First things first: If you feel the compulsion to respond to this with “not all men,” then fuck off right now.
Without discounting or downplaying the racist motivations behind the monstrous attack on the Emanuel AME Church yesterday, it’s important to consider that the pathology of the murderer and other of his ilk transcends any single ideology. Their deeds are symptomatic of an associated problem known as the “Angry White Young Dude.”
The mindset is rooted in an overwhelming sense of privilege, inculcated and reinforced across centuries of history. In terms of America’s social stratification, white malehood is to be “to the manor born.” All the perks and open doors, with little if any of the systemic oppression inflicted upon those who don’t fall into that elect category. (Unless you count class oppression, but good luck finding any white American who thinks such a thing is a real issue, and even then the burden falls lightest on the lighter-skinned males among us.)
Yet so much of that privilege is unnoticed by those who most benefit from it. Not getting sexually or racially harassed or exploited is presumed default mode, making it easy to contrive excuses for why it seems so commonplace (providing one cares to pay attention) for so many other people. They’re substantial perks, but they’ve been taken for granted for so long that they tend to be ignored in favor of other perceived grievances — namely, “why doesn’t the universe acknowledge my greatness?”
It’s no coincidence that these Angry Young White Dudes tend to be around the age when Young White Dudes in general have a rock-solid certitude about how the world really “works.” It’s particularly pronounced in those of the tribe who exhibit a shade more “intelligence” (relatively speaking by cultural values of the same) which often resolves as a form of self-pitying megalomania.
Hey, I was there once...
Without discounting or downplaying the racist motivations behind the monstrous attack on the Emanuel AME Church yesterday, it’s important to consider that the pathology of the murderer and other of his ilk transcends any single ideology. Their deeds are symptomatic of an associated problem known as the “Angry White Young Dude.”
The mindset is rooted in an overwhelming sense of privilege, inculcated and reinforced across centuries of history. In terms of America’s social stratification, white malehood is to be “to the manor born.” All the perks and open doors, with little if any of the systemic oppression inflicted upon those who don’t fall into that elect category. (Unless you count class oppression, but good luck finding any white American who thinks such a thing is a real issue, and even then the burden falls lightest on the lighter-skinned males among us.)
Yet so much of that privilege is unnoticed by those who most benefit from it. Not getting sexually or racially harassed or exploited is presumed default mode, making it easy to contrive excuses for why it seems so commonplace (providing one cares to pay attention) for so many other people. They’re substantial perks, but they’ve been taken for granted for so long that they tend to be ignored in favor of other perceived grievances — namely, “why doesn’t the universe acknowledge my greatness?”
It’s no coincidence that these Angry Young White Dudes tend to be around the age when Young White Dudes in general have a rock-solid certitude about how the world really “works.” It’s particularly pronounced in those of the tribe who exhibit a shade more “intelligence” (relatively speaking by cultural values of the same) which often resolves as a form of self-pitying megalomania.
Hey, I was there once...
