RACISM + PSYCHOLOGY

Here Are The 5 Types of White People You Meet in America

There may be more, but they all fit under this umbrella

White folks founded America on the principle that "all men are created equal." But, that statement didn't age well. And that's not hyperbole because George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison clearly owned people. The founding fathers' hypocrisy set the stage for anti-Black racism in the modern era.

As Nikole Hannah Jones points out, "Our democracy's founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true." With this in mind, we should characterize white Americans through the lens of equality. Because if they, like the founding fathers, cannot treat Black people equally, they cannot call themselves patriots.

In America, there are five types of white people. Each group has a specific set of characteristics and views on equality that separate them from all the rest. While no set of criteria could characterize the wide breadth of diverse characters, I would argue that all white Americans fall under the following categories.

The Karen

The archetype of Karen can be characterized as a woman who abuses her white privilege to cause harm to Black people. For example, the Karen archetype includes white women who call the police on Black neighbors, those who file false police reports, or demand to speak to the manager to get a Black employee "disciplined" or "fired."

In America, white people have a long history of inflicting pain on Black people who do not comply with their every demand. Victoria's Secret Karen played the victim after inflicting a racist attack, chasing a Black woman all over the store, trying to assault her. There was also Maryland Karen who said, "Black people's heads are bigger and that Black babies are different." She also yelled some racial slurs in case there was any doubt about her motivation.

On the one hand, white women in America are subject to sexist discrimination by white men. But, a Karen will still turn her hate and vitriol towards Black people, who coincidently lack the political power to provide her "equal pay" or "equal reproductive rights." This type of woman thinks Black people are a problem, and she fails to realize how hurting Black people actually hurts her cause as a woman.

Karens and their defenders use "sexism" as a way to deflect from their racism. But, there is nothing sexist about pointing out a personality type that continues to cause harm in the Black community. Her behavior is pathological. A Karen never seems to stop and think about the long-term impact and instead focuses on her white comfort.

Let's not forget that white supremacists, the next category of white people, actually dislike white women. If only someone would let Karen know.

Maybe the reason I’m sexist is because women are dumb. No, I’m just kidding, ladies. But you do tend to not thrive in certain areas — like writing.— Gavin McInnes, ‘The Gavin McInnes Show,’ June 28, 2017

For context, Gavin McInnes is the founder of the Proud Boys.

The White Supremacist

Then, there's the White Supremacist. Unlike everyday white people who have a bias towards Black people, the Supremacist actually hates Black people: the Ku Klux Klan member, the Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Bois, the Alt-Right Extremists.

White supremacist, Richard Spencer, coined the term "Alt Right" to distinguish themselves from conservatives who believed in egalitarian values. They don't hold back to save feelings and call any attempts to diversify a threat to whiteness. Plus, white supremacists are willing to use physical violence against Black people, Jewish people, and other people of color.

Beware, white people, because white supremacists are dangerous even towards other white people. If you disagree with their extreme beliefs, you can get hurt. So, in 2008, this young white woman came down to Louisiana to meet with a man she met online. It turns out he was a white supremacist and proud member of the Klan. They tried to force her to complete a ritual, and that's where she drew her line in the sand.

But, sadly, it was too late. Just like any gang of miscreants, the Klan didn't let her willingly change her mind. They killed her. And there is a long history of White supremacists killing white folks. While 70% of all people lynched in the South were Black, 30% were white or other people of color. Anyone who stands in their way can get themselves hurt.

Look at historical incidents like The Tulsa Race Riot or even contemporary ones like the January 6th Insurrection. You will see a group of people willing to express their hatred for Black people and democracy using violence, brutality, and destruction.

As I've written before, the term "racist" doesn't have to be a life sentence. But it can be when white people cling to hatred and fail to recognize the value of living in a free, fair, equal society.

The Denier

Oh, now we've gotten some of the heavy hitters out of the way. Let's move on to a more common variety of white people — the denier. This type is the one that Black writers know all too well. They say stuff like, "slavery never happened," or "racism isn't real," or "racism no longer exists." Unfortunately, unlike Holocaust deniers, who society universally condemns, American society permits white people to deny the atrocities of slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic racism without consequence.

Unlike Karen or the white Supremacist, The Denier does not consider themselves racist and will jump through many hoops to insist otherwise. It is through the denial of racism that they become co-conspirators in its execution. With their denial of white privilege and the system of white supremacy, the denier earns their moniker.

Despite historical evidence and statistics revealing that Black people earn less money for working in the same jobs, or that Black women are more than four times as likely to die of maternal mortality, or that Black people are nearly twice as likely to get stopped by police, these types of white people will keep on denying anti-Black racism exists until the cows come home.

The only light side to the denier is that most Black folks don't really believe what they are saying. The denier thinks that Black people actually listen to them and believe the lies, but we don't. So, it really begs to question, for whose benefit are they denying racism for — other white folks.

The Troll

The troll is a type of white person who exhibits racism in a sneaky, round-about way. They try to justify racism through memes and misleading talking points. This is the "All Lives Matter" and "Blue Lives Matter" type of white person. Unfortunately, every neighborhood seems to have a few.

Instead of acknowledging that Black Lives Matter, they want to turn everything into a game of semantics. Once again, of course, everyone's life matters, but right now, Black people's lives don't matter in America. The same can be said about the Blue Lives Matter too-rude crew. Of course, police lives matter, but if you kill an officer, your penalty is capital punishment, in states like Louisiana — an eye for an eye type mentality.

So, the real question is, why don't police officers (except for rare cases like Chauvin) face long sentences for killing citizens? Because Black Lives Matter is an aspirational statement that Black activists are trying to turn into a reality.

The troll will tell a Black person that their experiences with racism are not genuine or that they don't matter. Their goal is to make the Black person feel defeated, and sadly, this type of white person is very effective in some scenarios. The troll circles the wagon like a vulture, waiting for a Black person to drop from micro-aggression-driven exhaustion. And that's when they start pecking away.

The Ally

Now, we've reached the final frontier. The last type of white person you will meet in America is “The Ally.” And this term is loaded, so let's unpack this. The way I see it, there are clearly two types of allies — the real and the self-appointed.

▸ A real ally is someone who most Black people would consider to be an ally. This person opposes the system of white supremacy and is willing to stand alongside Black people as they fight for equal rights and justice. They won't make excuses or let white privilege get in the way and accept the premise that society is better without racism.

▹On the other hand, a self-appointed ally is someone who tells Black people they are their ally but have not been appointed by Black people. In other words, you can't really advocate for someone without their consent. Without a foundation to evaluate the type of help offered, Black people cannot judge whether or not this person is a true ally. This type of white person claims to be "for Black people" but does not show up in our communities to help at all — the Black Square Ally.

The real ally will listen to the concerns of Black people without sequestering all the space in the room.

Well, that about covers it. If you come to America, you are sure to meet one of these five types of white people. So if you are Black, don't say that African Americans didn't warn you about what you were getting yourself into. And if you're white, you may want to consider what type of white person you are, what type of white people you associate with, and what type of person you want to be.

Maybe one day, real allies will outnumber all the other types of white people. But, as for now, we have five types, and only one type supports the concept of an equal, fair, American democracy.

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