I am a White, older, American Man.
I have both deep American roots going back to 17thC English settlers in New England and Virginia and shallow roots dating to early 20thC immigration from Germany.
I count among my forbears both a famous abolitionist and reluctant women’s rights activist and a small-time slave-owner who was murdered in Missouri by ersatz Union Cavalry during the extended Troubles of the Bleeding Kansas period. I am descended from an early Yankee industrialist whose hallmark was to maintain good relations with all parties during King Phillips’ War; from an English soldier killed at Yorktown and his Irish princess widow who was granted confiscated Acadian land for his service; and from a Texas Rebel who walked home from New Mexico after the ill-fated Battle of Glorieta Pass. My pedigree includes prominent figures of American history, innovative inventors, and every-day folks who just managed to get by.
Yet, despite that variety and contradiction of ancestry, I recognize that which is not represented in me: the blood of the people whom my ancestors displaced and the blood of those who were brought here and oppressed by violence from Africa. Notably missing also is representation of the Spanish blood that wandered throughout the West from as long before the Revolution as we are now living after it; and the many waves of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe or the far Northern reaches; from East and South Asia; or any other part of the world.
I am, so to speak, 100% Anglo-Saxon American: about 50% Anglo, and 50% Saxon—what used to be the stereotypical All-American. As a boy, I even had blond hair, and my eyes have been called blue, although they are listed on my driver license as hazel—and they seem to change color with my mood.
Yet, I have never been comfortable with the White privilege I was born into. I have worried that a zero-sum mind-set would mean that my success—bestowed (maybe) because of the luck of my birth—would come at the expense of another, whose efforts were no less (and maybe more) deserving. But now it is time to throw off this hesitancy and to live up to the dictum that “much is demanded from those to whom much has been given.” I have been blessed—with gifts of talent, intelligence, and means—and it is time that I must step forward to share what I see.
Being the embodI hope that this work here can be a safe place where ideas and perspectives can be presented and discussed in good faith without rancor or unmerited negative consequence. Therefore, I write using a nom de plume in order to keep this work separate from the mundane aspects of my other activities. Those who would write comments will not be required to identify themselves publicly, but contributors must provide a means for me to communicate with them and be willing to engage. The tone and content of their compositions and willingness to engage will be considered when deciding whether to grant access to publish.
So…in the spirit of good will and love of this great country, let us proceed!
—Viddi