America. The United States of America. This is 2016, not 1916. Yet, we still have people in this country that are totally ignorant that there actually are Americans that aren't "white". Oh yes, they know there are "black" Americans. They know there are Native Americans and usually in a slightly condescending tone they will acknowledge that the Native Americans are the true Americans. But not always. And in fact, not even a large majority. I'd say a slight majority at best.
First let's start with some real facts. A large percentage of the workers that built the railroads in the early 1800s were Chinese. In fact by 1865, approximately two-thirds of the railroad workers in this country were Chinese. What? Yes, that's right. When you watch those television shows like "Hell on Wheels" or western movies that depict the Chinese as a small minority of the workers, it's bullshit. Chinese AMERICANS out numbered the Irish Americans by double in most cases. What amazes me isn't that people don't know this. History is not anyone's favorite class when we are younger which is why we continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over and this is one of those travesties that some "white" Americans love to repeat over and over. What still never ceases to amaze me is how some "white" Americans assume anyone that doesn't look "white" must not be American.
The Great American Melting Pot for some of the "white" Americans in this country seems to mean that they have totally lost touch with who they really are, where they really come from, and sadly have lost what makes America great. The majority of "white" America in this country, a large mass majority, are descendant of poor European immigrants. Back pre-WWII, racism was "white" on "white". That's right. Pre-turn of the last century, it was good to be from Ireland or Scotland. But it wasn't good to be from Italy or France or the Slavic countries. On the Statue of Liberty is scrolled "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" and that is where 99% of "white" America comes from--the tired, the poor, the huddled masses longing for freedom and hope. When "white" Americans look in the mirror, about 1 to 2% can say they come from the rich--amazingly, they generally still are the rich. That's right "white" America. The circumstances that keep you middle class or lower are exactly the same as they always have been. You vote in rich "white" and you keep getting us all screwed. Just fact especially when you consider that the "white" vote has been 90% of the vote until the new millenia. It was only the large black turnout in 2012, yes, not 2008, that allowed Obama to be re-elected. In fact, the minorities vote adds up to around 30% for the 2016 election. "White" America will still be the majority, but the fact that the minority vote added up is now close to a third of the popular vote seems to scare some of "white" America into following a hateful little silver spoon. Sadly, it just shows that many never took anything other than being "white" as important.
Really? Yes, really. When I get asked what I am, well, years ago I would ignore and dodge the question like the plague. Now, I tell them straight up to MYOB or I share readily. I think that is partially because of growth and acceptance within "white" America and also because of the fact that minorities are a larger percentage than ever of the make up of this country. It's actually quite refreshing overall. But I'll tell you who still pisses me off the most. The idiot that looks totally "white" would never be mistaken for black, brown or yellow, or any other shade of skin color that says, "well I don't see what the big deal is and I'm part Native". Sure you are dumbass. You don't even know what tribe. Shut up. You probably are part black too. Want to borrow $99 and get a DNA test? It's infuriating because it's an insult dressed up in "white" trying to justify piss poor behavior of other "whites". Either you are an "Uncle Tom" at that point or you are a flat out liar. Anyone that has any relatives that do not look "white" enough know exactly what I'm talking about. You had to take up for them. I had "white" family that defended me ardently. I also had "white" family that insulted me under their breath. Luckily for me the former was the majority. I came from an educated family and therefore had a better lot behind me that a lot of minorities in this country.
Going back to that whole Chinese Americans that built the railroads. Did you know the majority of them stayed? Built businesses, made homes, raised families? Some of the Chinese that you come across in this country have been here longer than 60% of the "whites" in this country. That's right. About 60% of the majority of this country came over at the turn of the last century, after those Chinese did. Well, someone said to me, then they would've been mixed by now, "not like the Chinese right off the boat". Hilarious for multiple reasons. Most people fly now when they move that long of a distance. More importantly, there were laws preventing intermingling between "whites" and non-whites. This is a disaster of "white" America's making. It was only in 1998 that South Carolina made it legal for a person of less than 95% white to marry a person of more than 95% white. The actual wording was "white". I'm not making it up. It was the last thing on the ballot that year--a change to the state constitution. Yes, it was in the state constitution. And no, it's not just a Southern thing America. Most states have had some version of these laws since the early 1800s. In fact, Massachusetts still had a version in effect until 2008. Yep, right up to a "black" President being elected and one of the most "liberal" *cough cough* states in the Union. Yes, go on and on about how these laws were technically repealed by Supreme Court in 1967. Yet, that historic vote in South Carolina in 1998 only won by 51%. "White" America, the one that exists right now didn't create it, but it is "white" America's legacy. Many of those Chinese Americans that have been here for more than 150 years still speak Chinese. It's a belief that they can't trust "white" America, so better to remember their own language. Look at how some of you are following a racist buffoon because he was born with more money than any of us could accumulate in a lifetime. That "white" America is still alive and well in the USA. It's the same "white" America that harbored hatred for the American born wops and the krauts and that put Japanese Americans, natural born Americans, into camps during WWII. It's the same "white" America that screamed and threw rocks at African American children in the 1950s as desegregation was enforced. It's the same "white" America that spit on me when I refused to answer the question "what are you?"....and that is only 13 years ago.
Oh, but you're not one of them, right? Not one of "those" white Americans? Have you posted or liked a meme that tells other Americans to "go home" if they don't like something here in the USA? Or worse, actually had the audacity to tell someone to "go home" when this is their home? Have you ever said to someone who didn't look "white" enough to you how good their English is or how great their accent sounds, that they actually sound "American"? Have you agreed with people as they blame "Mexicans" for taking American jobs? Have you made stupid comments like you are part Native so you know America isn't like this, but you don't have a single family member that even remotely looks less than "white"? Guess what? You ARE one of them. Your incorrect preconceived notions are just that--incorrect and preconceived. Not fact. This is our home just as much as it is yours. We were born here. We are sick of you thinking, even sub-consciously, that you somehow are more American than we are just because you are "white" looking. That's the "white privilege" that anyone that doesn't look "white" is sick of. It's like you are totally clueless if we are not visibly "black" or "white" and you have a moron switch that goes off that assumes we cannot possibly be Americans.
Turn that stupid switch off already. The United States of America is THE Great Melting Pot of the world. We are the refuge for the tired, used, defeated, poor and we are the hope. We are made up from centuries of immigrants, whether forced here like the Brits that were sent as punishment for wanting to worship how they chose, the slaves from Africa brought out of greed, the Irish fleeing famine, the Chinese who built the railroads, or the mass exodus of immigrants fleeing royal rule and wars in Europe at the turn of the last century. Out of the ashes of the defeated, beaten, tired, used and poor of other nations we have risen like a great phoenix. Even the "illegal" immigrants are more the embodiment of this country than most of us are. We have become spoiled. Fat. Happy. We loved when everything was good, and when it is good, we are flighty, proud, and full of ourselves. When things go bad, those poor and hopeless attitudes looking for someone to blame come out, but we are not the poor, used, defeated, huddle masses of the world. We are still the United States of America. It's just time some of you realize that isn't just "white" America. It's all America. Next time you see an Asian, do not assume they are not American. It makes you sound like an asshole. In fact, go home and look in the mirror. Did you ask because that reflection staring back at you is your version of American? If so, check yourself. The person you just insulted might have ancestry in this country going back before yours even decided to come over here in the first place.
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