Maybe? I mean, whenever I see somebody claiming that they’re “ashamed to be white”, it’s always in the context of some aspect of actual racism and bigotry. I don’t see anyone saying they’re “ashamed to be white” in the context of, say, what shade of makeup they wear or which SPF sunscreen they have to use. Or, for that matter, in the context of foods or hobbies that tend to be coded as “culturally white” but politically neutral, such as tying trout flies or baking snickerdoodles.
So I think it’s quite reasonable to interpret statements about being “ashamed to be white” as rejections of the pernicious ideology of white racism, rather than a condemnation of merely having white skin or being racially categorized as white.
I know. I even acknowledged that your statement was correct.
I think you’re essentially correct in that’s what many people mean, but when combined with other habits, like apologetically disclosing one is white when entering a thread, I think the meaning shifts a bit. But I’ve always found it grating whenever I hear someone say, “It makes me ashamed to be…” so maybe this is just a quirk of mine. When people say that I think they’re doing two things: Making it about themselves and virtue signaling. “Hey, folks, I’m a white dude but I subscribe to privilege theory and I want you to know that I fit in here.”
The subtext of this OP, I suggest, may be something like:
“I am sick and tired of liberals trying to make me feel bad about my racism, which I call something else far more flattering like realism or common sense, or traditional values. White people who are ashamed of the behavior of white people are pathetic losers, and I refuse to be one of those. Apologies are for the weak.”
“I’m ashamed to be white” tends to mean, “#notallwipipo, and specifically not me!” It’s a way for people to distance themselves from systems of white supremacy, when those systems are inconveniencing or embarrassing for them. It gets up my nose when I see it, because it’s not a statement of anti-racism; it’s an abdication of responsibility for fixing this shit.
No, of course you shouldn’t be ashamed of your skin color. But if you’re an American who gets identified as white, you benefit from an enormous structure of inequality and violent oppression. Your focus shouldn’t be on letting everyone know how embarrassed you are about your skin color, that’s stupid and vain, your focus should be on figuring out how you’re gonna leverage your advantages to help dismantle the structures of white supremacy.
I think this is pretty much always true. “I’m ashamed to be white,” pretty much means “I’m ashamed of white people, which unfortunately includes me.” It’s a bit of hyperbole, since the person must know that not every single white person espouses the horrible opinion.
But I know how it feels, and I have probably even said “I’m ashamed to be white,” after a particularly egregious example of racism came to the fore. I have also had moments when I said I was ashamed to be Jewish. I specifically recall expressing this opinion when Yigal Amir shot Yitzhak Rabin.
In neither instance was I genuinely prepared to renounce a characteristic I was born with, had I been able to. It was hyperbole. But it was sincerely expressed hyperbole to make a point I genuinely believed in.
Well, it’s not when I say it. I think I know what you mean, though; I do know a lot of white people who do seem to think that by verbally distancing themselves from racism, they distance themselves from any responsibility for it. These are the kind of people who tend to enumerate their black friends any time the subject of racism comes up, and also to talk a lot about the black person they dated once in college, 28 years ago.
I think this is both pretty half-assed as a debate topic, possibly intentionally inflammatory and perilously close to our ‘Tired Topic’ of one race being inherent inferior.