One of the advantages in being white is that nobody really gives a **** what you think, or at least not in that way, just as everyone online is American or not American, everyone online is white or not white, I could go on a rant about reverse racism or dismiss every movie or song I dislike as "to white" and while I'd likely irritate some people no one's really gonna care that much, I'm certainly not gonna be seen as some sorta traitor or freak, just another obnoxious left/right wing young man complaining about stuff he knows nothing about.
Basically you can stick out while being white and while people may judge you most of them won't think that much about your race because, well, your the default, no descripting tag needs to be added.
Get in to politics and it get's way messier, say you don't care about being white is pretty much perfectly acceptable on the left and for most of the right ignoring the fringes, say you don't care about being black and a the same chunk of the right will cheer while the left will response with a mix of discomfort and anger, I partly blame the lefts confusing relationship with individualism, something many of its members try to express as much as possible or also being keen to talk about how much they hate it and how disastrous it's effects have been.
Basically if you're black and say you're for individualism over being black, what comes out to certain folks on the left is.
1 I don't care about about the conditions which have led to the crime and poverty in many American ghetto's.
2 I'm one of the good ones, hire me Daily Wire
3 I would be happy see the black radicals of the 60's be shot or jailed because they were to loud, to black and to loud about being black.
Unsurprisingly all of this comes from a very American mindset, but like I said, on the internet everyone is American, unless there not the default.
So good i had to read it twice. Probably read it again later. We're all really a tribe of one (if even that), but the urge to be part of something more misleads too easily and often. The world needs more people like you but doesn't deserve them.
Long time'ish fan of your work and I thought this was a very thought provoking newsletter. I don't know if you check your comments, but I had a few quick thoughts/questions that I'd like to share, if you do.
1) Considering you live in the UK, do you find Black British people to be less prescriptive/judgemental about what constitutes blackness and somewhat less performative about it? Have you had jarring experiences in Britain?
I'm Black British and I've had a few incidences of that sort, but I wouldn't say it's a constant feature of my life. Offline, I've never really experienced that "too black for the white kids, too white for the black kids" feeling outside of a few moments as a teen.
2) "You see, in my imagination and in isolation, I’m disinterested in my skin colour: I can’t change this fact about me and therefore accept it, but I also can’t comprehend attaching some kind of spiritual or deterministic significance to it. To be proud of my skin colour just doesn’t make sense to me."
I really empathise with this and I was brought up in a relatively pro-Black environment! I went to pro-Black Saturday schools in the UK; my mother read Essence/Ebony to me; and I spent a lot of my teen years in a predominantly black country (where race was hardly discussed, but regardless).
I don't regret any of the above and can even look back at some points of that element of my childhood with fondness, but ultimately, even with a lot of positive reinforcement about blackness, I've never really been interested in attaching some sort of pride or abstract spiritual value to it as some others do. My blackness has always just been a very neutral fact about myself. It really is just what I am deemed in society and can't really sum up the entirety of my personhood.
I have friends who wax poetic about the adjacent values of blackness and while I don't judge them exactly, I've always felt that it can be performative at best and cringe at worst.
And I'm certainly not ashamed of my blackness and I find black histories, cultures and even norms very fascinating. But a lot of the overt pride always felt like overcompensating.
I agree with you Mark. I am a fan of Kid, but I also think that much of her view is not including black British people (who may or may not be on the left). We are not a monolith. I was raised in a very mixed (by marriage) family with all different influences in my family, friends and relationships. I love the black influence my mother gave us but also acknowledge that ours wasn’t a typical childhood and how I am now is a mix of things that are me.
I just wrote a joke for her to try and cheer her up, though she doesn't mingle with the peasants so I won't expect a response:
Zandi and her twin sister walk into a bar. The bartender says, "I can tell that one of you is black. But what about the other one?" Then Zandi replies, "Learn to stop saying offensive things, fat ass."
