Thanks for a long reply. The phrase I quote here is from Noel Ignatiev, a writer and social reformer. He wrote the book, When the Irish Became White. That book explains the article. I am saying that "whiteness" doesn't exist. "Other races" don't exist. There is just one race - us, the human race. You, me, all of us. The problem we are deep in right now is Western nations created a fictional construct called "white." There is no such thing. But, it has been created to create a caste system of privliege and inclusion. I am speaking about America now as one of the main culprits. All of us humans are from one source - homosapiens born on the continent of Africa. From there, these individuals populated the world and environmental and evolutionary changes led to the different looks we have in color, hair texture, eye color, head shapes. I am not for a color blind world. I am for a world where we recognize dfferences in our looks and treat each other the same on a one to one level. But with this idea of "whiteness" and Ignatiev points out, there is no chance for that. He is saying denounce whiteness. Do not accept it. Reject it. There is no white race, black race, yellow race. That is nonsense. Who we really are, as you mention, is our cultures, and languages. And food. And music. And traditions. And dress. All of that. That has nothing to do with being white. That is for many Italian or Irish, or just, American. I am African American, or "Black" but that is a cultural statement. Black, for African Americans, is the same as German-Americans. It is our ethnic identity we had to create here because we were separated from our true roots. In fact, being Black is very American because we happened here in the West. African cultural modes still exist in our culture but our culture is distinct to America, our home. He is also not saying commit treason against "white people," but commit treason against the caste system. Reject it. One thing any American can do of any color or ethnicity is to begin to tell people when they here it, that there are no different races. There aren't. White is a fictional construct. I just did my DNA test and I am about 60 percent from West Africa, and 40 percent from English/Ireland. But I am not "Irish." I know nothing of Ireland. But one thing is clear, I have been excluded from many opportunities and experiences and economic changes because I am not "white." But that is a lie. We have to say it, those of us who know it. I am not even comfortable using the term anymore because I want to commit treason and not accept it as a fact in anyway possible. I try to call people what they are - Americans. But the people who created this caste system, I admit have made a mess of things. Not sure how we get out of this. I will add finally that other countries have had this issue as you note. India has its own caste system and has perpetuated the idea that there are separate races amongst Indians. It is such a clusterfuck what we are doing.
