We're Cursed

In an interview on season 3 of the show Atlanta, writer Stephen Glover described the theme of that season with a phrase that has stuck with me since.

“Season 3 is about curses and the curse of whiteness,” screenwriter Glover explained. “White people have blind spots, obviously to race and things that are going on. They’re affected by this, too. It’s not just Black people who are going through this and having a hard time. You’re actually affected by it, too.

In the past few years, looking at everything that's been unfolding in the world, I've been thinking a lot about curses. How do we keep repeating these cycles of choosing hatred of others instead of our own interests? And all my thoughts have led back to the original sin of the West that's never been atoned for. Racism.

As Stephen says, it affects us all. No matter your race or skin colour, racism and the society it's built harms us all to some degree.

I remember in the run-up to the 2016 election, I was angry to see Donald Trump being treated so trivially. For me, the moment he labelled Mexican immigrants as drug dealers, criminals, and rapists, I didn't need to know anything else about his beliefs or policies.

Yet SNL had him as a host. Jimmy Fallon tussled his hair. It felt like despite all the racist things he had said so many were willing to look past it and assess him as a viable political candidate, even if they didn't support his views.

His racist opinions weren't disqualifying. They were just another character quirk. Part of politics. Maybe he didn't mean it the way it sounded. People were being too sensitive.

And then he won the election.

I woke up in a quiet anger as I saw the result. I wrote the following then, and it still feels relevant today.

Trump's win is a harsh reminder of the world we live in. Women's rights didn't lead to equality. A black president didn't end racism. That should be clear to everyone now. That someone can become president while running an openly bigoted campaign shows what the majority really thinks behind closed doors. That includes Brexit and all movements to reclaim "their" countries which they forgot they stole from natives and enslaved millions to develop. It's the death throes of a "superior" majority unwilling to accept their declining position. Ready to blame "the other" for their misfortune. Trump could undo the progress made in equal rights and in tackling climate change, which affects all of us.

The bigoted section of the population chose to indulge their bigotry above their own self-interests.

But the majority who didn't see his racism as an immediate disqualifier, as a reason to shun and restrict him from all platforms, played a part here too. In normalising his behaviour and rhetoric, they hurt themselves. Even if they didn't support his views.

The curse of whiteness hurt us all then.

The Original Sin

The phrase whiteness can be triggering to many, but it's important to know where it comes from. The white identity cannot be separated from racism. It's a product of slavery and capitalism. And so too is the black identity.

Before slavery, the social concept of race did not exist. In his book Capitalism and Slavery, Eric Williams wrote that “slavery was not born of racism: rather, racism was the consequence of slavery”. Slavery was the result of the capitalist need for free labour, and racism was created to justify and maintain the system.

The black identity was forged through the effects this system had on millions of people kidnapped and brought to the Western hemisphere. An identity forged through survival and resistance in the face of brutality.

And just the same, the white identity emerged as a result of this system. But forged through exploitation of others and their resources in the belief that they were superior and thus deserving of it all.

Before these systems, people identified more with the cultures they originated in. Even today, Europeans and Africans value their ethnic identity more than these new racial identities.

Whiteness was created as a tool to disguise the system underneath and reward those who were also being exploited if they just kept quiet.

"Allow us to exploit your fellow working-class people, and you'll be superior to them". "Cast a blind eye to the brutality we inflict on others, you'll have a better life than they do". "You deserve it, that could never happen to someone like you".

And that's where the curse of whiteness truly lies. That's the original sin that created it.

In accepting this meagre reward, a system is upheld that divides the working class. It exploits some groups openly while stealing from the rest and blaming the exploited.

Today we're seeing that stealing become more blatant. Rising inequality everywhere has many who once benefited from the system noticing its flaws now. The hypocrisy of the West is becoming clearer as the powerful turn their greed toward their weaker allies.

But the curse of whiteness still lingers. Many see the atrocities committed in Gaza and think it's an issue of both sides being culpable. Most see the abduction of Venezuela's president as justified for his terrible leadership. They see the attempted strangling of Cuba as deserved for choosing communism. They view Iran's toppling as necessary due to its restrictive religion.

Two things can be true at the same time, though. Regimes can be terrible, but that does not mean a people's right to self-determination should be taken away.

The curse of whiteness blinds many from this.

Everyone should be free to choose their own path. Right or wrong. Communism or capitalism. All people have a right to self-determination, to make mistakes, and to self-correct when necessary. And it's only through self-determination that true sustainable freedom can be won.

All of these bad regimes can be traced back to Western meddling; more meddling is not the answer. There's no moral superiority; you're not the heroes of the world. But when you have a subconscious belief of your superiority, this becomes impossible to rationalise. It becomes easy to fall for the propaganda that your people are the protectors of the repressed of the world, and not just trying to steal from them too.

Without being able to see this, you then miss the bigger picture of what the system is truly trying to accomplish. The powerful want everything, and they won't stop until they have it all.

You're Not a Leopard

This tweet gets quoted a lot, but I think people miss why situations that make it relevant occur so often. The people who vote for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party don't see themselves as leopards. They think they'll be feasting too.

But just as the sheath of whiteness was once extended, it can be retracted. There was a time the Irish and Italians weren't considered white, but then they were welcomed in when needed to further exploit others.

Eventually though, the capitalists will decide you have what they need, and they'll come for you too.

So today, while Europe fails to stand up to the US for its actions in Venezuela and Iran. Or fail to defend the Palestinians. The capitalists have started having a look at Greenland. At Canada too. Maybe one of the West's leaders will be the next to be targeted when they get in the way.

The curse of whiteness was borne out of the West's original sin of racism, and it seems like it will also lead to its downfall. Too many will ignore the people whose faces are being eaten because they believe themselves to be safe.

But if those who've benefitted from whiteness could only see how it and racism continue to hurt all of us, they could see their history as it truly is. Not as heroes or liberators, but conquerors and exploiters who stole from the world and their countrymen alike.

You have more in common with the Palestinian people facing genocide, you're closer to the immigrants risking their lives on boats than you are to the rich and powerful.

Only when that's accepted will the irrational decisions to maintain a system that hurts us all end.

Only then can we break the curse. But until it's broken, none of us will be free.