it wasn't ethical that the black community took out their anger at white community on you. they felt safer doing so however because they feared confronting thr white community directly. much like how im perceived as a mixed person in america white and black people in all their failure to directly confront eachother either passive agress or use those of middle shade skin tones they consider the in betweens as communjcative tools so meanwhile black people dont like being objectified ans understand how terrible it is racist behaviors among white racists are so hostile that its often mixed people who are used as a communicagive tool by both the aesthetically appearing more obviously monoracial rather than ambiguously appearing like me. its as if i dont even have a choice. black/white people are having a passive aggressive discussion with eachither through the use of people like me. often white people will be much more bold in their racist dialouges and behaviors towards me while pretending everything is perfect and great when in direct communications with people more monoracially black appearing than me while black people will be more welcoming to and less weary of me however they wont mind objectifying me thebsame way the white people do via triangulation of me both white ans black people do this to me. being an adoptee of a white right wing american family has also triangulated me by default. its basiacally everything i didnt even realize was imbedded in my knowing set me uo to be the house negro while the field negros bitter yet more comfortable at least communicating with me more directlt than with the whites who enslaved and beat them and the whites brought me into their home specifically for that reason. i have been raped over this i jave ended uo in tv network colonizer kitchens washing dishes not even meaning to end up there only ending up there because my upbringing just sent me there as if delivered. ok. i have to look out for myself because sometimes i cant even see it coming til its ripped my head off and then i have to twist it back in again but each time it happens i learn how better to dissalow black and white people who have difficulty communicating directly from using me as a communicative buffer/dumpster/tennis court on top of which to back and forth. i can go on and on i can and have written so much more and i wish i could talk some time with you because i actually dont have a lot of people to talk with at all about this and i think we have a lot in common when it comes to this. i have compassion and empathy for black and white people however i dont appreciate it when they use me as a communicatuve tool between them. its objectifying/dehumanizing. its as dehumanizing as the white supremacism that is the reason why its happening. i have empathy and compassion for everyone i interact with. i naturally/organically am typically just someone who represents humane interactivity however unfortunately im often met with resistance because often either and or both black and white people seem to want to remain within sense of entitlement to use the thorn that was grown out of forcing black slaves into birthing mixed children. although mixed children have been born bow for years and its done purposefully now and in genuine love by a lot of people who do it. we are still considered anomolies and we are still considered political in pur existence we are not seen as fully humans but at the same time people who are not self actualized no matter what their aesthetic appearance typically dont know how to psychologically comprehend what is human/what it means to be a self actualized human and they project the neurosis involved and all the behaviors involved all over eachother. i recognize this. its painful to experience therefore i am an advicate for authentic direct communication and self actualization in support of humanization rather than the unfortunately more common than not inclinations toward objectification/dehumanization. people who are not self actualized are not capable of fully registering/comprehending/fully respecting human bodies beyond their own when they cant even grasp the whole human/self actualized concept of their human selves. many black/mixed people are more likely to be self actualized & or at least be more likely to be more capable of communicating assertively for the sake of survival, however its a predominantly white charachteristic to communicate passive aggressively among whites in higher socioeconomic bracket in particular so that leaves not much space among white communities for self actualization. oh my god i will write a book here if i keep this up but it wpuld just be great to chat sometime. all skin tones are capable or passive aggressive and or assertive communication but in amwrica it is my experience that anarcho capitalism which is predominantly whitely led prefers and enforces that passive aggressive communications be mainstreamly used because it i dont dont want to get into it in public but yeah. ummm i would like if youbwont mind to connect with you somehow i would like to exchange email/give you my information. i. am on twitter/youtube etc. i feel like we could have either private or public conversations that would be very communcatively efficient/helpful perhaps to either ourselves privately and or publicly for others to hear. peace. i appreciate the transparency in your communicative style and your empathy and elegance i just ever increasingly especially as of late have some concerns about it and i want to be an internet frind from america who just hapoe s to have a communicatuve experience that i would like to share with you because i think it might be helpful for you as much as it has been helpful to me to hear your experience
white and black people are often curious about me and or immediately in wondering whos side am i on inna eay that just from getgo upon meeting new people who are black and white like if we're in a workplace together they just want to know whos side am i on black or white and which one do i think i am and or they assign which on they want to consider me and what they consider me will not depend on who i am and allowing me to narrate and show and tell them who i am but they just assign whateve makes them more or less comfortable to be around me deoending on wjether or not they fear or like me. but ya knkw it is objectifying because im never really just me. im the other meat that they're not sure if either want to invite to the table to eat or eat
im either invited to the table to eat with as an other though as. favor of some sort im never one with completely. im either invited to eat with, eaten, or discarded as no no dont even bither to anything what is that ither meat. "what are you"
It's funny – and pretty ironic – how F.D Signifier's fanbase (and maybe even F.D himself) – who often claim to be anti-racist, woke, progressive, etc. – will openly diminish someone's blackness if they don't see the world or reach the same conclusions as they do. Be it through racial slurs, comparisons to animals, or simply calling them "not black enough" (whatever that means). It's silly. Thinking certain things and reaching certain conclusions doesn't make someone more or less black. I say this as someone who is black but was raised in suburbia by black immigrant parents.
There are far more differences within racial groups than there are between them; that is the common-sense sentiment, or at least it should be. Back in the day, we used to call people who believed the opposite of that – that there are more differences between racial groups than within – racists!
Being very proud [or overly focused on] one's skin color [something we had no hand in] is usually a sure sign of someone whose never accomplished anything meaningful with their life.
