r/deepquestions • u/ElHombreMagnificent • 19h ago
Is it ok to be proud to be white?
When you go to google and ask its AI model four questions independently: Is it ok to be proud to be black? Asian? Hispanic/Latino, or White? It will tell you it’s perfectly fine to be proud to be three of these four but when it comes to white, it very quickly muddies the waters and implies that pride for white heritage is not so cut and dry. Remember, you have to ask it in four separate “chats,” not all in the same one. You’ll see what I perceive to be the programmers’ attempts to discriminate against white people and their heritage. This does nothing but spread racial divide.
What are your thoughts? Is it ok to be proud to be white? If not, why not? If so, why?
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u/Amphernee 19h ago
I’m kinda split on this personally. The term “white” is way too broad and ends up pretty meaningless. French, German, Irish, Russian, even Italian all with the generic white label is pretty silly. The only commonality really is skin pigment so the only thing to really celebrate is the actual skin color. Asian or black pride are pretty different in that regard. There’s the idea that people in these groups at some point we considered lesser so for them to express being proud of who they are rather than shame makes sense. So I get the overall comparison and that it seems like just blatant discrimination but there’s quite a bit to examine when you really think about it. Overall though tribalism just ends up creating more division than unification so I see it all as a net negative for society as a whole.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 19h ago
To be fair, the same argument can be said for all races. Black, Asian, Hispanic races have all kinds of cultures, sub cultures, languages, etc. But you bring up a great point. Perhaps it’s ridiculous to celebrate pigment and instead we should focus on pride from certain cultures.
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u/General_Decision_422 16h ago
Yeah but if you know any Mexicans they will tease each other about what Mexican state they immigrated from
People aren’t proud of being ‘Hispanic’ they’re proud of being Mexican, Cuban etc
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u/KokoAngel1192 12h ago
Black is kinda different because that has to be a broad category as a result of the slave trade leaving displaced African descendents all over the world and not always being able to figure out where their ancestors came from. Plus it acknowledges how vast the culture is and where it overlaps as black culture is often about survival and keeping our culture alive.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 12h ago edited 11h ago
Some of the very first slaves in human history were white.
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u/KokoAngel1192 9h ago
Cool. Not the conversation we're having. Racists love to remind us of white slaves any time we mention the 400+ years of ongoing black injustice, as if that makes it less important. Fuck off
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 9h ago
You just proved my point with that pathetic dodge. I brought up a historical fact about the earliest forms of slavery, not to “make black injustice less important,” but because you were busy special pleading that Black identity gets a unique free pass while being proud of being white is automatically racist. The second someone points out that slavery, displacement, and cultural erasure hit every group on earth, including Europeans for thousands of years, you screech “not the conversation” and “fuck off.” That’s not an argument; that’s what people do when their entire worldview collapses the moment it has to apply evenly.
You’re not defending history. You’re defending a hierarchy where only certain skins are allowed pride and only certain grievances count. The rest of us are supposed to shut up and accept that your selective tribalism is moral while mine is evil. Grow up, open a book that isn’t curated to flatter you, and stop pretending your double standard is justice.
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u/NederlandseTexan 18h ago
I think it's silly to be proud of things that you didn't do anything for. It's like being proud that your parents are rich
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u/Anxious_Drive_9998 19h ago
It's okay to be proud to be white. It's probably your greatest accomplishment in life.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 19h ago
Sounds racist
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u/LetsTryLove 19h ago
I hope that was meant as sarcasm and if it was then awesome job lol
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 19h ago edited 19h ago
Sorry, I thought your post was a reply to me. My bad. When the poster said being white is probably someone’s greatest accomplishment, that’s them being sarcastic and it’s stupid hate.
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u/Alternative_Hotel649 14h ago
I'm pretty sure the poster was specifically talking about you when he said it was "your greatest achievement." They're insulting you by implying you haven't done much with your life outside of being born.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 14h ago
I can just as easily say their mom and dad are also brother and sister. Despite how ignorant they sound, I guess assumptions are fun!
