Would that the Roman people had but one neck! – Gaius Caligula
I’m not going to analyze this propaganda too deeply, parse out which of the statements make sense and which don’t, or discuss the long and tortured history of the construct of “whiteness” and how it has changed over the past 400 years. I’m not even going to comment (beyond this sentence) on the fact that this was lifted from a 30-year-old book by a white woman. All I’m going to do is remind you that the National Museum of African American History & Culture is part of the Smithsonian; it is owned and run by the US government, and therefore heavily invested in promoting that government’s interests (because he who pays the piper calls the tune). And then I’m going to ask you why a government might want the most oppressed minority under its rule to associate individualism, independence, autonomy, and rational thought with their oppressors.
The National Museum of African American History & Culture wants to make you aware of certain signs of whiteness: Individualism, hard work, objectivity, the nuclear family, progress, respect for authority, delayed gratification, more. (via @RpwWilliams)https://t.co/k9X3u4Suas pic.twitter.com/gWYOeEh4vu
— Byron York (@ByronYork) July 15, 2020
