This is not actually surprising

[conuly]

Color-blind racial ideology linked to racism, both online and offline

Comments

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

I've got four white ethnicities in me. None of whom I feel in any real cultural connection to. If that's the case, what's wrong if I decide I'd rather just be proud of being white in general?

Oh wait, if I do that I'm a Neo Nazi.

[conuly]

Well, let's stop a minute. What, exactly, do you think "pride" means?

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

Dictionary.com says "pleasure or satisfaction taken in something done by or belonging to oneself or believed to reflect credit upon oneself" which seems reasonable.

[conuly]

Fair enough, and I do believe that is what some people mean when they talk about white pride - which is why you can't do that, because the only people who do actually are bigots (sad but true) - but I'm not convinced that's what most people mean when they talk about being proud of who they are - their ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, whatever.

I think, instead, they mean something more like this definition from Merriam-Webster: having proper self-respect.

The trouble with words is that they mean multiple things, and if you look at a word thinking it means one thing when somebody else most likely is using it to mean another, it's just going to cause frustration all around.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

Just because some people use pride in a way that paints them in a bad light I don't see why that should stop me from using the word however I want. As you said, it does mean different things to different people. If someone else automatically jumps to the worst possible use of a word that says more about them then it does about me.

[conuly]

You can use the word, but when people assume you're like everybody else who uses the phrase "white pride" that shouldn't be a surprise.

If someone else automatically jumps to the worst possible use of a word that says more about them then it does about me.

No, I don't think it does. In this case, you're looking at a phrase which has been largely co-opted by a specific group. That's not the listener's fault.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

Why should I accept that a term has been co-opted? Hell, "reclaiming" words is in these days. What's one more on the list?

[conuly]

You can do that, but it's going to be an uphill battle. That's your own business.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

Not worth the hassle. I'd rather take pride in what I've actually done than in something I only have a genetic link to.

I just wanted to put the question on the table.

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

I think the 'self-resepect' definition is the key here. Terms like 'gay pride' and 'black pride' develop in contrast with people being shamed for their gay-ness or black-ness. It's a way of saying "I'm out of the closet, there's nothing wrong with being gay, look how many of us there are."

We have 'gay pride parades' and we have St Patrick's Day parades, but we don't need to call the latter 'Irish pride parades' because there is no longer serious shaming for being Irish.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

I like this comment.