One of the advantages in being white is that nobody really gives a **** what you think, or at least not in that way, just as everyone online is American or not American, everyone online is white or not white, I could go on a rant about reverse racism or dismiss every movie or song I dislike as "to white" and while I'd likely irritate some people no one's really gonna care that much, I'm certainly not gonna be seen as some sorta traitor or freak, just another obnoxious left/right wing young man complaining about stuff he knows nothing about.
Basically you can stick out while being white and while people may judge you most of them won't think that much about your race because, well, your the default, no descripting tag needs to be added.
Get in to politics and it get's way messier, say you don't care about being white is pretty much perfectly acceptable on the left and for most of the right ignoring the fringes, say you don't care about being black and a the same chunk of the right will cheer while the left will response with a mix of discomfort and anger, I partly blame the lefts confusing relationship with individualism, something many of its members try to express as much as possible or also being keen to talk about how much they hate it and how disastrous it's effects have been.
Basically if you're black and say you're for individualism over being black, what comes out to certain folks on the left is.
1 I don't care about about the conditions which have led to the crime and poverty in many American ghetto's.
2 I'm one of the good ones, hire me Daily Wire
3 I would be happy see the black radicals of the 60's be shot or jailed because they were to loud, to black and to loud about being black.
Unsurprisingly all of this comes from a very American mindset, but like I said, on the internet everyone is American, unless there not the default.
So good i had to read it twice. Probably read it again later. We're all really a tribe of one (if even that), but the urge to be part of something more misleads too easily and often. The world needs more people like you but doesn't deserve them.
Long time'ish fan of your work and I thought this was a very thought provoking newsletter. I don't know if you check your comments, but I had a few quick thoughts/questions that I'd like to share, if you do.
1) Considering you live in the UK, do you find Black British people to be less prescriptive/judgemental about what constitutes blackness and somewhat less performative about it? Have you had jarring experiences in Britain?
I'm Black British and I've had a few incidences of that sort, but I wouldn't say it's a constant feature of my life. Offline, I've never really experienced that "too black for the white kids, too white for the black kids" feeling outside of a few moments as a teen.
2) "You see, in my imagination and in isolation, I’m disinterested in my skin colour: I can’t change this fact about me and therefore accept it, but I also can’t comprehend attaching some kind of spiritual or deterministic significance to it. To be proud of my skin colour just doesn’t make sense to me."
I really empathise with this and I was brought up in a relatively pro-Black environment! I went to pro-Black Saturday schools in the UK; my mother read Essence/Ebony to me; and I spent a lot of my teen years in a predominantly black country (where race was hardly discussed, but regardless).
I don't regret any of the above and can even look back at some points of that element of my childhood with fondness, but ultimately, even with a lot of positive reinforcement about blackness, I've never really been interested in attaching some sort of pride or abstract spiritual value to it as some others do. My blackness has always just been a very neutral fact about myself. It really is just what I am deemed in society and can't really sum up the entirety of my personhood.
I have friends who wax poetic about the adjacent values of blackness and while I don't judge them exactly, I've always felt that it can be performative at best and cringe at worst.
And I'm certainly not ashamed of my blackness and I find black histories, cultures and even norms very fascinating. But a lot of the overt pride always felt like overcompensating.
FWIW, thank you for sharing your experiences.
I agree with you Mark. I am a fan of Kid, but I also think that much of her view is not including black British people (who may or may not be on the left). We are not a monolith. I was raised in a very mixed (by marriage) family with all different influences in my family, friends and relationships. I love the black influence my mother gave us but also acknowledge that ours wasn’t a typical childhood and how I am now is a mix of things that are me.
I just wrote a joke for her to try and cheer her up, though she doesn't mingle with the peasants so I won't expect a response:
Zandi and her twin sister walk into a bar. The bartender says, "I can tell that one of you is black. But what about the other one?" Then Zandi replies, "Learn to stop saying offensive things, fat ass."
