White Victimhood

White Victimhood

Let's go!

Introduction

• American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, Robertson advocated a conservative Christian ideology and was known for his involvement in Republican Party politics.

“And then, having gotten the whip handle - if I can use the term - then to instruct their white neighbors how to behave.” Pat Robertson

Outline

I. What is White Victimhood?

II. History and origins of white victimhood

III. How is it relevant in modern politics?

For starters: what does "whiteness and victimhood" mean?

What is White Victimhood?

- Refers to the narrative that white people have been disadvantaged in American society - Often connected with Republican political views - "Republicans have perpetuated dangerous myths of white victimhood to motivate voters — it’s dangerous for American Culture." - Eli Moise, The Dartmouth, 2024

Nostalgia and White Victimhood

Nostalgia and White Victimhood

- White victimhood brings up and is caused by feelings of nostalgia for many white Americans. - White victimhood has been the source of many societal problems regarding ethnicity in the United States

History and Origins of White Victimhood

- Concept of white victimhood going back to Colonial era - European colonists portraying Native Americans as savage brutes

Mary Rowlandson's Narrative

- Method of "othering" --> whites never to be associated with primitive "monsters" - Natives Americans depicted as sexual deviants --> white women needed to be protected

People of color as a threat

Turning the story around, white people "forced" to associate themselves with people of color

The Reconstruction Era and Jim Crow Society

White supremacists theories in the Reconstruction era

• “inversion, by which white people declare reverse racism or anti-whiteness to be the crucial problem of prejudice and white people to be uniquely oppressed as a result of excessive power granted to Black Americans…”

• “projection, in which white people assert that they will be treated the way they treated Black people during the Jim Crow era…”

• “victimization, as when a white southerner in 1875 described his region as “stripped of her honors, her glory, her pride … trampled into dust” by recently enacted laws.”

The Great Replacement Theory

https://hias.org/news/deep-dive-great-replacement-theory/

Ideas of the Replacement Theory

- "A plot designed to undermine or replace the political power and culture of white people living in Western countries.

- Goes back to Irish, Italian and Polish immigrants not being considered white in the 18th and 19th centuries

- The theory became prominent in the 2010s thanks to social media

- Immigration as an invasion

- Used in modern politics

The Great Replacement Theory in Modern Politics

- The theory led to multiple terrorist attacks (Pittsburgh 2018; El Paso 2019) - platforms like X allowing for quicker spread of shocking images and the theory itself - connected with racism and xenophobia -played a huge role in the recent US election -a worldwide phenomenon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHycpIhnFcU

Discussion

How did "white victimhood" mentality affect the 2024 US elections? How could it be counteracted?

Thank you for listening!

Sources

- https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2024/09/moyse-the-myth-of-white-victimhood - https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-original-1950s-full-page-advertisement-in-american-consumer-magazine-34524398.html - National Immigration Forum. The “Great Replacement” Theory, Explained. National Immigration Forum, Dec. 2021, https://immigrationforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Replacement-Theory-Explainer-1122.pdf. - https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/black-codes-and-jim-crow-laws/ - https://ushistoryscene.com/article/greaterreconstruction/ - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/three-tropes-white-victimhood/619463/