“The reason for my silence on 9/11 is that I am not only Muslim. I am also American. I am also white. I am male and heterosexual. However, I am not asked, as an American, to reflect on the yearly anniversary of our atomic bombs falling upon Japan, or our countless military interventions throughout the world. There is no date on the calendar for me, as a white person, to demonstrate that I have properly reflected on slavery and the generations of inequality and naked white sadism between the slave era and our own unjust present; we could potentially have such a day, but often turn it into shallow self-congratulation. As a white person, I am not asked to consider the wanton murders of young black men by white cops or white civilians, or the white terrorism of shootings in gurudwaras, as directly relevant to my identity. Nor do I have a designated anniversary for reflection, as a straight man, on the horrifying statistics of rape or the ways in which heterosexism makes this country unsafe for so many.
As a Muslim, however, people do expect me to show evidence of my soul-searching over a single event, and I am regularly instructed by popular media to imagine 9/11 as a cancer within my own self. Journalists ask me about Islam’s “crisis” as though it’s a private demon with whom I must personally wrestle every day; meanwhile, my whiteness remains untouched and unchallenged by the decade of hate crimes that have followed 9/11. Journalists don’t often ask whether “white tradition” can be reconciled to modern ideals of equality and pluralism, or whether the “straight male community” is capable of living peacefully in America. When it comes to my participation in America, my whiteness and maleness are far more likely than my Islam to wound others, and thus perhaps more urgently in need of “reform” or “enlightenment” or whatever you say that Islam needs. Again, this is only if numbers matter.
”
—The Innocence of White People | VICE (via albertinho).
Actually I remember many times as a child being not just asked but made to feel guilty for my whiteness.
Every year on the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings our primary school Japanese teacher who read us descriptions and show us pictures of the horrors committed by the Americans and the allied forces. A captive audience of 8 year olds looked at the images with wide eyes filled with and felt a tremendous feeling of guilt at the actions of our ancestors. Despite the fact that we were Australian not American, and had nothing to do with the nuclear bombs except the having same skin colour as those who did.
I also remember when we were made to watch the kidnapping scenes from Rabbit Proof Fence (and only these disturbing scenes) in an apparent effort to make us fully understand the brutality and cruelty of our ancestors. A captive audience of 11 year olds watched the scenes in stunned horror, many reduced to tears, all feeling guilty for the policies of a government we did not vote for. Despite the fact that we were Australian not American, and had nothing to do with the kidnappings of the stolen generations except having the same skin colour as those who did.
There is also a movement in Australia to rebrand Australia Day “Invasion Day” in an effort to make us all reflect on, atone for, and feel guilty about the racist policies and atrocities committed by our ancestors when they settled Australia. This is despite the fact that we are a nation of immigrants who have little to do with the atrocities except having the same skin colour as those who did.
We have entire privately and publically funded university faculties with the explicit purpose of advancing the thesis that if you are white you share the guilt of all past a present racism, if you are male you share the guilt for all past and present sexism and if you are heterosexual you share the blame for all the past present homophobia committed by people with the same skin colour, gender and/or sexual orientation as you.
I am constantly told to question my skin tone that and reflect on how “my whiteness and maleness are far more likely than Islam to wound others.” Told to question not actions, my faith, or my ideology, but the very physical and unchangeable nature of my body. If I am guilty of all past these things because of the colour of my skin, it is not unreasonable to ask Muslims to reflect on the current nature, interpretation and expression of their faith in many parts of the world. It is not unreasonable to expect members a of peace to condemn those who claim to commit violence in the service of the religion they share, instead of organising protests against the video that the violence was in retaliation to.
Because despite being offended by the passage by the OP I am not going to storm his embassy and kill his ambassador. Nor am I going to give a child a sign that read “behead all those who make me feel bad about my skin tone.”
