Thread by @drvolts

This is so real. theroot.com/its-white-peop…

Matter of fact, I wrote about it once. vox.com/policy-and-pol…

I'm vigorously procrastinating exercise, so a short thread on this.

One of the great privileges of being part of a hegemonic group is that you're the standard model, the baseline -- just a Person rather than a [Modifier] Person. In this case, just a man rather than a white man.

This allows you individuality. In effect, you get to choose your identity, choose your modifiers, as you see fit. You're only a part of groups you choose; you only carry your own baggage, not collective baggage. You get to be unique, self-made, bespoke, not part of some lump.

When you enter a culture as a non-standard model, a [Modifier] Person, you carry all the collective baggage of that modifier. You are met with an array of assumptions, boxed & categorized, before you say or do anything. You aren't a blank slate; you carry a whole history.

This is why white men don't like to be called, or thought of, as "white men." It gives them a modifier, and with it, a bunch of baggage. It carries with it some history & a bunch of assumptions about how they think, what they believe, what they'll do, etc.

To people socialized to think of themselves as protean self-creators, unique free thinkers, it can be maddening & offensive to be lumped in with a group & subject to such assumptions. How dare you! #Notallwhitepeople!

Also, one aspect of recognizing that you're part of a group with a particular history & particular habits of thought is recognizing that there may be assumptions & biases affecting your thinking that *you aren't even aware of*, so thoroughly are you socialized in the group.

It's hard to overstate how much white dudes hate this idea -- that they came to their theories & worldviews not solely through the rigorous application of Reason, but because of where & when they are embedded in history, shaped by forces they do not control or fully understand.

"You just think what you think & say what you say because you're a white guy in 21st century" -- this is absolutely maddening to white guys. It feels like a loss of autonomy & control, a loss of self-ownership, a violation of their deepest self-definition.

Of course -- this is so obvious I don't even know if it counts as irony -- this is precisely how white men have treated [Modifier] Americans for all of US history, precisely what subaltern groups have struggled so hard to escape. It's how white guys *still* treat Others.

Anyway, I think this helps explain a lot of the anger at woke culture among white dudes purportedly on the left. There is no group on earth more in love with their own precious, unique, bespoke ideas & theories. They are not lemmings, they Reason!

All humans are prone to "fundamental attribution error" -- inclined to see other as products of their backgrounds & ourselves as individuals. Part of good intellectual & social practice, I think, is trying, to the extent possible, to reverse that. In other words ...

... a) try to take others more as individuals & less as the sum of their modifiers, while also b) becoming more aware & sensitive to the fact that you, like everyone, ARE part of particular social groups & ARE shaped by them & DO have habits & prejudices you're not aware of.

The only thing to do with that knowledge is be humble -- open to the possibility that you're wrong or that your conclusions have been shaped by the socialization your group receives. It means never being totally confident, living with uncertainty, giving up some sense of control.

For instance, if you're a white dude & someone tells you that your reactions to a female politician are shaped by culture's ubiquitous misogyny, maybe don't go straight to, "fuck you I know my own thoughts & intentions & you don't & I came to these reactions via Reason!"

Maybe just, like, take a moment. Sit with the possibility. Think about how you respond to male politicians. Do a little self-reflection; entertain the idea that some patterns in your thought & behavior might be discernible from the outside in a way they aren't from inside.

It doesn't mean either you have your opinions "because you're a minsogynst" or ... not. It's not a binary. It just means people are shaped by history & context in ways they're not always consciously aware of. Your range of individual motion is not nothing, but also not unbounded.

For white men, socialized to believe they're only Men to the extent they ARE in control, trained to view doubt & uncertainty as weakness, this is quite difficult. It's difficult for anybody! But it's just what other groups have had to deal with forever; welcome to life.

All right, I can only imagine the nightmarish responses this thread is eliciting, even as we speak, which gives me the motivation I need to get the F offline & go exercise. Mission accomplished!