# What is White culture? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652 "2009-11-15T13:30:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/41 "2009-11-16T12:58:23Z")
See, white people go like _this_, whereas non-white people go like _this_. That’s white culture. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/42 "2009-11-16T13:41:28Z")
Returning to the OP, I wonder if he/she is asking what is “white culture” as a general idea, or what do the popular pundits / bloggers who use this term mean when they use it? To my eye, “white culture” as a general idea is the grab-bag of mainstream American culture as described by many people above. And yes, non-white Americans find some of this culture off-putting or exclusionary, while other parts are fully genuine for them too. But when Glenn Beck or others of that ilk use it, it’s a coded reference to a idealized (??)version of 1950s America, one where White Men run things, white women are subservient baby- & dinner-makers, and non white people are seldom seen and never heard. Big difference in the two meanings. ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/43 "2009-11-16T15:22:25Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I think the point of SWPL is that for a very long time many people have taken for granted this idea of ‘‘mainstream culture’’ without stopping to consider that some people (like minorities) may not connect with it, or find it relatable, at all. I think the question proposed in the OP is a good one if only because it challenges people to consider that such a culture, or plurality of cultures, exists. > > We don’t consider our environment any more than a fish considers the water he lives in, but there are people who have always been aware of white culture because they had no choice. I think it would be a great thing if white people took some time to consider what it means to be white in America. It may not be easily defined, it may not apply to every individual, it might be fractured and split geographically and according to class, there may not be one right answer or a universal definition, but there is certainly meaning in it. For one thing it’s one of the strongest statistical predictors of overall quality of life. Maybe we can start there. > [@Sidney Evgeni Jordan](#): > > I agree that the question posed by the OP is a good one for the reason you state. But I wonder whether it is fair to say that white people do not take time to consider what it means to be white in America. I don’t presume to speak for all white people (nor do I think you were), but in my own personal experience, topics like whiteness, institutional racism, white privilege, etc., have been discussed in formal and informal settings (in my case, at my college and grad school, and while I was living in two major metropolitan areas). One thing that has certainly stood out for me is that these discussions about whiteness can get heated, which is, of course, all the more reason to continue the dialogue. > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I’m only going from my own experience. I was raised in an environment (suburban Midwest) where I was expected to believe we live in a post-racial society, but I was surrounded by racism. The dialog between races was completely shut down. As an undergrad we spent a lot of time talking about how racism is bad, and more time talking about what it means to be non-white, but very little time considering whiteness itself. I have no doubt such courses were taught at my extremely liberal school, I just never took them. The only formal race education I got was in ‘‘Contemporary Moral Problems’’ philosophy class in which racism was but a segment, and that was mostly about defining racism and affirmative action. > > Thus the very liberal intellectually curious me made it to 26 before ever critically evaluating the idea of white culture, and that might never have happened if it weren’t for the fact that my grad school happens to require a course sequence on American racism. I figure if it’s a question I never considered, there may be others out there who have never considered it either. Wow, this is really interesting to me. I certainly did not consider the idea of white culture until college. I’m 10+ years older than you, though, and when I applied to college, the abolishment of certain college admissions quotas was still recent enough, I think, that it was a topic for discussion. Also, I was a grad student when proposition 209 was passed in California (it amended the state constitution to prohibit public institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity.) I hadn’t really thought about these individual “bubbles” in my experience before. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/44 "2009-11-16T15:53:16Z")