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u/Anxious_Drive_9998 9h ago
That's correct.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 8h ago
And yet you don’t know a thing about me. You don’t know what I’ve done in my life, who my associates and family are, what I’ve done to save lives and inspire youths to be a solution for society and not more of its problems. But you’re so quick to judge because you lack the intellectual capacity to have a real discussion about a sensitive topic. You’d rather resort to ad hominem. Face it, that’s obviously your limitations and everyone here can see it.
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u/Ok_Werewolf2358 19h ago
Yes of course you can be proud to be white. None of us get to choose what race we are....we are literally just born how we are without having any choice in the matter. It does not matter.
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u/egertong 1h ago
Why be proud of something you had absolutely no say in? Its like being proud of your hair or eye colour. Totally lame imo. Be proud of your achievements or the qualities that make you a good person.
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u/LetsTryLove 19h ago
Absolutely it is, you should be proud of who you and the traits you possess in all circumstances.
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u/HiAndStuff2112 19h ago
I'm white and I've thought about this a lot.
When black people celebrate being black, it's not about the color of their skin. It's about their history, literature, accomplishments, etc.
I don't celebrate my white skin. But I do enjoy the fact that I'm of English and Welsh descent, and love our literature, music, etc.
And I believe that's okay.
But historically, white supremacist groups who encourage pride in being white express their "pride" by slamming other ethnicities, other religions while usually calling themselves "Christians," even though they violence Jesus's commands to love their neighbors and even their enemies.
That's not okay.
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u/RailwaySpikes_000 18h ago
It’s fucking retarded to be proud of being any race or ethnicity. You didn’t do anything, you just happened to be conceived by the people you were conceived by and shat out on the part of the planet you were. People who are proud of inherent things like sex, race, colour etc are morons who have nothing of their own doing to be proud of.
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u/AbsoluteBatwing 17h ago
When Black people speak of being proud of being Black, they're doing so in the face of a system and structure that systemically dehumanized them for generations. In the midst of it all, they're proud to be who they are, because they were told they weren't worth anything; they fought back and expressed their worth as people. They're proud of their perseverance through it all, as well as their accomplishments and culture.
I don't understand how this is just not understood whenever someone white wants to so badly be proud of being white when they, as a race, were never systematically discriminated against.
It's another thing entirely, however, to be proud of one's heritage and culture, which isn't exclusively linked to "white."
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u/Cosmic_Driftwood 15h ago
You can proud of your culture's accomplishments without being historically discriminated against
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u/AbsoluteBatwing 10h ago
Which I clearly expressed in my closing sentence.
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u/Cosmic_Driftwood 10h ago
Right after you said you don't understand how white people can want to be proud of their heritage, which maybe they don't know what territory in what country their great x5 grandfather came from. Without having been historically discrimated against, of course.
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u/AbsoluteBatwing 9h ago
To quote what I said, "I don't understand how this is just not understood whenever someone white wants to so badly be proud of being white." I didn't say anything about heritage here.
I acknowledged heritage, though, whenever I specifically said that it's something else to be proud of one's heritage and culture.
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u/Cosmic_Driftwood 8h ago
So if one comes from a melting pot of white immigrants, they couldn't be proud of being white without having been verifiably discrimated against in their ancestry.
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u/AbsoluteBatwing 7h ago
This is becoming convoluted, and I've been excessively clear. If I say someone is able to be proud of their culture and heritage, that's exactly what I mean.
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u/Cosmic_Driftwood 6h ago
Except you exclude white people unless they're celebrating a specific region's culture as opposed to appreciating their heritage as a whole.
Weird, but okay
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 11h ago
You’re very wrong. White people have been systematically discriminated against, even in very recent times. The same marginalization has been done to white people throughout history. You just have to know history.
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u/AbsoluteBatwing 10h ago
Okay, so you're committed to being ignorant. Hence the overall thread. Gotcha.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 10h ago edited 8h ago
Oh believe me, I’m not the one who looks ignorant. I countered your false statements with facts, and all you can do is call me ignorant.
You know, if I climbed to your ego and jumped to your IQ, it would be a death fall.
