When my Irish ancestors came to America, this is how they were portrayed.
The whole point of the Scorsese movie Gangs of New York was to illustrate the contempt with which the Anglo-American majority treated Irish immigrants. They saw them as black.
The same thing happened later, with the Italians. Then with the Russians. But today you wouldn’t see Bruce Springsteen or Jerry Seinfeld portrayed as anything but white. Like Alec Baldwin. Like me.
When people write that America will soon be “majority non-white” this is what they’re ignoring. People can easily be made “white” when it’s convenient. By being made “white,” these same people can then look down upon other people, darker people.
This is George Zimmerman. He’s Hispanic. His mother was born in Peru. He’s the man who shot Trayvon Martin. Got away with it, too. Why? Look at the picture. White man, right?
When it’s in the interests of power, lots of people can be made white. Latin America has the same issues of color as North America. Most of their leaders are descended from white Spaniards. When you see one descended from native Americans, this becomes obvious. Hispanics descended from Spaniards are easy to make “white.”
Indians come in a variety of colors, depending on where in India they’re from. Many of my wife’s friends are indistinguishable from Europeans.
The birth name of Nikki Haley is Nimrata Nikki Randhawa. Both her parents were Punjabi. But look at her. White lady. Then listen to her politics. Very white lady.
America is not becoming a majority-minority country. America will always have a majority. That majority will simple redefine itself, as it has in the past. By education. By income. By privilege. What’s so black about Herschel Walker, other than his skin? Ever since it was learned how fast he could run with a football under his arm, he has lived a life of privilege. If your life is white enough, even a black man can pretend, and white folks will let him.
Once you and your family become white, your kids live a life of privilege. I am a recipient of white privilege. My family got a huge Small Business Administration loan in the 1970s, after my father fell through a false roof. They had no trouble buying multiple houses in multiple suburban tracts. I got into Rice despite barely making the top 20% of my graduating class. I admit it.
But it’s time to make every American white. Every black kid deserves the privileges I grew up with. Every kid does. This is how we’ll build the human capital we need to keep dominating the world economy. In a technology economy people are infrastructure too, my friend.
