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Comment by vmception | Hacker News Reader

I agree with this as well, I hate how comedians perpetuate this invalidation when someone is trying to tell you their background and the comedian is like “so white, white and white, you mean ‘white’”

In my experience you can learn a lot about someone’s likely customs, dating expectations, traditions, religious upbringing just by knowing what kind of european they have in them.

The 1880s German immigrants to the US completely missed slavery and the Nazis so its tragic for some kid of that heritage to be grouped into the generic white guilt idea if they accidentally walked into a segregated space at Berkeley, for example. Its just not nuanced enough.

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>In my experience you can learn a lot about someone’s likely customs, dating expectations, traditions, religious upbringing just by knowing what kind of european they have in them.

I mean... really? I didn't even have a clear idea of what kind of European I have in me until my 20's. No one had ever gotten around to telling me my Dutch-surname came about via Dutch immigrants to Ireland.

That doesn’t mean the Dutch and Irish culture of the time hasn’t helped shape who you are though

You'd know more about me and my family background from knowing that I come from multiple generations of "The one kid that picked up and moved away from the family at 18" on both sides, than you would from knowing what kind of immigrants my family all ultimately were.

Which is also a distinctly American experience.

There were still racist real estate covenants in Minnesota, etc.

I can acknowledge off the top of my head that there were plenty of opportunities to be exclusionary, or not help inclusionary legislation or actively participate in exclusion, or merely being a recipient of a GI Bill mortgage.

I still feel people need to be treated more so as individuals, and that more support for progressive ideas will come from acknowledging the individual. Especially when that individual may have the power or network to help the cause.

> The 1880s German immigrants to the US completely missed slavery and the Nazis so its tragic for some kid of that heritage to be grouped into the generic white guilt idea if they accidentally walked into a segregated space at Berkeley, for example. Its just not nuanced enough.

What difference should it make for you? I honestly don't get this idea of inheriting guilt or being directly responsible for the actions of your forebears.

It doesn't make a difference to me, some people are susceptible to actually playing along with that idea of responsibility. My observation is that some of those people are less applicable participants than others.

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