it wasn't ethical that the black community took out their anger at white community on you. they felt safer doing so however because they feared confronting thr white community directly. much like how im perceived as a mixed person in america white and black people in all their failure to directly confront eachother either passive agress or use those of middle shade skin tones they consider the in betweens as communjcative tools so meanwhile black people dont like being objectified ans understand how terrible it is racist behaviors among white racists are so hostile that its often mixed people who are used as a communicagive tool by both the aesthetically appearing more obviously monoracial rather than ambiguously appearing like me. its as if i dont even have a choice. black/white people are having a passive aggressive discussion with eachither through the use of people like me. often white people will be much more bold in their racist dialouges and behaviors towards me while pretending everything is perfect and great when in direct communications with people more monoracially black appearing than me while black people will be more welcoming to and less weary of me however they wont mind objectifying me thebsame way the white people do via triangulation of me both white ans black people do this to me. being an adoptee of a white right wing american family has also triangulated me by default. its basiacally everything i didnt even realize was imbedded in my knowing set me uo to be the house negro while the field negros bitter yet more comfortable at least communicating with me more directlt than with the whites who enslaved and beat them and the whites brought me into their home specifically for that reason. i have been raped over this i jave ended uo in tv network colonizer kitchens washing dishes not even meaning to end up there only ending up there because my upbringing just sent me there as if delivered. ok. i have to look out for myself because sometimes i cant even see it coming til its ripped my head off and then i have to twist it back in again but each time it happens i learn how better to dissalow black and white people who have difficulty communicating directly from using me as a communicative buffer/dumpster/tennis court on top of which to back and forth. i can go on and on i can and have written so much more and i wish i could talk some time with you because i actually dont have a lot of people to talk with at all about this and i think we have a lot in common when it comes to this. i have compassion and empathy for black and white people however i dont appreciate it when they use me as a communicatuve tool between them. its objectifying/dehumanizing. its as dehumanizing as the white supremacism that is the reason why its happening. i have empathy and compassion for everyone i interact with. i naturally/organically am typically just someone who represents humane interactivity however unfortunately im often met with resistance because often either and or both black and white people seem to want to remain within sense of entitlement to use the thorn that was grown out of forcing black slaves into birthing mixed children. although mixed children have been born bow for years and its done purposefully now and in genuine love by a lot of people who do it. we are still considered anomolies and we are still considered political in pur existence we are not seen as fully humans but at the same time people who are not self actualized no matter what their aesthetic appearance typically dont know how to psychologically comprehend what is human/what it means to be a self actualized human and they project the neurosis involved and all the behaviors involved all over eachother. i recognize this. its painful to experience therefore i am an advicate for authentic direct communication and self actualization in support of humanization rather than the unfortunately more common than not inclinations toward objectification/dehumanization. people who are not self actualized are not capable of fully registering/comprehending/fully respecting human bodies beyond their own when they cant even grasp the whole human/self actualized concept of their human selves. many black/mixed people are more likely to be self actualized & or at least be more likely to be more capable of communicating assertively for the sake of survival, however its a predominantly white charachteristic to communicate passive aggressively among whites in higher socioeconomic bracket in particular so that leaves not much space among white communities for self actualization. oh my god i will write a book here if i keep this up but it wpuld just be great to chat sometime. all skin tones are capable or passive aggressive and or assertive communication but in amwrica it is my experience that anarcho capitalism which is predominantly whitely led prefers and enforces that passive aggressive communications be mainstreamly used because it i dont dont want to get into it in public but yeah. ummm i would like if youbwont mind to connect with you somehow i would like to exchange email/give you my information. i. am on twitter/youtube etc. i feel like we could have either private or public conversations that would be very communcatively efficient/helpful perhaps to either ourselves privately and or publicly for others to hear. peace. i appreciate the transparency in your communicative style and your empathy and elegance i just ever increasingly especially as of late have some concerns about it and i want to be an internet frind from america who just hapoe s to have a communicatuve experience that i would like to share with you because i think it might be helpful for you as much as it has been helpful to me to hear your experience
white and black people are often curious about me and or immediately in wondering whos side am i on inna eay that just from getgo upon meeting new people who are black and white like if we're in a workplace together they just want to know whos side am i on black or white and which one do i think i am and or they assign which on they want to consider me and what they consider me will not depend on who i am and allowing me to narrate and show and tell them who i am but they just assign whateve makes them more or less comfortable to be around me deoending on wjether or not they fear or like me. but ya knkw it is objectifying because im never really just me. im the other meat that they're not sure if either want to invite to the table to eat or eat
im either invited to the table to eat with as an other though as. favor of some sort im never one with completely. im either invited to eat with, eaten, or discarded as no no dont even bither to anything what is that ither meat. "what are you"
It's funny – and pretty ironic – how F.D Signifier's fanbase (and maybe even F.D himself) – who often claim to be anti-racist, woke, progressive, etc. – will openly diminish someone's blackness if they don't see the world or reach the same conclusions as they do. Be it through racial slurs, comparisons to animals, or simply calling them "not black enough" (whatever that means). It's silly. Thinking certain things and reaching certain conclusions doesn't make someone more or less black. I say this as someone who is black but was raised in suburbia by black immigrant parents.
There are far more differences within racial groups than there are between them; that is the common-sense sentiment, or at least it should be. Back in the day, we used to call people who believed the opposite of that – that there are more differences between racial groups than within – racists!
Being very proud [or overly focused on] one's skin color [something we had no hand in] is usually a sure sign of someone whose never accomplished anything meaningful with their life.