https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/2/7/14503144/white-history-month-black-history-month-white-pride-nationalism-racism?fbclid=IwAR22_QB2zhCHls5rgW1Ea0d1QaeQpn2ECQlyhDAsI9l7_mY7BsQcbFy5DW4
Why we don’t have White History Month
A sociologist explains why it would be ridiculous.
During February, it’s not uncommon to hear the refrain, “If there’s an African-American History Month, why isn’t there a white one?”
This question, and its close relative “What’s wrong with being proud of being white?” sometimes comes from people who sincerely, if oversimplistically, think racial equality should mean identical treatment for all racial identity groups.
But it’s also the kind of idea you might hear from members of the self-described “alt-right” and groups with closely related beliefs: white nationalists and white supremacists. They have in common agendas that would do serious harm to — or eliminate — members of racial and ethnic minority groups. “White pride” is what fueled racist alt-right leader Richard Spencer to tweet during the 2017 Super Bowl that he was cheering for the Patriots to win because of their “Three White wide receivers,” and because they’re “[c]onsistently NFL's whitest team.” He celebrated afterward with, “For the white race, it’s never over.” These views don’t just live on Twitter. Slate’s Jamelle Bouie has made the case that white nationalism is the best description of the Trump administration’s ideology.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to give a thorough response to their rhetoric — even things like calls for celebrations of “white pride,” white identity, and white history that many would easily laugh off as absurd.
To help explain this, I spoke to Daniel Hirschman, an assistant professor of sociology at Brown University, whose current research focuses on the politics of race and decision-making in higher education, consumer credit, and insurance.
The following is a lightly edited transcript of our exchange.