Okay non-European tumblr, Iβm gonna explain to you whyΒ βwhiteβ isnβt as simple here as it is in the rest of the world
- Shades of white in Europe range fromΒ βfreshly fallen snowβ toΒ βI am frequently mistaken as being from the Middle Eastβ
- White European is a thing. When you fill out a form, under ethnicity, there are several options for white; white British, white European, white other. Because people make that distinction
- There are Europeans who donβt class their ethnicity as their skin colour, but as their nationality. I have family who donβt think of themselves as white, they just think of themselves as Italian and donβt really give much thought to their skin colour
- People here in Britain always question if darker skinned white Europeans are βactually whiteβ. I get it a lot myself. My response is always βwell Iβm not anything else, so obviously I must beβ
- Despite being white, a lot of Europeans from Italy, Greece, Spain etc, donβt feel white in the traditional sense. Weβre not white like white British people. Weβre not white like white Americans. Weβre our own white. White British is one thing. White Italian is another thing. White Greek is another, etc
- Which is why we have this notion here in Europe ofΒ βnationality over raceβ. Being white isnβt as important as where youβre from
- So this really only becomes an issue if youβre an immigrant
- So being white in Europe doesnβt save you from racial discrimination, because sure, youβre technically white, but youβre not white white. Not the right white
- Here in England, Europeans with really blatantly foreign names, such as myself, find it more difficult to get job interviews, because they take one look at our name and donβt bother reading the rest of the CV. A guy I know was actually told by his boss to reduce the pile of CVs he had byΒ βchucking away any with a name you canβt fucking pronounceβ
-Β And then even when you do get an interview, half the time you walk into the joint several shades darker than everyone else and feel like youβve walked into the βSwedish supermodelβ clubhouse and you just know youβre not getting hired
This is all basic stuff and itβs very much taken for granted here. Race and ethnicity are not as clear cut, so it can be very confusing for non-Europeans to wrap their heads around. Which is fine. But I implore you to stay in your lane, because when you say things likeΒ βno white person anywhere in the world ever knows what itβs like to face racial discriminationβ, itβs really fucking offensive to all of the European immigrants who are denied jobs, harassed by the police and beaten by racists, because foreign is foreign to these people, and they donβt give a shit if youβre technically white. So when you mean white American, say white American.Β