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It's confusing for me to just randomly throw this out there so I will give the reader a bit of context: One of my coworkers has what he claims is his 'permanent, natural tan'. He can show you how permanent and natural his tan is by unbuttoning the top of his shirt and showing off that there is no tan line, which of course he did. Because he has such a tan, he claimed he isn't 'white' to my 'white' coworker who was at the moment filling up pans of mayonnaise for the sandwich makers. He was told by her that he is actually white on the inside, as if he shouldn't concern himself with it anymore and it's a-okay. At this point, the discussion spiraled into my 'white' coworker squirting leftover mayonnaise on the chest of my 'tan' coworker in order to 'make him white', of course, since that makes perfect sense (hear my sarcasm coming through the page?). From there it didn't get much prettier as you can imagine and I do often wonder why the managers don't call them on some of their antics.
Aside from realizing that a man with mayonnaise spread on his chest is not very attractive (yeah, I want to gag just remembering it), I soon noticed that tonight wasn't going to be busy. If it isn't busy, then I am given a lot of time to think to myself. So of course, the first question that came to my mind was: what does it mean to be 'white' ?
Here's a hint: the answer is not covered in mayonnaise.
To me, race can be defined with three C's. Of course, this is my personal definition of race, but I feel like it's pretty comprehensive of what a racial label actually is. The three C's are as follows: culture, color, and class.
1. Culture
Each 'race' has it's own culture-even in the 'melting pot' of the United States. We commonly call this culture a 'racial stereotype'. Latin Americans like dancing and blacks like basketball. Asian Americans talk about engineering and think they're 'the simple types' while white folks seem to really like skiing and golf. If you doubt me on this one, check out this link-http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/the-real-stuff-white-people-like/
As I was saying, each 'ethnic group', to be politically correct, has its own culture. When you have people like my coworker, who are 'mixed', you get a fork in the road, so to speak-he can either be culturally 'white' or culturally 'tan'. Or he can be both, which is quite a feat of balance and requires a lot of self-confidence, but is doable. As my 'white' coworker unwittingly implied, the 'tan' guy can still be 'white on the inside' if a form of 'white culture' has instilled itself within him. In the same way, a child of a completely different race can grow up within a different 'racial culture'-such as in mixed-race adoptions, or when a small minority of a different race slowly integrates itself into the large majority.What 'culture' you end up in relies on so many different factors that I'm sure I couldn't even pinpoint them all.
2. Color
My coworker and I both have brown eyes and darker colored hair. We don't really blend in with the blonde/red headed, green/blue eyed people that live in this small town, but for the sake of classification I am white and he is not simply because his skin is a darker tone than mine. His brown eyes and dark hair suddenly become all the more noticeable when coupled with his different features; nose shape, eye shape, bone structure, skin tone, height, and weight. Everything that could be otherwise unremarkable about him or just slightly different suddenly becomes 'tan' because his skin is tan. This is the most self-explanatory aspect of 'race'-it's not hard to look at someone and realize they are different. However, even among each 'ethnic group' there is always a great amount of variance in the way people look. I can see a certain 'white' person and say 'she definitely doesn't look like me!' just as much as I can say a black person doesn't.
3. Class
We finally reach the summit of this post-class. Oh, what a devil class is. My sociology book, which of course is the expert on a secular perspective of class, claims that your class is determined by the color, culture, and income of your parents. The class you are born into is inescapable until the 'rich white man' is destroyed and your color and culture takes over his. Every notion that hard work and a good education can propel you forward and possibly into a new 'class' is completely ignored. "Blacks, Native Americans, and Latinos have the least education, the lowest rate of employment, and the lowest incomes of all the races!" with this cry for justice, sociologists fuel their problem by implying you must be 'white' to have success. From a secular point of view then, my coworker is racially trapped in his class, and no doubt he's had this hammered into his head by the public school system his entire life, and he probably believes it.
My coworker isn't really 'white' and he isn't really 'tan' in his class. Instead, he fits into the same class as some of my other 'white' coworkers regardless of his color or his culture. The 'white' coworker he was talking with is actually from the same 'class' as he is. He may have a greater chance at working his way up the class ladder than she does, based on factors like education, family, and religious background.
Here's the error of my liberal sociology textbook's attack on the 'white' man-the 'white' man the book attacks might not actually be 'white'. Instead, this person is any successful, hardworking, middle class individual, regardless of culture and color. The 'darker' fellow they're crusading for could be a lot like some of the 'white' folks I see every day in this area.
I would like to take a moment to point out that the religion of Christianity, which of course came to America with the horrible white guy in a black Puritan costume who hated everybody, really encourages climbing the class ladder and a better future for everyone at its center. People who are completely hopeless and helpless to change this are made by the grace of God into productive, happy people who can start a new life for themselves and their children. What do you think about that?
In conclusion, class is the greatest frustration in the end, but it is not a frustration that cannot be dealt with. I'm not surprised that one kid's insecurities over his racial background and habit of showing off in front of ladies coupled with my summer sociology course has produced this huge blog post that I don't require any one to read. However, I do hope I'm not the only one who thinks about things like this with such little prodding on a boring night at work. =P
Oh, and fyi, I really don't want to eat anything with raw mayonnaise on it for at least a month.
-Argentia
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