Nathan Whiteside
Jul 28, 2017 · 4 min read

“That’s true, but you seem to exonerate the first robber, the African slave “sellers” and other robber combinations, including Blacks owning slaves…”

Not at all. The language I used was very specific. Both are equally culpable. Here, and in many of the passages of mine that you’re quoting, I’m not making statements in a vacuum — I’m making them in response to an effort to reframe majority-white actions as less awful and more noble than what I believe is warranted. If we were having a conversation about the situation without that biased starting point, I would be the first to say that African slavers bear just as strong a burden of guilt for their collusion in and perpetuation of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

“No doubt there were some who were part of the “Greatest Generation” who didn’t want to be in the armed forces or who were there for reason other than to thwart Nazi or Japanese aggression.”

Again, there is a context here. If I was responding to the assertion that Union soldiers gave their lives for the preservation of the Republic, I could see your point. But I was responding to the assertion that white people fought to end slavery. I agreed that that was true up to a point, but there was a whole army of white people fighting for states who specifically wrote in their secession articles that they were fighting to preserve the “peculiar institution of slavery". As for the North, those who fought out of a desire to end slavery should be applauded for that. Those who fought to preserve the Union should be applauded for that. And those who fought due to conscription should be recognized for the complexity of their situation. But to use your Greatest Generation analogy, while it turned out that they saved the Jews from concentration camps, they didn’t know about them until our armies got there, so you can’t, after the fact, act like they joined the US army to save the Jews from genocide. Neither can you give credit to every Union soldier for joining the army out of a motivation to end slavery.

“By this rationale, if a black man intercedes in and prevents a crime being perpetrated by another black person, even at his own peril, he should not be heralded as a hero or even a good citizen since he shares a genetic pigment similarity and, therefore, is responsible for all crimes committed by ‘his kind.’”

This is a more complicated topic, I’ll grant you, but let me start by saying that again, context is key. I was responding to a statement about how great white people are for passing civil rights legislation, so that’s where the generalization started, so I was responding in that same vein. Let me also point out that passing legislation is not the same as putting oneself in danger of bodily harm, so your analogy isn’t a great fit.

Now there’s also a bigger reason why the analogy doesn’t hold, which is that the hero in your rape scenario doesn’t benefit from that rape, whereas legislation designed to make black people either slaves or second-class citizens does benefit white people, even and especially those who didn’t enact it. So, while it’s certainly more noble to reverse those laws than to let them stand, and there is much credit to be given to the legions of white voters and activists who made those reforms possible, we have to be clear about the difference between doing the right thing and doing somebody a favor. Ending exploitation and systemic abuse is the right thing to do, but it’s hardly a favor. It’s just getting to baseline. It’s what everyone should be able to expect from their government regardless of race.

“The mistake you make is in thinking that these people who stood up to and put an end to slavery were somehow responsible for it in the first place…”

Again, not at all. I’ve worked through my white guilt, and I’m very clear that I bear no responsibility for the choices of anyone else, including my white ancestors. However, I and other white people in this country still benefit from the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. As just one example among many, there are currently 43 million white Americans today who have wealth inherited from their direct ancestors due to the Homestead Act, which specifically barred black people from benefiting and receiving land under that Act. Those 43 million white descendents aren’t guilty of writing the law nor of going out and taking that land, but they sure as hell haven’t given it up! They’re still benefiting in a way that black people can’t and never will, so there has to be some accountability for that. You don’t get to receive stolen goods, benefit from them, refuse to acknowledge it and make amends, and then act like you’re not in some way complicit.

“You think that you’re progressive in your thinking, but just the opposite is true.”

If my thought process were as simplistic as you’re making them out to be, and if I were making judgments based on skin color and not actions, I would agree with you. But neither is true. My arguments are based on a thorough and nuanced understanding of history and ethics. I hope in my responses you can see what I mean.

Nathan Whiteside

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