Quite right. Allen-Taylor is a joke.

What I think is clear is that “Black” is a category created by these same people.

For starters, “Black” in America is often defined as anyone with a single African ancestor, which is plainly absurd since we all have African ancestors.

Moreover, just as “White” subsumes a whole set of European and Middle Eastern ethnicities, “Black” is composed of all sorts of different peoples from Africa and Australia.

I hope now you can see the absurdity of your argument. You accuse me of being a racist, when in fact I’m putting “White” and “Black” on the same footing.

You, sir, are the racist. You are racist against those you label “White.” Every single argument you make against me is directly applicable to you. All you need to do is replace the word “Black” with “White.”

Two more points:

1. Being proud of one’s “culture” is a vague notion. If by this you mean pride about some capability or accomplishment one has, which one terms “culture,” then I couldn’t agree more. If by “culture” you mean skin color, than I disagree. One’s heritage does not determine one’s “culture.” And, being proud of one’s skin color is ignorant.

2. You criticize me for discussing race when I say it’s not a major issue in my life. That’s fine, but you should consider that I am making a particular effort to educate you and others on my thinking about this. I do not think about race much, but obviously I must do so to some extent to even have a conversation about it. To this extent, you’ve got me — I do think about it sometimes. But, my larger point prevails.

Mel makes an excellent point. For someone who doesn’t think about race, you sure seem to think about race a lot. Or think about how others think about race a lot. An important distinction to you, I’m sure.

I’m not here to pick a fight, but I do disagree with you. I agree with you that it is stupid to be proud of one’s whiteness. But the same is not true for one’s Italianness, or Jewishness, or Irishness, etc. Nor for one’s Blackness or Asianness.

My point about whiteness was that it’s not admirable to be proud of it because it is a fictitious category, thrown together by Southern aristocrats in order to prevent slave rebellions.

There is no white cuisine, no large tragedies in which white people were killed for being white (save, perhaps, 9/11, unless you count all the non-white people in those buildings), no white “accent” (it is coextensive with “normal” or proper English). These are all clues that point us in one direction: there is no such thing as “white culture.” So it really doesn’t mean anything to be proud of your whiteness, although it means a lot to be proud of your culture(s).

Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh aren’t white? I’ll also assume you are not white, otherwise your opening statement renders your post (and blog) as one long drip of irony. That is, unless you aren’t really “thinking” when you talk about race.

This is only half true. Many streets in the flatlands are home to a mix of Black, white, Latino, and Asian.

I basically expected that kind of a response, as it was pretty obvious you were just trying to pick a fight.

To answer your question, first I’d say that people can be proud of anything they want. Largely it does not affect me.

But, from my perspective it’s a little childish for people to be “proud” of their race. It’s not like they did anything to attain it. I’m not “proud” of being white, so I guess I would find it kind of weird to find out that a bunch of people are “proud” to be Black.

I think it makes much more sense to be proud of one’s accomplishments — learning to play the piano, for example, or maybe being a good parent.