning about Italy and Italian traditions, not whiteness.
Do you think MLK changed this white man’s bigoted social ideology? Any of them? 
Married While Black 