The following article is based on my own personal experience and is not meant to paint all white liberals with a broad brush. Rather, I write this to inform people of the extreme privilege I see held by many white liberals. 

“How can you hate your own skin color?” I have been asked this specific question many times by progressive white liberals. My answer, constant and sturdy as my political convictions, is: “I don’t.” White liberals, throughout my experience espousing unpopular political and economic beliefs, have berated, harassed, and questioned the fundamental nature of my character. White liberals have belittled my concern for the genocide of Christians currently occurring in the Middle East and then went ahead and posted Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate. White liberals have undeniable privilege, from the likes of Elizabeth Warren and her pathetic attempts to claim Native American heritage, to Joe Biden and his racist comments towards the Black community. White liberals overwhelm much of public political discourse and have repeatedly attempted to silence and condemn people of color, such as myself, who follow non-progressive political ideologies. However, their attempts to oppress us with their privilege will not go unnoticed anymore. 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re ignorant.” 

While I’m not saying people of color can’t be ignorant, white people trying to silence me saying I’m uneducated seems both rude and can be considered racist. It is my experience that anytime a person of color isn’t progressive, they are considered to be uneducated, and honestly, I find this repulsive. No, I am not ignorant because I am a capitalist. I am not ignorant because I am not a strong supporter of critical race theory. I have beliefs that may be against the norm, and that should be accepted and celebrated. In fact, diversity of beliefs is much more important than diversity of something as surface level as skin color. We should be celebrating the diversity of religion, culture, ideology and not just the color someone’s skin happens to be. 

Making everything about race

Not everything under the sun is related to race. Let me reiterate that. Not everything is about race. Economic issues, while undeniably linked to race, are not solely a race problem. Economic issues are intersectional, consisting of race, gender, and culture, as well as factors such as empirical data, psychology, and sociology. If a person of color is of a low-income background, it is unethical and wrong to just assume that it is completely a result of their skin color. While income and wealth are generational issues, many migrants do financially well in this nation. According to Bloomberg, Nigerian immigrants do extremely well in the United States: “Nigerian-Americans, for instance, have a median household income well above the American average, and above the average of many white and Asian groups, such as those of Dutch or Korean descent.” (1) And while race still plays an extremely important role in modern economic and political discourse, basic economic factors such as income statistics and household wealth cannot just be boiled down to racial factors, but should include a whole host of factors such as personal choice, childhood upbringing, and personal cultural norms. 

It is my experience that many white people complain about racial issues and then subsequently turn around and attempt to invalidate my lived experiences as a child of two immigrant parents. While I consider myself privileged to live in America and attend a university, my life by no means has been easy, and the road my parents took to get to this position was extremely difficult. White liberals should always feel comfortable discussing their opinions. However, sometimes, their attempts to silence and discourage non-liberal talking points are noted and will not be tolerated any longer. 

1. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-10-13/it-isn-t-just-asian-immigrants-who-excel-in-the-u-s-