White Power? Coming from me? Whad up wit dat?

No, I am not advocating for the KKK or neo-Nazis. But ask yourself this question? What does it mean to be white? Do white people talk about what makes them white (other than their skin)? I think not. Which is part of the problem. White people don’t talk about the things that put them in the position they are. They need to talk about their history, what they should demand of themselves. What their boundaries are. Should you be a white person like George Bush? Marilyn Monroe? Marilyn Manson? Martha Stewart? Stalin? What does it mean to be white? Who should white heroes be?

Yes, I rant about racism and how ridiculous to think it has ended. But one of the problems I see is total self-denial. That is because white people don’t discuss, with anyone, what being white is about. To so many whites, race doesn’t exist because they don’t see themselves as white people, just as people. I think of myself that way sometimes, but don’t have the luxury of self-erasing my color.

To the same extent, the same goes for men. RQ spoke in “They’re made of Meat” of the how confused men are about how to treat women. Feminism as post-modern construct is a little less than forty years old. Men don’t know how to treat women because in so many ways (and I am not faulting women in this) the dialog about men and women has been a negative. Plus. not every woman is a feminist and capable of fighting the good fight. After all, who is going to teach men to learn new ways and forget the old ones? For whatever reason (most of them physical), men dominated the world for centuries. Unlearning bad behavior will not disappear in a little over a generation, especially since the argument still rages (and also because the US is still the most advanced as far as feminism relative to other nations).

So, yes, like White Power, I would like to see Man Power (I know, lousy title). Man power that talks about feelings.

And just to give add perspective. Remember that Black Power was based on an image issue; Blacks had for at least a century been told that the best way to gain in society was to act white. Pick up an old copy of Ebony and you will see it littered with skin lighteners (laced with mercury) and hair straighteners (laced with lye). Obviously, the color issue has not gone away in the black community, but remember Black Power too (or what’s left of it is also only barely a generation old.

OK, so we need better names than White Power and Man Power, but change must come from within.