On Not Being White

 

All that really matters in life, they say.

Not long ago, in some casual discussion, another participant casually said, “we white people have to...” I immediately gagged mentally. I am not a white person. I have never thought of myself as a white person. I am offended at being involuntarily enlisted in this imaginary tribe. I am offended at someone assuming affinity with me on this basis. And this is also, I believe, the first time I have ever heard a fellow Canadian speak in such terms. Not “we Canadians,” but “we white people”? This bodes ill.

The notion of “white” and “black” as descriptions for people is obviously imported from the United States, where it has been historically significant. It is a framing imposed illicitly on Canada, as on most of the rest of the world. Growing up in Eastern Canada, there were no blacks, so there were no whites. Nobody thought in such terms; why would they? The tribal fault lines here were whether you were Anglophone or Francophone, Catholic or Protestant, and, in many areas, Irish or English. Making it about race somewhere else is a way to ignore our own history, and perhaps perpetuate our prejudices. Affirmative action for a few pet blacks or First Nations, for example, is a great way to avoid hiring any Irish. 

As one of Irish Catholic heritage, the subtext of assimilating me to some fictitious “white” tribe is to ignore my distinct religious and cultural heritage and assimilate me to the English. My ancestors suffered terribly and fought for half a millennium to preserve their own religion and heritage. Accordingly, the idea that I am “white” is deeply offensive.

Ultimately, though, my tribe is not Irishry. My tribe is Catholicism. Skin colour is the ultimate in superficiality: what matters is the values one holds, and it is for those values that my own ancestors actually suffered and died. Accordingly, I feel more spontaneous affinity with a Filipino or African Catholic than with an Anglican of pale complexion--although I hope I am not prejudiced against Anglicans. I know with a fellow Catholic we have more shared values. There is more of the essential sense of tribalism: I know I do not need to watch my back.

Next to that, my tribe is Canadian. With someone else who has grown up in Canada, I know we too have shared values, many shared cultural memories. Although, again, I hope I am not prejudiced against non-Canadians. But there it is, the tribal glue: a level of mutual trust.

 Yet we are supposed to be preoccupied with skin tone? If that is what you are about, and not the content of your character, you are not much of a person, are you?