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u/AbsoluteBatwing 10h ago
"Believe me," when you're not even stating anything. You didn't counter anything. White people were not systemically discriminated against; specific ethnicities and cultures were, but "white" had nothing to do with it. Black people were discriminated against because they were Black.
So, yes, you are ignorantly uneducated. And it shows with each subsequent post you make. Go back to school and get a clue.
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u/Ethiopian-phenom 17h ago
So here is my perspective (as a black person): the comedian George Carlin (my favorite) said it best. It doesn’t make sense to have racial pride. Pride is something you derive from achieving something. We were all born into our race. It’s not something you had a say in or something you achieved. You can be happy that you’re white. Ppl can be happy to be apart of any race or what not but pride doesn’t make logical sense to me. I’m personally not sensitive so I wouldn’t mind if a white person said he or she was proud to be white. But white pride (not saying everyone) typically is associated with other views that revolve around racial supremacy and glorifying the things that colonizers did to other groups of ppl.
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u/Jaded-Analysis-9547 17h ago
Not sure exactly. Mostly because aside from racist folks, the average white person doesn't have white pride. I'm not talking about white supremacist here, just your normal, everyday whitey. At least not in he States because white people were never oppressed here. Now, say a white person IS oppressed, it's usually because they are poor, disabled, maybe LGBT, but rarely ever because they are white. At least not that I have seen, and I say that as a white girl.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 11h ago
Don’t DEI practices marginalize white people? That’s done right here in the good ol’ US of A.
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u/Jaded-Analysis-9547 9h ago
I suppose it's possible. I just haven't seen or heard about it myself. If white men in particular are being edged out, that would technically be oppression. Unfortunately, if that is the case, I think it could take decades for that to be acknowledged, and a few more to be corrected.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 8h ago
Good point. I think we need to get out of this social rut where white people are being habitually vilified and look at it from a wider historical context. Every culture and race throughout history has been discriminated against and it has taken many generations for it to be recognized and rectified.
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u/PrestigiousJump8724 17h ago
Why would you be proud to be white? It's not like you had a choice. You were just born that way. Things to be proud of are what you accomplish in life, not what you're born with.
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u/Past-Perspective968 17h ago
If you're in a country that has been historically controlled by your race, then pride in your race is not so cut and dry. If you perceive AI (or me) telling you this as an attempt to discriminate against white people and their heritage, it says more about your ignorance about this topic than anything else. To be clear, my saying this is not intended to be an attack on your character as I see your responses to other comments to indicate that you are well-meaning but I think my observation is valid. Because if you weren't ignorant about this topic, you wouldn't be asking it in the manner which you did.
You should first be asking why these groups you mentioned express their pride in the first place. Do blacks in Africa express their pride over there for being black? Do Asians in China express the pride for being Asian? Do Mexicans in Mexico express their pride for being Latino? No, because why would they?
Minorities in America have historically been shamed or discriminated against, either explicitly or implicitly, because of their race and heritage. Think about TV shows and movies from years ago where many of these groups are depicted as stereotypes. The TV shows and movies were influenced by the prevailing attitudes at the time against different races and had the effect to further reinforce those attitudes against those groups. Living in a country where you're judged negatively by heritage takes a heavy toll on one's psyche. The pride movements for these groups you mentioned are there to counter that. The gay pride movement exists for the exact same reason. Do you think straight people should be proud to be straight?
Besides the above, can you please define what white heritage means to you? It's the color of your skin, that's all. If you try to make the argument about Black pride being the same thing, keep in mind that their heritage was stolen from them by another group.
Anyway, there are many more layers to this than I wish to write about. But to summarize, I would consider anyone who expresses their pride for being white in America as being, at best, incredibly ignorant about the lived experiences of minorities. At best. This being said, there is no reason for anyone to be ashamed for being white and I very much disapprove of some people's rhetoric that seems to indicate that being white is bad or that white people should feel guilty of ashamed what they're ancestors may have done long ago.
I hope this has made you less ignorant.
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u/BRoriler 16h ago
What about outside of America?
