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Today's writing is the first in a series about white identities. It would be great to collect more identity stories; read more below!

Sanne

DEEP DIVE

Investigating white identities

A friend of mine with Dutch/ Indonesian roots is becoming increasingly interested in her Indonesian background and shares actively about it on social media. She grew up in the Netherlands, from Surinamese/ Javanese decent, and as she gets older, she feels more drawn to researching the culture and history of the Javanese/ Indonesian side of her family.

Last week, someone responded to one of her posts, saying that many people with mixed heritage become more interested in the minority or marginalized part of their identity because being white is, essentially, “boring and uncool”. My friend reacted annoyed and called the comment a “typical colonizer thing to say”.

I understood her reaction because why judge someone who researches her heritage? But I realized there is also a truth in the response she got because being white is not necessarily “cool” nowadays. I mean, look at the news: so many of the far-right narratives and Western political direction focus on the racist assumption that white people are superior. Research from Tilburg University (here, I haven’t read the whole document yet) shows that people who are proud to be white are often less connected to the colonial past of their country.

Being white is the default and the norm in the Western part of the world, which is also influencing dominant global narratives (for example, through Western global media). At the same time, being white is often not experienced as a culture by white people.

White people don't need to explain themselves

White people hardly ever get the question of where they are “really” from. Often Black people and people of colour in the West know white people better than white people know themselves. They have to, to survive in a white-dominant world. White people just never really have to think about their culture or ancestry; they’re never asked about it.

This is a good moment to make a first small distinction between the homogeneous group that we call “white”. Because in the United States, white people are more comfortable sharing about their European ancestors.

In general, we as white people seldom have to explain ourselves. So perhaps it isn't surprising that some white people have little sense of what their whiteness actually means beyond a racial category. But that doesn't mean white people have no culture; many of us just have never been encouraged to look for it.

Rejection of white identity

I posted a video on Instagram about white identity, in response to my friend’s Indonesian culture sharings and the comment she received. One white Australian woman who responded to my post put it well. She said she had never thought about the distinction between being asked about her heritage and being asked about her culture. She wrote:

A Dutch-Moroccan woman described a different journey. She wrote about initially rejecting her Moroccan identity, then becoming deeply curious about it after experiencing Moroccan culture being admired outside the Netherlands. She writes:

That idea of moving beyond the binary seems important. It’s literally not just Black and white if we talk about identity. A decolonial scholar sent me a message saying that it should be identities, plural. White identities, instead of one identity.

Germanic and English traditions

Another woman, a Canadian with Dutch roots, described researching her ancestry before colonialisation and Christianity. She explored Germanic traditions, music, rituals, and stories, including celebrating the solstice. But she also recognized that some of these traditions have subsequently been appropriated or manipulated by racist movements.

I recognize that from my Frisian heritage. The village where I grew up is known for the Battle of Warns, where the Frisians defeated the Dutch in 1345, long before they ended up together in the Netherlands (with Friesland as one of the twelve provinces). The Battle of Warns is annually celebrated on the last Saturday of September; however, mostly by Frisian nationalists. Far-right and ultranationalist groups have repeatedly attempted to embrace, co-opt, or attend the commemoration.

There is a difference between becoming curious about your ancestry and constructing a romantic story about an ancient, pure European identity. It’s the difference between understanding where you come from and using it as a story to exclude others.

A British-Bangladeshi journalist made another interesting connection, referencing the author Emma Dabiri's work on internal colonization. He writes:

The idea of Europe is traced through a history in which Christianity, empire and, in the modern period, whiteness became intertwined. The European project has tended to remember some aspects of its history, particularly war and the Holocaust, more readily than its colonial history, says author Hans Kundnani, who coined the concept of Eurowhiteness. I’ll write about that in a next newsletter, and I’ll obviously share from Afro-Surinamese Dutch emeritus professor Gloria Wekker’s book White Innocence. One of the best books I read years ago was The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter, who is — surprise surprise — a Black author.

Share your story!

I’d love to hear your perspectives on this. Since this newsletter is a wide array of people from around the world, please share your identity story with me, about how white identity has impacted your life as someone who is white or of colour.

Cracks Magazine

We're working behind the scenes on the third edition! There are two previous editions for you to download (free) and read:

Coaching and mentoring

I absolutely love to work with people one-on-one. I just finished a mentoring trajectory with four Civil Society Officers in Malaysia. Read the feedback from Priscilla Grace of Sarawak Women for Women Society below, and book a free call to explore options. It can be guidance in editorial strategy, burnout, career change, or ... (white) identity! :)

See you next Sunday!

Sanne