Why do people dwell on the negatives, & trivialize the great things that White people have given the world?

Question

White Europeans were responsible for the creation of Western civilization, & other great things like Ancient Greece, The Roman Empire, & the Renaissance in Europe.
They also created most of the first world nations of today.(All of Europe, Russia, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Uruguay.)
They were also responsible for great xploreres like Lief Eriksson, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Marco Polo, Francisco Pizarro.
Great artists like Leonardo Da Vinci, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Pablo Ruiz Picasso. Great inventors like John Logie Baird, Karl Benz, Tim Berners-Lee. Great philosophers like Archimedes, Aristotle, Socrates, Nietchze.
But when some people talk about history they act like the only things White people ever did was own slaves, & subjugate/torment non-Europeans, & cause them misery.

Answer 1

I think the vast majority of people are trying too damn hard to be politically correct.
People of color or different cultures and/or ways of life were (are) maltreated and/or trivialized for SO long by the white, anglo-saxon types that we now are doing a 180 by attempting to over-compensate for that.
All persons (let's include women in here, too, guys) who have accomplished great things should be recognized for them.
Example: (and get angry w/ me if you want) if an African American refers to another African American using the "N" word, so what? If a white man uses it - he's a racist pig. Not ALL white men are racist pigs. Not all white women are racist pigs. The KKK ARE racist pigs.
There are racists of every race, color, ethnicity, neighborhood. You can't distinguish people easily except by their appearance, i.e. the color of their skin or shape of their eyes.

Answer 2

The problem is that NONE of these things have anything to do whatsoever with what race these people were. However, many of the negative and evil atrocities that have been committed by whites WERE race-motivated. As human beings, whites have done a lot of good, it is true. But in the name of being white, they have only committed atrocities. It seems trivial, but it is a really big difference. None of the examples you give of positives were done by people acting as people of the white race. None of these people ever made peace with their neighbor, built a public building, built a road, or provided food for the poor in the name of being white people trying to make all races and people better off. When they did do good, they were influenced by religion, nationalism, or individual morality.

In any case, even if you were right in theory, your examples are not very good. It is also false to assume that the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Renaissance Europeans were all good. In fact, the Greeks and Romans were responsible for enslavement of other civilizations, publicly accepted pedophilia, and torture. The Renaissance was a time of poverty, plague, and political upheaval. Christopher Columbus and Pizarro enslaved and murdered thousands of natives. And Nietchze promoted aryan ideals that resulted in the Holocaust. Like it or not, it is impossible to ignore these facts. Why would you want to?

The past is the past. You can't pretend like these bad things didn't happen or that they were not important. They surely were, and it is these bad things that still cause wars and poverty the world over. A better question would be "what can white people do NOW to make the world a better place?" Elimination of racism would be a big step in the right direction. Accepting and acknowledging what we did in the past and then moving on would help, too.

Answer 3

I think you are making a mountain out of a mole-hill. Only the most narcissistic racists try to downplay the role of "white men" in the world. And only the most self-depreciating white persons (such as the person who wrote the above answer) try to explain how their own 'race' is evil and not worthy.

The problem is the fact that you insist on continuing to segregate people according to race, which makes you no better than the people who trivialize the role of someone else based on race. Let's judge people, for better or ill, according to their character, not the color of their skin.

Be the better man. Sit contently knowing you are right, let them stew in their own hatred. The truth always prevails.

Answer 4

See this is one sided history you guys are taught in the West. What they don't teach you is even in Roman times, Roman merchants used to trade with India and China. They even wrote books about how advanced the East was. Why do you think, all of the West was looking for new ways to get to East. You think they were curious? NO. They wanted what they didn't have.
It is written in the literature, when Europeans came to India, their products were very inferior in nature. They only bought material and they were unable to sell their material. For first 50 years, they only bought. They were paying East by the gold they looted from Mesoamerican civilizations.They had limited knowledge of metals, food, clothing. Silk and fine cotton went from India and China. Black pepper and other spices went from India. In roman times, east was the only place that knew how to mine Diamonds.
Mathematics, astronomy came from the East. Calculus came from the East. Chess came from the east. There were canals in the East already. Plato even describes vast damn system in India. They were performing bone surgeries in the East long time ago.
In the East, they already were using Granite 1000 and 1000 years ago. they were melting different metals to create new ones.
Read.....we know what you guys stole from us. You build on the Eastern knowledge.

Before you give me thumbs down, go to library and read Eastern history.

Answer 5

Hmmm... I actually find it to be the reverse. When people discuss history, they only talk about western achievements. I never remember learning about Asia or South Africa or Papua New Guinea in my history classes.

Those who trivialize the achievements of white people generally are compensating for other achievements being overlooked.

And to be honest, I don't consider all of the things you listed achievements.

Answer 6

Hey, in your list of great accomplishments....


Don't forget that bleach tablet thingie you drop in the tank to keep the toilet smelling so good.





g-day!

Answer 7

wasn't this question already posted?