Stop Blaming White Men for Problems Created by White Men

As a white man in America, I’ve grown concerned over all the anger people feel towards white men in America. Yes, white men say and do things that are detrimental to everyone who isn’t a white man. And yes, this has been the case throughout all of human history. But to bring our white man-ness into the equation every time we say or do something bad seems more than a little unfair. How would you like it if we brought your gender or ethnicity into the equation when you screw up? Actually, don’t answer that question.

Why are you blaming white men, anyway? Because long ago we anointed ourselves masters of the universe? Because we’ve taken it upon ourselves to decide what’s best for everyone, without consulting anyone? Or because, in the rare instances where we do relinquish power, it’s because of a world war or monstrous sex scandal? Feels kind of flimsy if you ask me. As a white man, I’d prefer if we just let white men continue to say and do bad things, rather than hold them accountable. There are many good examples of this throughout history, from Napoleon and Stalin to Trump and Harvey Weinstein.

And listen, I’m not going to tell you white men are blameless. We’ve made mistakes. I’ll even concede some of those mistakes could have been avoided if we listened to more diverse opinions. But that was impossible at the time because we feared losing control over everything. And it’s impossible today because we fear losing control over everything. So identifying white men as the common denominator in every bad thing that happens only serves to damage our fragile egos. And you definitely don’t want to do that. Need I remind you of the aforementioned world wars and sex scandals?

While we’re on the subject of white men and egos, let’s also address the term “toxic masculinity.” Have you ever stopped to think how a toxic male might feel if you correctly identified him as a toxic male? He might start behaving like a toxic male, which is the exact behavior you were trying to avoid. So why even go there? You might say holding white men accountable is the only way for us to recognize the harmful patterns in our behavior. But also recognize that requires us to explore our feelings, which is something we’ve been trained to repress (by other toxic males) through sex and alcohol. If we were to explore our emotions, it might lead us to question why we need to assert our dominance over everyone, ignore other peoples’ perspectives, act hypocritically, lie pathologically, gaslight our girlfriends, and live in Murray Hill.

The result would be a bunch of “beta” males—guys who respect other people’s boundaries, admit when they’re at fault, and vote Democrat. Society would literally fall apart.

Instead of holding white men accountable for their toxic masculinity, have you considered enabling them? There are many good examples of this throughout history, from Melania Trump and Carmela Soprano to college fraternities and the United States Army.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, I don’t like it when we screw up either. But I don’t like losing my privilege more. You want us to be on the same level as all other members of society. That means we make less money, have less upward mobility, and receive less favorable treatment. Do you really expect us to live like that just because everyone else already lives like that?

If so, I’ve got some bad news: we’re not going down without a fight. And by “fight,” I mean we’re going to systematically dismantle the civil liberties given to everyone in a free democratic society and replace them with a system that only represents the interests of white men.

And if that doesn’t work, we’ll just actually fight, like white men did in 1776 (to establish democracy), 1865 (to defend slavery), and on Jan. 6, 2021 (to get rid of democracy).

Sorry if that sounds threatening. It’s the toxic male in me.