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White Power and Pride in the United States
By @geekygambit | April 23, 2016
The majority within the United States in regard to the composition of its racial markup is white.[cite] While holding the majority in the political power structure and controlling the majority of the wealth in economy of the nation, whites as a whole have certain privileges afforded to themselves. The white ethnicity is extremely diverse. The white race is multicultural and is made up of multiple ancestries. It might be surprising to some who self-identify today as white to find out that their ancestors had to fight to have the status of being considered white. This is practically true for when the Irish, Germans, Norwegians and Swedes who emigrated to America. When they arrived here they were considered inferior to the power structure that was in place. That power structure being the white European descent that forged the county of the United States into existence by means of manifest density. The immigrants fought for the “privilege” to be considered white so that they would not be the minority, and in the process of confirming they lost their sense of culture or heritage of identity through assimilation. The desire to not be considered an outcast in society was to the extent that personal identity was sacrificed and seemed reasonable. The other option was to not assimilate and be subjected to harsh treatments that minorities in general faced. Racism and prejudice ran rampant in early America against all minorities.
It is self evident that the United States promoted a vision of a white america with the with the wording of it’s legislation in regards to granting citizenship to the nation. With the Naturalization Act of 1790, the United States’ first bill on granting citizenship to immigrants, it was exclusive to “free white persons” of “good moral character.” Citizenship afforded the right to vote, and this was the tool for controlling the destiny of the country’s laws and future.
During the institutional promoted slavery times of the of the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation through executive order and presidential proclamation by Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves on January 1, 1863. This was an effort by the president of the Union to cause economic hardship and hindrance to the war effort of the slave owners of the south. Even after this new found “freedom”, African Americans were discriminated against by the majority. The passage of the Fourteenth Amendment on July 9, 1868 gave African Americans birthright citizenship and the power to vote. However it was not until The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed by the 88th United States Congress that the law protected all minorities and people no matter their race, color, sex or national origin from discrimination.
Push and pull factors have drawn populations to move into the Americas with the prospects of religious and political freedoms. But assimilation into the United States came quickly for many immigrants who changed the spelling and pronunciation of their given and family names in order to adopt an American identity. In some instances, an entirely new last name would be adopted, sweeping cultural ties to the homeland under the carpet.
One group that fought for the title of white was where the Irish, and in the process of this battle they subjected others to the same harsh treatment as themselves had experienced. Like many groups before them, it was a matter of a push factor that persuaded many of the Irish to move to the land of opportunity that America boasted itself as having. The Irish immigrants started to migrate to the Americas as the populations in Ireland grew quickly. Through this push factor, many of the lower class Irish had to adopt a new sense of who they were. It was common for the lower class to not yield a particular trade, thus limiting the options of what laborer they could perform to support a lifestyle. Many went into debt to flee their county of birth. They gained travel by ship and land then secured the property and seed to secure a style of farming in America. [1 pg 20] They were in a sense putting all of their eggs in one basket, and had to hold out for a successful first harvest to free themselves from the schemers that helped them land onto the shores of America. Those who were unable to secure funds to start a farming enterprise had to fight for other general laboring such as to work on a plantation to pay their way in life. More skilled individuals of Irish descent such as the artisans, business operators and persons into trades such as teaching had better means to establish themselves in the new world. When famine struck Ireland in the 1930s, more migration occurred to the United States. This left the Irish as the third poorest group in the States, next to the African-Americans and Native Americans respectively. With little wealth to their name, the Irish ran into a rut wherever they settled, usually spending the remaining of their working careers for low pay, which never let them leave the poor conditions they faced. The institutional system in place left little lateral promotion for the lower demonionas of the population.
When the economy improved in America, the Irish started to find themselves in better positions of power in the laborer markets. When this occurred the Irish started to discriminate against the African Americans and drove a wedge of separation between the classes. [2 p 9] At the same time, by cutting ties to their ancestry back in Ireland, they essentially afforded themselves the title of being white by the majority.
The Euro-Americans of the United States historically have put much effort into suppressing minorities and their ability to migrate. These preventive measures kept the reins of control in white hands. With the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, congress had passed its first effort to stifle foreigners from emigrating to the United States. With the passage of this legislation, federal agents were assigned to ports of entry to check the status of the persons entering the country. This was the birth of the Federal Immigration Service and a precursor to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. [3]
With the Immigration Act of 1891, the Federal government “assumed direct control of inspecting, admitting, rejecting, and processing all immigrants seeking admission to the United States” [4] The 1891 Immigration Act also created the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration within the Treasury Department of the United States, which oversaw all of the federal agents at the ports. The Department of Homeland Security was established on November 25, 2002, by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, and through this act the DHS assumed various responsibilities, including the oversight on all persons entering and leaving the United States. Specifically with the U.S. Border Patrol, an agency of DHS, through “Operation Gatekeeper”, illegal immigration is combated. Through the Immigration Enforcement Actions report prepared by DHS, it is documented for the Fiscal Years 2011 to 2013 that illegal immigration has been decreasing. Through these acts, it is encouraged for lawful immigration by due process of the law established by the United States legislative. In recent years, the United States government has become a more diverse political power representing the population that they represent and serve.
Even with these strides in a progressive America to provide equal opportunity to all, some “white pride groups” fall under the political ideology of white nationalism, were a core of beliefs still insists on racist beliefs. This is under the directive of radical groups such as Neo Nazis, the KKK, and Skinheads. These groups have malicious intent and a false sense of patriotism and a worldview that whites have right to the land and to have explicit control over it. These groups twist the idea of white pride into a racist assault on all people.
Pride in heritage and ancestry should exists and should be able to expressed by any person, no matter their race or ethnicity. The idea behind white pride however is twofold; can you promote pride in your ancestry while not acting in a racist manner? While having pride in their ancestry, seeking heritage identity apart from a collective of the majority, and who are not white nationalists it is possible. With the Third-Generation Principle, the assimilated become culturally curious of their past. For the populations of whites who have lived in this country for generations, when does this spark occur?
The United States has drastically shifted in dynamics over it’s course and has grown a long way since it’s days of promoted slavery and segregation. January 20, 2009 was a landmark day for america as Barack Hussein Obama II assumed the role of President of the United States of America. With biracial heritage, and self identifying as an African American, Obama is a role model to break stereotypes and to lead the generations of our future into having acceptance of all heritages, ethnicities and races, no matter the background. It is important to note that Obama is living proof of change in america. No longer do we live in a nation of White vs Black, or a nation of Black or White, but rather a nation of all people sharing a common goal to uphold rights and freedoms. Old wisdom sticks true; United we stand, divided we fall.
Topics: Academia | 2 Comments »
October 10th, 2017 at 2:12 am
Very informative article, Thank you.
February 28th, 2018 at 2:29 am
Excellent info here, I am currently doing some research and found exactly what I was looking for