I will not bow to Political Correctness, nor will I wallow in "White Guilt". I am what I am by accident of birth and cultural conditioning (plus a smattering of independent thinking), and I see no reason to feel guilty for something someone else did, nor because I have worked hard to achieve a modicrum of success in my career, relying on my talents and education, and taking advantage of opportunities that have come along.
I have prejudices for which I will not apologize. If I see a mangy, snarling dog eyeing me with less than friendly intent, I do not stick around to confirm or deny my prejudice, earned from experience, I quickly find a safe path.
In the same way, I have had less than cordial experiences with certain groups of people. Because of my experience, I avoid contact with those groups. In fact, my prejudices are based on remarkably similar experiences with certain groups over time, space and context. Odds are, my experience tells me, that any future contact will have the same outcome as before.
My prejudices are earned and serve as a protective feature of my personality. i am open to new and more positive experiences with those groups, but I am always alert to signs that I will be bitten if I continue to engage with them.
On one occasion, I was riding with a friend of the "enlightened liberal" persuasion. We were behind a car on the freeway that was swerving and dodging in and out of traffic. My friend cursed the driver, and I simply said, "Asian."
He chastised me for using "gross generalizations" and labeling people without knowing the facts. I just pointed out that I had experience with Asian drivers.
A short time later, we passed the swerving car and my friend laughed. I looked at him, and he said, "He's Asian." I did not feel the need to say, I told you so."
Having worked in the entertainment industry all my life, I have had broad experience with just about every gradation of gender and sexual orientation. I have no problem whatsoever hugging and kissing other men, nor watching lovers of the same gender cavorting together. However, I am a confirmed heterosexual. That is my preference, get over it.
For most of my adult life, I have been chided and cajoled, railed against and teased by friends and family who are of the unthinking liberal types. They have spent inordinate amounts of time trying to convince me that I am a chauvinistic misogynist who does not embrace "diversity" nor edit my thoughts to conform with the mass mind. This while they live in pearly white suburban nests and I have traveled to over 40 countries - living in five of them - learning languages, eating local cuisines and celebrating the splendid variety of viewpoints, traditions and environments. None of which my "diverse" family and friends would abide.
Why, I've had one wife of Apache-Mexican decent, and my current wife is Indonesian of Chinese-Javanese decent. Most of my "diverse" friends and family have only been with white Protestant mates and partners. Yet, I am the one guilty of not being "diverse" and of being "white".
About this white thing...
A number of years ago, the convenient idiot known as Jesse jackson declared the Negroid race was composed of a "black rainbow". Probably the one thing on which I agree with him. There are many shades of Negroid. In fact, what Indonesians call "black" is simply someone with a dark tan who likely works outdoors for a living.
I believe that there is a "white rainbow", too. I am not really "white," I am more of a pinkish color with spots ranging from yellowish to quite black, making me really a member of all skin colors. People from the Mediterranean region of Europe are "olive" skinned. The Germanic and Scandinavian people are a sort of "bronze" color. The British are famously "gray." This would appear to refute any argument that there is a "white" race.
I also take issue with being called a "Caucasian." As a clear genetic descendant of the Celts and Vikings (red hair, blue eyes, pale skin, fiery temper), and based on recent genetic studies, my people did not originate in the Caucasus Mountains of Russia.
As for the charge of being misogynistic, well...I just have to laugh. Being a dyed-in-the-wool heterosexual, I hardly hate women. I find the company of women to be most enjoyable and I celebrate the differences we have. Vive la difference!
That charge, in particular, came from a feminist lesbian who was paired with a woman trying her level best to look and act like a man. So if she was so against the way I enjoy the company of "feminine" women, why did she choose a "male" partner? Obviously, even homosexuals still find comfort in gender roles, even if they prefer other "equipment."
One reason I am labelled a misogynist is because I firmly believe that abortion is murder. It is murder as surely as lining up a row of imbeciles and mowing them down is murder. Just because a foetus cannot survive on its own (yet), or has not achieved fully cognition (yet) does not make it a "lump of tissue" to be removed. It is still a human being, as much as the row of imbeciles, who likewise have not achieved full cognition and depend on others for survival. The choice with pregnancy comes before it happens, not after. If I chose to put my hand into a fire, I cannot blame the fire for getting burned. That is its nature.
In fact, that I love and tolerate my family and friends who are unable to think clearly proves that I am "diverse." That I have gone more places, eaten strange foods, learned new languages (14 to date), reveled in foreign cultures and traditions, while they have stayed in the safe white suburban nests is conclusive evidence that I celebrate the human condition in all its forms. If, in my experience, I have learned certain prejudices, then no one can say that those prejudices are wrong.
As for "white guilt," well, guess what? I will not partake. My ancestors received the crossed arrows from the Comanche and my former wife and my daughter are part Apache. Some of my ancestors owned slaves, while others ran underground railroads helping them escape. Some fought for US independence, and others for Texas. I personally am an artists who strives to create beauty and meaning out of chaos and destruction.
I don't deny that some "white" folks engaged in some bad things, but I did not take part in, nor have any say in them. Nor would I participate if given the opportunity today. At the same time, I think we can make a pretty comprehensive list of terrible things done by Negroids and Mongoloids, too. Terrible acts are not limited to any one group or race. "White" folks have done some pretty despicable things, but they have also done some rather amazing things. So have Negroids and Mongoloids. Every race, religion, political affiliation, culture, and any other division you can think of have all been guilty of terrible things.
Do I feel guilty for any of it? No. Because I didn't partake in any of it. Just as I cannot bear guilt for Adam and Eve snacking in the Garden, nor can a bear guilt for the actions of folks who happen to share certain physical traits with me. My attitude has always been, and has been borne out by my life story, to live and let live.
I refuse to succumb to pressure to conform to "diversity" and "political correctness" and "white guilt." If you want to associate only with those who agree in every way with your worldview, then please do. I prefer to dive into the world and experience its glorious spectrum.
Post Scriptum - For those who take issue with my use of the words Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid, please see this link, because I will not apologize for formal taxonomic terms, either.