Should I feel guilty because I was born white?

Question

Society wants me to feel guilty because of slavery.

Keep in mind.....My ancestors NEVER owned a slave and moved here when slavery was abolished.

Answer 1

I don't feel guilty.. why should you? What happened in the past isn't your fault.

Answer 2

I love being white! I'm a straight up cracker! But, I can see where some people come from when they say they feel guilty. White is a pretty powerful race in history, it always has been. So maybe people just feel that other races are as important. Also, in history white people were very ignorant to other cultures and skin color, so maybe they are slightly ashamed? But my own opinion is that white people should be proud of their powerful race, and embrace it!

Answer 3

Are you serious? You should feel proud to be who you are, no matter what your ancestors have done. You are only responsible for your actions and the type of person you are. Society doesn't want you to feel guily because of slavery, certain black people do. Just like some jews want German people to feel guilty for the holocaust. Some people will never evolve because they want to hold on to the past, and continue to be the victums. That way they have an excuse for their own failures.

Answer 4

okay...u dont know if ur ancestors never owned a slave...if goes FAR back. and u dont know if ur great great great great great great, and so on...grandmother supported slavery. back then...thats all people knew about...was slavery. but u have no reason to feel bad! people should only feel bad when they did something wrong! i am half white and half black...i know im not fully white...but even if i was i wouldnt feel bad one bit! i feel guilty like i did something wrong! i owuld feel sympathy and sorry on behlf of my race...but i wouldnt feel guilty as if i hurt someone. your not the one who hurt someone....that was someone else. and evne if ur ancestors did own a slave...im speaking hypotheticly.....u still shouldnt feel guilty...u did nothing wrong.


Dont feel guilty...because you have done nothing to hurt someone...and neither have u contributed to slavery.


=]

Answer 5

No you should not. It's all a huge scam to mess up your head.

Every race has things that are both good and bad, people to be proud of and people who were not so great.

In fact even the concept of race is scientifically invalid because it is based on shallow premises such as appearance and has no real basis in genetics.

I will tell you this as a student of slavery and history as well as being a political activist who is opposed to racism and unfair discrimination, but I can prove that the entire excuse of racial guilt is a complete con game designed to promote a political agenda to provide and excuse for certain interests.

All this guilt crap is a load of manipulation of the truth by the so called leaders of the ethnic minority groups.

It is just a cheap tactic to try to make you weak and unwilling to stand up against their underhanded attempts to control the political system to serve their own selfish interests.

If you never owned slaves yourself, and don't encourage racism and unfair discrimination then you have nothing to feel guilty about.

Even if your ancestors owned slaves it has nothing to do with you.

99% of all "whites" never had ancestors that owned slaves and it was actually primarily the Hispanics and Arabs that captured, owned and sold most of the slaves around the world, not just in north America.

It is also a hugely ignored fact that if it had not been for the majority of whites being opposed to slavery in north America it would probably still exist today. The underground railroads were operated by whites as was the program to help freed slaves return to Africa, paid for by whites who wanted them to have a chance to return home.

Here is a big hidden secret, roughly 20 times more white people have been slaves throughout history than dark skinned people. So if anything, certain darker skinned races have more to feel guilty about than do lighter skinned ones but in either case the entire concept of racial guilt is a load of garbage designed purely to serve a slanted political agenda.

Look up the history of the Irish clearances after the potato famine and how little people paid for each one, they were cheaper than black slaves and were treated even worse.

Don't fall for the lies of people who try to use race as a political tool or a crutch to get free access to special programs.

Racial equality means fair treatment without bias OR favoritism towards any race or special interest group.

Answer 6

My family has the same history as yours regarding this issue and absolutely no, you have no reason to feel guilty about your race. Black Muslims sold black folks into slavery and whether you know it or not, Black armies kill people in Africa at a horrifying level. So no, you really should never buy into liberal misinformation and propoganda. You have nothing to feel guilty about.

Answer 7

No you shouldn't. I hope you feel compassion for what people had to endure, and understand why something like that has its effect today though. I think people are too quick to dismiss the effects of slavery on the black psyche, as well as this: life didn't just become okay for black Americans after slavery. There were decades of lynchings, of not being allowed to be better than whites, where I live if a black person had a sucessful store, it was quickly destroyed back then. The civil rights movement is less than 60 years old, and everything is not as it should be.

I don't think anyone wants to use it as an excuse, but they just get tired of people dismissing how hard it was. When blacks were freed, 99% of them could not read. Then the few post slavery schools were underfunded, over croweded and only had 2 or 3 books. Most blacks were then indebted to a sharecropper which was like slavery itself. So a bunch of people had to learn how to catch up, and now you are just seeing the wave of many blacks being the first in their family to graduate college because of it. If your parents are uneducated and can't read, how can they help you with your homework? Thats how it was in the early 1900's after slavery.

No reasonable person thinks its your fault. Especially when most white Americans today came over with the 1899 European wave. Before that, at one point, there were more slaves than whites in this country.

But I hope you just have a glimpse of how difficult something like slavery, and the continuing racist Jim Crow laws were to get over.

Answer 8

Man, forget about what blacks folks are saying. I am black and I am telling you, you don't have to feel guilty about something you had no dealing with. Some blacks folks are angry because they are broke or don't have ride and they use racism as a excuse for why they don't have anything. The old "the white man don't want me to have anything. I want to be paid for my ancestors being slaves". Read Ezek 18 it says clearly, that the son can not be punished for the sins of his fathers. If you do not walk in the footsteps of your ancestors you can not be held liable for their actions. So, don't be so hard on yourself. That is the devil working on your mind about foolishness.

Answer 9

Are you serious, why should you feel gutily? I don't think society wants you to feel guilty they just want you to be aware of other's suffering and feel compassion so that atrocities like that never happen again. Quit with the pity party!

Answer 10

Be proud to be white. I do not think society wants you to feel guilty. i just think people try to hard to be politically correct that their reasoning does not make sense. Due of all the racist and things that happened in the past society accepts backlash and any behavior from non-whites. But when a white person does something it always turns out to be racist or offensive.

Answer 11

absolutely not. feel proud. would you rather be black, red brown or yellow so you could feel proud. without slavery there would be no race problems. chinese were also brought here as slaves. ask any other race of people if they would rather still be living in africa ,china or other places. they wont admit it but slavery might be their savior.