#71 Being the only white person around
February 20, 2008 by clander
This concept ties heavily into post #7 Diversity and post #19 Travelling, but is important that you fully understand how white people view authenticity and experience.
In most situations, white people are very comforted by seeing their own kind. However, when they are eating at a new ethnic restaurant or traveling to a foreign nation, nothing spoils their fun more than seeing another white person.
Many white people will look into the window of an ethnic restaurant to see if there are other white people in there. It is determined to be an acceptable restaurant if the white people in there are accompanied by ethnic friends. But if there is a table occupied entirely by white people, it is deemed unacceptable.
The arrival of the “other white people” to either restaurants or vacation spots instantly means that lines will grow, authenticity will be lost, and the euphoria of being a cultural pioneer will be over.
Being aware of this can be extremely valuable in your efforts to gain the trust of white friends and co-workers. If you bring a white person to an ethnic restaurant and another white person (or group of white people) shows up, you can lose all respect and trust that you have worked so hard to acquire. Do your best to find a table with a divider, or ask the waiter to put future white people out of sight.
Note: This does not apply to night clubs.
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[...] #71 Being the only white person around [...]
I live in the south. In my county whites are the minority (majority American Indians followed by African Americans) and the most exotic restaurant we have is Italian, so most of this doesn’t apply.
I am not thinking that White people like being the only White person around… ever. I think the exception is restaurants, but that for the most part most White people deplore being the only White person around and would like to avoid that scenario at all costs. I would like to know under what circumstances white people have found themselves the only white person around excluding restaurants of course.
And I thought I WAS white because I hate being the only white person in a resturant and I hate “ethnic” food. Except Italian…I love pizza.
I don’t think anyone will read this, but I want to acknowledge I just got served. I have a photo of myself almost exactly like this one: in a small town in China, in a Chinese restaurant, looking over a round table of strange food. And I remember thinking, I’m not only the only white person in this restaurant, I’m probably the only white person in this town! This is so great!”
By the way, if anyone’s reading, I love the blog, though I agree it’s set to a certain class. It’s like Bobos in Paradise, but darker. I mean that as a compliment.
To elaborate on the blog post itself, honkies like the IDEA of being the only white person around. Put your average, middle class, liberal whitey that this blog describes to a fucking tee in a room full of black people they don’t know and you’ll see how uncomfortable they can become.
Despite this, they’ll go back to all their whitey friends and tell them how multicultural and cool it was hangin’ with the (insert non-white race here) people was, no matter how akward they were at the time.
[...] Hits too close to home – White People Original post [...]
I really do love being the only white person around. I live in a small town in western Pennsylvania with about a 98 percent white population. Going to Homewood and Wilkinsburg (just outside of Pittsburgh) makes me feel like a real cultural renegade and very much alive.
There’s always one in every crowd.
this blog has led me to conclude that I am white but my parents are not
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