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Tim Wise » Bill of Whites: Historical Memory Through the Racial Looking Glass

Tim Wise » Bill of Whites: Historical Memory Through the Racial Looking Glass

Bill of Whites: Historical Memory Through the Racial Looking Glass

Published as a ZNet Commentary, July 24, 2000

In 1992, white supremacist Jared Taylor lamented the ostensibly growing influence of people of color in the U.S. when he wrote:

“The old, standard history united Americans…It emphasized one point of view and ignored others. It was history about white people for white people…This served the country well, so long as Blacks and Indians did not have voices. All that changed (in) the 1960s. The civil rights movement gave voices to Blacks and Indians…It was the end of a certain kind of America.”

To listen to Taylor, whites are no longer in control of the nation’s dominant historical narrative thanks to a rising tide of multiculturalism forcing us to listen to the perspectives of others. Frankly, we should be