> [@Skylark](#): > > I seem to recall there was once some sort of web log about things that white people, or Anglo-Saxon blue-blooded stock anyways, things that those white people were known to enjoy, but the name and web address escapes me. Does anyone recall it? White People like “Rio” by Duran Duran. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/45 "2009-11-16T15:58:05Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > Having lived pretty much all over the United States (not to mention, the world, thanks to my parents dragging us all over the place)…geez, how do you even begin to answer that? Massachusetts is not the same as the Midwest is not the same as California at ALL. Not to mention, there are distinct class cultural differences I’ve noticed in white culture. I remember leaving the rural French-Canadian bubble, upper-middle class Jewish bubble my parents had mostly encased us in during adolescence (not to mention the upper middle-class Indian bubble that is my private life), international private school bubble, college bubble…East Coast bubble, Midwest bubble…you get the idea and noticing all the class cultural and regional differences on (issues like education, marriage etc.) You point up the fact that there are White _cultures,_ not White culture. It’s in bubbles, basically. Some of the bubbles are a lot bigger and more durable than others. The White Southern Protestant bubble is one (which has distinctive “sub-bubbles” such as Appalachian, Texan, and Southeast). The White Urban Catholic bubble is another (with distinctive “sub-bubbles” that are Irish and Italian and overlapping regional “Venn bubbles”(?) of Northeast and Rust Belt). Breadbasket “agri-culture” is for all purposes a White culture covering the Midwest. Sometimes a bubble pops. People of the 2 or 3 most numerous White ethnicities - WASP, German, Scots-Irish - are largely deracinated “Genericans” because it’s been so many generations since their ancestors came over, _and_ because German culture was so strongly suppressed during WW1. (It survives mostly in enclaves, typically touristy ones.) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/46 "2009-11-16T16:26:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But when Glenn Beck or others of that ilk use it, it’s a coded reference to a idealized (??)version of 1950s America, one where White Men run things, white women are subservient baby- & dinner-makers, and non white people are seldom seen and never heard. Don’t forget: white women didn’t shack up with black men. > [@](#): > > Sometimes a bubble pops. People of the 2 or 3 most numerous White ethnicities - WASP, German, Scots-Irish - are largely deracinated “Genericans” because it’s been so many generations since their ancestors came over, and because German culture was so strongly suppressed during WW1. (It survives mostly in enclaves, typically touristy ones.) Also in Germany. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/47 "2009-11-16T18:06:35Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > White People like “Rio” by Duran Duran. Crap, I _am_ white. Edit: This above may not seem very surprising or interesting to most people, but I went most of my life under the impression I was not white until SWPL came along. Then the Duran Duran post. I love Duran Duran! Don’t make fun of me, you like bad stuff too! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/48 "2009-11-16T18:41:15Z")
Ahhh, they’re 1920’s-style “Billy” Rays. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/49 "2009-11-16T20:49:27Z")
Minnesota. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/50 "2009-11-17T01:34:40Z")
> [@Sidney Evgeni Jordan](#): > > Yes! I was born in the City of Champions in time to experience the Lemieux era. 🙂 I no longer live in Pittsburgh, though, so I have to get my Pens fix via NHL Center Ice. I miss Pittsburgh, but luckily I do get to visit family there a few times a year. 😃 All right!!! Did you see that shot the other night? NINE seconds to go! ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/51 "2009-11-17T03:11:50Z")
Yes, it was sweet. The family was cheering like it was a playoff game. Timmy T. was pretty mad, huh? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/52 "2009-11-18T02:08:38Z")
Yep – it almost made up for the Steelers’ loss on Sunday. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Recliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a88e57/32.png) [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652/53 "2009-11-18T03:47:11Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > In several entries they mention that some white people don’t actually like whatever is being described, but add that there aren’t “the right kind of white people” (presumably the type of white person who ISN’T young, hip, or a yuppie). So even within the blog itself there’s open acknowledgment that it isn’t really an accurate description of _all_ white people. The comments in the SWPL entries are always worth a chuckle – someone always gets angry, someone always tries to decry the entire site as racist, and someone else lamely admits that they were gladly going along with the entries until one hit too close to home. Basically, the “white people” described in the site are upper-middle-class-to-upper-class people (of _ANY_ racial background) who tend to have currently-popular “Liberal” political views, tend to be very aware of pop-culture, and tend to have a lot of disposable income. “Yuppies” is partly correct, but the “white people” in question need not be urban or “professionals” (and indeed, many are either in college or just-post-college). Part of the humor comes from the fact that the people reading the blog oftend tend to be those poked fun of therein. Oh, and the “whitest person” we know, per the blog, is of Indian descent. They admitted it. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-white-culture/517652.md?page=2)