doroexplainsitall:

Today, the class was discussing how ethnic identity is different to “black” Americans and “white” Americans. According to a few people, being white and calling yourself anything other than white is irrelevant, because we “all know our roots”, while black people don’t know…

I’m going to stick my foot in the pie and say that I, being white and not having very much of a clue what my ancestry is, have to KINDA sorta agree with the teacher and stfuandlistenwhitepeople, the caveat being that the teacher was sort of a dick about it, and maybe the black girls too, but here’s the thing:
Knowing your ancestry is a LUXURY. 
My family and I only know about 7 or 8 generations back, and that’s still more than a lot of other people, and we still don’t know where we came from.
I consider myself white and leave it at that. Or American, or whatever.

Those black girls that were being “bitchy”? 
I bet they can’t count their family past their great-grandparents.  
And on the one hand, that’s alright, but on the other hand, their ancestors were probably slaves and not only had to endure the physical abuse, but the spiritual abuse of being stripped of their names, their family history, and their nation of origin. 
The fact that you know and relish your heritage is something they can only dream of. Your ancestors might have been repressed, abused, marginalized, been victims of racism too- but ultimately, you’re still white and you’re probably not getting shit about your heritage today, at least not as much as someone who’s black.