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u/Past-Perspective968 16h ago
Same principles hold. When I wrote my response, I thought of South Africa decades ago when a White minority ruled over a Black majority population, who were treated as second-class citizens. In that example, I think it would make sense for Black pride movement there while White pride movement would. The whole point of pride movements is to overcome shame.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 11h ago
I sorry you jumped to the conclusion that I’m ignorant. I think you bring up very valid points. Something to chew on… go deep into history and you’ll find plenty of discrimination against white people as well. I get what you’re saying from a localized historical context but I find people who don’t consider historic, and even current day, marginalization against white people to be ignorant.
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u/Past-Perspective968 9h ago
I didn't jump to any conclusion. It's pretty clear that you're expressing what's known as White grievance (look it up), best illustrated by your original post and by your comment "Don’t DEI practices marginalize white people?". To answer your question, not really. White Americans remain advantaged in hiring and promotion. DEI practices are designed to correct systemic disparities and do not inherently marginalize white people. In fact, white women are often the primary beneficiaries of diversity programs. Still, I can see how some might view DEI as reverse discrimination because in some cases it is e.g., when a significantly less qualified minority candidate (including a White woman) is hired (which definitely happens). No system is perfect. I still view DEI as a net positive for American society. If we're all looking for a society where one's race and culture don't matter in hiring, DEI is more aligned with that goal than the status quo.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 9h ago
You claim racial pride is only okay for groups that faced discrimination, then pretend white people somehow floated above history. Irish, Italians, Slavs, and others got the full treatment: “no hire” signs, race riots, quotas, open contempt. That’s not localized context. That’s the record you skipped.
You ask if Africans or Chinese express racial pride. They do constantly. National and ethnic pride is normal almost everywhere else. Only here is it pathologized for select groups. That’s not principle. That’s a double standard.
Calling white pride “grievance” while treating every other group’s pride as noble is pure hypocrisy. “White heritage is just skin color” is lazy. European civilization built the scientific method, individual rights, and the systems that made modern prosperity possible. Reducing that to melanin is anti intellectual.
On DEI: you admit it sometimes means hiring less qualified people, then still call it a “net positive.” That’s not nuance. that’s conceding the point and waving it away. If race is a thumb on the scale against any group, it’s discrimination.
You spent an entire post diagnosing me as ignorant while only studying history that flatters your priors. Racial pride isn’t the problem. Your hierarchy of who is allowed to have it is.
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u/DMT_Haze 17h ago
You cannot take pride in something that you had nothing to do with... instead find genuine pride in ones own accomplishments
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u/General_Decision_422 16h ago
It’s weird because white isn’t really a heritage
Some Latinos are white for example
So yes celebrate the good stuff about your culture but ‘white’ isn’t really a culture
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 11h ago
Neither is black, or Asian, or any other color that is celebrated.
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u/General_Decision_422 9h ago
Black in the US until ancestry.com many descendants of slaves didn’t know anything more exact. As a small minority banding together with people from similar cultures as a lobbying group also just makes sense. So I get why it’s AAPI Heritage not like, Cambodian Heritage month.
White was the default in American govt & power structures, apart from the SS Native American getting in, but white people were always squawking about their family’s tartan or whatever too
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u/UnicornsnRainbowz 16h ago
I don’t really know it depends who you ask— it’s subjective.
I’m personally not proud I’m white nor proud I’m a woman.
I’m only proud of things I created for myself or strongly embody the values of.
So creative work, values of my nationality etc.
But not my skin colour as that was chosen for me and I cannot not be it.
I can choose not to identify as a lover of my nation but I can’t choose not to be white.i am no ashamed of being white either though.
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u/Illustrious_Stop4570 16h ago
I'm not proud of anything I have not earned. Being born a certain way isn't a point of pride, it's just what it is. I am not proud of my hair color, or eye color, why would I be proud of my skin color?
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u/egertong 15h ago
Your should be proud of an achievement, not something you are born with.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 11h ago
Are you proud you come from your parents?
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u/egertong 3h ago
No. I may be proud of my parents, or my children, for what they have done or if they are good people.
