Originally posted by square_peg
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So when they speak of "black pride," they mean that they refuse to feel the shame that oppressors tried to cast upon them, that they'll instead view themselves with honor and esteem, knowing that to the contrary, it's not at all shameful or evil to be black. When they speak of black pride, they mean that they're grateful and content to be part of a racial group that kept persevering against oppression despite all the obstacles. Though some extremist groups may try to twist it into something different, that is the historical meaning of and reason for the term. Unless one is a relatively recent immigrant to America, to be black in this nation is not only to have dark skin, but also to be a member of that which was societally viewed as inferior, evil and powerless, the historic underdog.
That sort of pride isn't "Look at what other black people did hundreds and thousands of years ago!"
but rather "I share a characteristic with many other people who have been horrendously denigrated and oppressed precisely because of that characteristic, but I will not let myself be shamed and thereby continually oppressed by this characteristic. I will instead view myself and my fellow people who share this characteristic with esteem and honor."
Meanwhile, white people in America have never been an oppressed minority group;
they were never counted as essentially only 3/5ths of a person or told that they're naturally inferior to other races and that their skin color is something shameful and evil.
Therefore, there is absolutely no reason for them to have "white pride."
An important distinction here is that there have been some people in America who had white skin and were legitimately mistreated, such as the Irish, but as crazy as it may sound, the Irish weren't considered "white" back then. By "white people" I don't simply mean "people who have light skin tones," but rather people who are considered to be the default of a nation, the "pure" setting, the majority that holds the power.
When speaking of race, "white" never simply means skin color, but also power. It's perfectly legitimate for descendants of oppressed groups who happen to have light skin tones to have Irish pride or German pride or Italian pride, but never "white" pride. To be Irish or German or Italian in America didn't always mean to hold power and be lumped into the default group, but being considered "white" has always meant that.
As Zymologist pointed out earlier, there's no rational reason to be proud of one's race in the sense of having certain physical features or skin tones. After all, you didn't choose or "achieve" those features. You were simply born into them; it was essentially a genetic accident.
There's also no rational reason to be proud of one's race in the sense of boasting that people who aren't related to you and lived hundreds of years before you did achieved great things.
There's no inherent feature in Europeans that made them capable of achieving all those things.
And as I've explained, that's not what black people mean by "black pride."
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