Mmm, that’s some good racism, England!

You know what I love? Being white.

You know why? Because I’m not ruining it for anyone else. Because I love walking on egg shells. I love any joke I make being accused as defamatory, regardless of content, because I’m white. I love any comment I make about society, race or creed being considered racist, because I’m white. I really love jibs I make about gender or sexuality being viewed as bigoted because I’m a heterosexual white guy.

My words retread the ground of hundreds of millions before me I’m sure, but I’m gonna throw my couple of pennies in regardless. Let me say it flat and clean: Racism, sexism, bigotry are all wrong in all forms. Which is why I love being white, but intelligent.

Thing is, there will always be some moron who can’t quite understand that as humans we are all the same regardless of skin color or creed or whatnot. And there isn’t a lot anyone can do about that. But…

I was raised in Southern Florida (Yes, America’s Wang; though we prefer the panhandle) and I went to an Elementary school like most kids. My school was 97% Black, 2% white, .5% Native American and .5% Other. And growing up we could all see each other’s differences, but there was not a lot of racism. Even as the minority I never felt looked down on for my color or made fun of for not being as good at Basketball. Not from the other kids anyway. Got a fair bit of illogical racism from an adult here or there though.

I went to a friend’s house once to play some Sega and he got a mouthful about me being there. I didn’t get it as a kid. I have a better understanding now, twenty years later. Even though, I’d rather not. Back then, I was a good kid and it was ignorance which made my friend’s father dislike me on sight. My parents loved my friend – but that doesn’t make them more tolerant or anything, it just means they had no prerequisite to dislike him based on his skin color at that point in time. Not to mention, this was the early ‘90s, they may have even felt racially superior. I couldn’t say. Never asked them.

These days, I live in the North East of England. When I moved here back in 2001 I’d walk around the Town center and actually get a bit confused. It was like a time warp. White faces. Not much else. The occasional “packi” (Pakistani) and chink (Asian) but that’s about it. It wasn’t until about 2004 that I started to see a lot more color trickle into the area and the place became a lot more cosmopolitan.

I thought this was great, because it felt a bit more like home for me. It’s still no Florida, but I figured it was a nice change. Most of the people I know here didn’t take it as such. I heard Packi, darkie, mook, nigger, all that stuff a lot. But I figure English folk just need to acclimatize. They aren’t used to these guys, you know?

Cut to now. Near the end of 2013. I come to realize that racism is never going away here in the UK. Like I said earlier, you can’t stop random idiots from being prejudiced needlessly, but here, it’s become a way of life. There are a lot of factors but one of the main drives is the government run welfare system.

This little tiny country is so concerned with the rights of its non-citizens that it goes out of its way to support them, while simultaneously back handing British people. For example, a friend of mine recently got out of prison – I won’t justify or explain why they were there, they did a crime, they did their time, so be it – but, while in there they found a lot of Koreans and Vietnamese were coming here illegally and entering into massage parlors and whatnot and more or less deliberately getting caught.

Why? Because they are held in prison for x amount of time, get fed and supported and then sent packing back to their country, all expenses paid, and given a stipend of 5,000 pounds to make sure they can acclimate back to their life there. My friend was released with 40 pounds to make sure they could get a bite to eat and a bus.

It was recently in the news here that an African, living here after failing to achieve asylum, was given free flying lessons as well as welfare, as he is not working, and the lessons totaled to near 10,000 pounds of taxpayer’s money. ( http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/11/05/asylum-seeker-taxpayer-flying-lessons-funded_n_4216713.html )There could be a very good reason that this person needed this, I won’t deny that, but when at the same time the government is spending over 10,000 on him, they are cutting funding for everyone else, they have added a bedroom tax, they have cut child care, etc…

And in truth, why shouldn’t they? I come from a culture where if you don’t work, you get shafted, unless you can rely on the kindness of strangers.  This country goes above and beyond to help those who will not work – not cannot work. Now, me and my girlfriend both wound up out of work for a while and tried endlessly to get work – and we did get jobs, but it took a long time – and while we were struggling, the government let us leech from the welfare system.

We got a house on the council, unfurnished, no carpets, broken heating, etc. We applied to get carpets and were rejected because “we didn’t need them”. Subsequently, while at the carpet place, we saw an Iraqi woman come in and demand the best of everything, red and gold, no expense spared! We spoke to the cashier and the woman’s bill was over 2,000 pounds. She wouldn’t pay a penny of it as she was given a home owners grant. Why? Because she was Iraqi. She was “disadvantaged more.” More than us? We had no savings, bank accounts, nothing.