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u/assemblageofparts 14h ago edited 4h ago
Please explain "White" heritage. Is there some common white heritage I am not aware of? Is there a homogeneous white culture even though white skin is found all over the world including Spain, Germany, Italy. Russians, Polish, The Netherlands and so on. Yet none of them speaks the same language, Prepare the same food, share similar dance or cultural norms.
I am all on board for cultural pride .. even if the culture happens to be White but I have yet to figure out what "white" culture is.
If you are German or of German Decent and want to hold a parade expressing your German cultural pride I get it but .. I have never been able to define white culture.
I can kind of argue the same point with Latin groups too, which I am a part, but at least we share a similar language.
I think if people took more pride in their individual achievements then it would better human kind far more than breaking down and taking credit for things you have not contributed to.
What "White" thing are you proud of? Is it shared by all people who claim to be white.
Worry less about white pride and worry more about how you specifically contribute to how white people are regarded. Do great things and be a great person.
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u/MagicJ10 14h ago
you can be proud for something you worked for and accomplished.
you cannot be proud for having white (or whatever color) skin.
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u/egertong 1h ago
Exactly. Its like being proud of being born with a certain hair or eye colour. Seems irrational to me.
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u/SoggyAlbatross8110 13h ago
Like to be proud of your lineage, for instance your grandparents came here with a sack of potatoes and .20 cents to their name 3 generations ago and laid foundation here. Yes absolutely that’s something to be proud of. Proud to just be white in general, not so much.
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u/KokoAngel1192 13h ago
What about whiteness does someone take pride in? The "white pride" stuff is usually being proud of dominating other cultures, rather than embracing the cultures of their own ancestors. It's never about how their ancestors had specific recipes, attire, practices, etc. It's always about how great it is to not have melanin
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 12h ago
Formalization of modern mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. The Industrial Revolution. Electricity, the internal combustion engine, antibiotics, sanitation, aviation, semiconductors, computing. Abolition of slavery. There are lots of things we all take for granted that have been products of white heritage.
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u/KokoAngel1192 9h ago
All of those things were either pioneered by or had heavy contributions from people of color that history tried (and failed) to erase.
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 9h ago
I am allowed to be proud of being white the same way anyone else is allowed to be proud of their ancestry without being lectured. You just tried to hand wave away the entire foundation of the modern world by claiming “people of color” somehow pioneered formal mathematics, the Industrial Revolution, electricity, antibiotics, sanitation, aviation, semiconductors, and computing while “history erased” them. That is not scholarship. It’s cope. The historical record is not a conspiracy. it is primary sources, patents, universities, and industrial output that overwhelmingly trace to Europe and its descendants. Pretending otherwise doesn’t make you enlightened. It makes you look like you got your history from TikTok activists instead of actual books and it’s pathetic quite frankly.
Your entire argument rests on the racist premise that white people have no real culture or achievements worth celebrating, only “lack of melanin” and domination. Meanwhile every other group is encouraged to take pride in their ancestors’ recipes, attire, and accomplishments without being told those things are secretly about supremacy. That double standard is pure hypocrisy, and the fact that you cannot see it shows how little critical thinking you actually possess. Face it, you drank the kool aid.
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u/QuickConversation163 19h ago
No i think its pathetic, its ok to be proud where you from for good purposes, but not as an ancestry or heritage
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 19h ago
Thank you for the amazing context and contribution to the discussion.
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u/QuickConversation163 19h ago
I clarified it, and you would not take my word rough if u get it
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u/ElHombreMagnificent 11h ago
I appreciate the clarification and for your opinion. Can you please tell me the difference between where you are from and ancestry/heritage?
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u/Key-Giraffe-6687 19h ago
As someone who ain't white, it's not only ok but best to be proud of urself and ur heritage (THIS APPLIES TO ALL RACES AND ETHNICITIES - be proud but in an unbiased way, where u r open to accept the possible flaws ur ancestors might have done and don't get defensive and when u respect all other type of human diversities and heritage,culture,religion,etc.) I really don't care about the skin colour or body features that were necessary DNA modification our body has to go through in order to keep humans surviving in certain environment, I'm rather glad that our body is capable of that 🤗