The meaning of White and Black

If you only think black-and-white, you miss a lot of grays

Some have noticed that White people are not white unless they are anemic. They, generally, are pink. In the same way, Black people don’t need to be black. They can be brown, light brown, and even pinkish.

The meaning of White is Caucasian, only with Western roots. Donald Trump is White because his ancestors were German draft dodgers.

Asians, Africans, South Americans, and Arabs generally are Black.

Politically speaking, White always indicates without non-Western roots, while Black means any mix of cultural background under the sun. In the word White is incorporated the bubble racism created for them.

The connotation of White and Black is human race. Biologically, race is not the proper word. A different race means unable to procreate with other races. But all humans alive are Homo Sapience Sapience: of one race.

The US is not only still drenched in racism, though many Whites fight against it. It’s also obsessed with skin color. Skin color may be what sets off people’s learned racism, but at the core lies: You’re are (not) alien to ‘us.’

And that’s what irritates racist supremacists most. They may be ticked off by, for them, strange looks and accents, but what upsets them most is the idea that they are closely related to people who think and talk differently.

Racism is that ‘those’ are inferior and drag down ‘our’ superior culture, taste, way of life, intelligence, and glamor, and drag us back to apehood.

White supremacists may applaud Blacks for winning in running, dancing, and singing because, in those things, they are bad, so those ‘are’ inferior activities. Black professors are the ones who make them nervous.

Whites are often inferior in running, dancing, and singing because, as pure kids, they felt so ashamed of the racism around them that they tried to deny and alienate themselves from their bodies, which made them stiff.

Indians and Puerto Ricans can look much less dark than Africans. So that confuses Trump, who doesn’t get theory and is only viscerally racist.

The same skin color obsession counts for Whoopi Goldberg, who sees Jews as White. She didn’t identify that Jews are culturally different from Trump.

When you talk about Black jobs, you reveal thinking that non-Caucasians are too dumb to do anything but unskilled labor. As Joe Biden pointed out so well, ‘You know what’s a Black job? President of the United States.’

Therefore, it’s racist that Trump calls Biden crooked (shrewd, thinking but mean) and Obama and Harris stupid and crazy (unable to think straight).

Supremacists looking down on women, the working class, LGBT, and anyone who doesn’t go like them, has a strong component of racism. Deep childhood shame and insecurity about their own value make them seek arrogance for comfort. They must reclaim their inner innocence and pride.

The Nazis defined races as looks, measurements, and ancestry. They made an exception for Jews: If you converted to Judaism, you were evil too.

But for thousands of years, the different races were not told apart by looks but by language. The Hebrews. The Greeks. And that is much closer to what is essential: the culture and its awareness and way of thinking.

The Jewish Sages decided millennia ago that the Gentiles had mixed up all the Nations so that we no longer can identify our archenemy Amalek by family tree. Rather, wicked character traits show who are distant offspring from the cursed nation. The Nazis without doubt had these very infamous ancestry. Yet, the greatest Rabbi after Moses, Maimonides, rules that, once an Amalekite repented, the obligation to kill him/her ended.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1