But me, I don’t care. Each to their own. But to give to one while taking away from the other, in any circumstance, is always going to make people angry. And while some desperate and needy families may need this treatment, others flaunt their status arrogantly, which spreads like wildfire and just furthers this foreign hate and racism. Adding to this again, from personal experience, our housing officer (The council owns our flat and we pay it from our wage at an inflated rate because we are not claiming benefits, meaning we pay full price, one of the only families on this whole street who is not on benefits as it happens – we live in the highest unemployment area in Newcastle), and we complained that our Boiler was broken. No hot water. No heating…

Long story short – it took 4 months to get this fixed. Then it broke again – because the boiler itself had not been made for more than 20 years, it was just jury-rigged repeatedly and we were told it needed to be replaced – but would not be replaced. Almost two years of bickering to get this replaced. But… In that two years several new families have moved in, all on express track (when a house becomes empty it is meant to go to a board for people to bid on – but houses here are already rented out before they become available because of who is on the inside track.) all ethnic, and all received new kitchens, carpets, boilers, radiators and bathroom suites on moving in – for free. Even the house next door to us – which has had its kitchen and bathroom suites replaced THREE times in just one year.

Side note: After having some wiring re-done here as it was causing sparks when you plugged things into it, the builders left a hole in the wall. It took 4 weeks for someone to come out and plaster the hole. 9 months on no one has come to paint it, which we were told they would… I love having a job! Makes me feel I get priority!

And on the other side of the coin, I know a good hard working family from Croatia, the nicest people you can meet. They work hard, they have a family – but they are spit on. Because people mistake them for Polish and so many Polish are willing to work for less than the British and “are taking all our jobs!” A similar war cry a lot of people in America like to rally against the Mexicans. One bad apple ruins the bunch. And people rarely look beyond their own perspective.

On the same note, it’s quite a fact that being black in this country helps you immensely when it comes to landing a job – if you’re looking. It’s not affirmative action, it’s because people of color are so much fewer they are a hot commodity, they help companies look diverse, which is something this government is all about. I’ve seen people hired to fill that quota that cannot do their job effectively, passing over people who can – because they fit the look required. My pal Jim has often commented he never fears a job interview because his color immediately gets him through the door.

Not everyone is racist, and it’s not as clear cut as I’m making it sound. There are exceptions to every rule. But this will always be an issue, and what compounds it all, is that it’s politically incorrect to accuse someone of racism – unless they are white. We accused our housing officer – who is Hindi – of racial preference because 5 new families moved into the neighborhood – which is her decision, to choose who is accepted – and they were all Hindi. (This would not have been brought up if there wasn’t several white, polish, Asian and Croatian families who had all applied for the same homes for the last 12 months). Immediately we were threatened with Eviction – over a mysterious underpayment we’d made of 4 pounds… Somehow.

And let’s not forget women. Women have to be held on a pedestal and can do no wrong. Newcastle has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the Country – the main reason is that the government can award a pregnant girl under 18 with their own home and supply them enough cash they don’t need to fret over the little things. Women can trap men into this. Recently a British Celebrity even admitted she’d done this (for different reasons) to her man. ( http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/amanda-holden-tricked-husband-having-2367066 )

If a man did this to a woman, he would be vilified worldwide. But a woman will get away with it, because women “need to be empowered”. This is madness to me. If women get any more empowered they’ll become Super villains. In a divorce, courts routinely side with the mother. A friend of mine’s girlfriend got pregnant, she got support from the council – he did not, despite being together.

Where are the reports slamming these teenage girls? There are none. They slam society and they slam the fathers. How dare they get these girls pregnant? Quick, rush to support these poor angels whose only crime is they wanted to get laid. Burn this evil man whose only crime is he wanted to get laid. Birth control is a woman’s responsibility – and I’m sorry, it is, because regardless of whether he is smart enough to wear a condom, she is in control of her body at all times. Or should be.

But for my opinion, I’m considered a misogynist, belittling any credence my statement actually has.

It is socially completely unacceptable for anyone white/British/Male to make a negative or disparaging comment about anyone colored/foreign/female even if the complaint/comment has nothing to do with their race/creed/gender… At my last job, I observed an employee – a white guy – not doing his job correctly. I mentioned this to management – because as far as I’m concerned, you do your job well or let someone else do it – and I was given a disciplinary and nearly fired. Why? Because this person turned around and said that my comments were all lies – lies predicated on my personal objection to them being homosexual.

I about applauded the guy in honesty, I thought to myself. Oh, you clever bastard! You pulled the gay out of jail free card! That’s like double racism! Not to mention… You get a parade because you like men. Where is my parade because I don’t?

Black, brown, yellow, gay, lesbian, woman, man, white, anything. All racism is wrong. All sexism is wrong. But where we have the biggest problem now is that even when someone is being honest and open in a none hateful way – it can be crushed with that word racism. Destroyed with the word sexism.  Blown away by the word bigotry.

No one deserves special treatment for being “different” because we’re all the same. All or nothing for everyone. But you’re black, you’re special. You’re gay, you’re special, You have a womb, You’re special. You’re a white guy, you’re wrong. And that’s why.