mighty white of you

created by perhapsadingo8yrbaby
(idea) by perhapsadingo8yrbaby (1.8 hr) (print)   ?   (I like it!) 6 C!s Tue Jun 26 2007 at 19:03:46

"That's mighty white of you" is usually a sarcastic response to a supposed favor or magnanimous action that is actually not all that generous, and, in fact, may benefit the person offering said favor more than it benefits the recipient. In this context, the phrase is a none too subtle reference to the American and European tradition of perpetrating systematic oppression and occasional unspeakable atrocities against human beings with higher melanin levels, often with the excuse that doing so is somehow in the best interest of the oppressed. This idiom is generally assumed to have originated in the southern United States in the late 19th or early 20th century, although the earliest examples in print were not Southern in origin at all. Apparently, it gained some currency in the rest of the US as well as the UK by the 1930s, and is now considered somewhat antiquated. "Mighty white of you" is a controversial piece of slang nowadays, as it was originally intended as a genuine compliment that was not at all sardonic.

Like many of our adjectives for color, the word "white" is imbued with deep emotional, moral, and social connotations. White implies purity, virtue, and favor. It has also long been synonymous with (and in common usage, has now supplanted) the laughably inaccurate Caucasian racial classification. In the late 19th century, the word white also began to represent the notion of honorability, fairness and an upright attitude; a definition which, in Merriam-Webster's awkward phrasing, is derived "from the former stereotypical association of good character with northern European descent." In other words, the phrase "mighty white of you" is decidedly racist in origin.

Despite the widely accepted assertion that the phrase originated in the southern US, according to the Oxford English Dictionary the first usage of the word white with this meaning was in the 1877 novel Golden Butterfly by Walter Besant and James Rice (both British), referring in a highly complimentary fashion to "as white a man as I ever knew." In 1893, the short story "Benefits Forgot," set in Colorado and penned by New Yorker Wolcott Balestier, made wholly non-ironic use of the sentence, "That's deuced white of you." Edith Wharton, born in New York and eventually a permanent resident of Paris, uses the earnest compliment, "Well - this is white of you," in her 1913 novel The Custom of the Country. The earliest example of the specific phrase "mighty white of you" was published in 1916 in a letter to the Chicago Tribune, in which the Midwestern author professes sincere gratitude.

Over the last few decades, common usage of "mighty white of you" has become overwhelmingly sarcastic in tone. Originally intended as a white on white compliment, it is now used by people of varying hues as a pointed insult. "That's mighty white of you" is a scathing response to a situation in which someone is condescendingly attempting to portray their own actions as incredibly generous and worthy of gratitude, when the reality of the situation is just the opposite. The arrogant attitude that this modern usage of the phrase is satirizing is perhaps best exemplified by Rudyard Kipling's infamous poem "The White Man's Burden," in which the speaker claims that white men have a moral obligation to thanklessly toil to bring the gift of civilization to dusky savages through the use of force. The poem suggests that this, ahem, philanthropy is the driving principle behind imperialism. Ole Rudy may have been the mightiest whitest of them all.

"Mighty white of you" has long been used as a slight by the African American community, directed at the white majority. However, the first documented reference I could find to "mighty white of you" as a source of ironic humor was in the 1976 Clint Eastwood flick The Enforcer. When a black militant character offers to ensure that a female cop "don't get lonesome" while the men-folk meet in secret, Dirty Harry responds with "Well, that's mighty white of you." Supposedly, the expression was also parodied to great effect in Spike Lee's first feature-length film She's Gotta Have It in 1986 (unfortunately, I have not seen this film, as it is still unavailable on DVD, and I am too lazy to expend much effort for the sake of a 20 year old Spike Lee Joint).

Although many current admirers of the sarcastic use of this expression claim that it no longer holds any racial implications, most recent usages in the media are specifically intended to criticize racists or perceived racism. For instance, the July 2005 issue of Harper's contained an article titled "Mighty White of You," which examines the heavily disputed theory that a European presence predates Native Americans on the North American continent by several thousand years, and delves into a few assorted racist weirdos who subscribe to this theory. Last year, when Sony, in marketing their new "Ceramic White" PSP, ran a billboard campaign in the Netherlands that depicted a statuesque blonde Valkyrie in glam gear mercilessly crushing the face of a small, defenseless black woman, CNN Money covered Sony's gaffe in "101 Dumbest Moments in Business" with the section header of, you guessed it, "Sony: Mighty White of You." It appears that the expression may be well on its way to becoming a catchphrase employed by pseudo-intellectuals in an attempt to sound edgy, but only within a rigidly circumscribed context (at least, when they're on the record).

"Mighty white of you" is still a powerfully divisive expression, although not along simple racial lines. Some people (of all races) find it extremely offensive. Some people (of all races) view it as a clever insult. Some people find it simultaneously funny and repugnant. And yes, a few unenlightened souls still think it is a genuine compliment. Interpretation is entirely dependent upon context. In the mouth of a casual racist, it can be an ugly utterance indeed. Applied with the appropriate wry delivery, it can be both disturbingly funny and thought-provoking. In any context, it definitely carries a certain amount of weight. If you intend to be so bold as to employ the phrase "mighty white of you" in conversation, you'd better be damn sure of your audience and your own intentions first. If you unexpectedly find this phrase directed at you one day, rest assured that the person who said it probably isn't a white supremacist. Chances are, they just think that you're an asshole.

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