The key to conquest is to prepare, prepare, prepare.
We live in a time when most Americans deem it acceptable to use the word “white” as a term of insult. For example, in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, the hero, Neo, tells the Architect of the Matrix, “You can’t make me do anything, you old white prick!” It speaks volumes about our society that such a racial insult can be put in the mouth of a movie hero without provoking public outrage.
The term “white” in this case implies that whites are excessively rational, controlling, and, indeed, mechanical—after all, the Architect is actually the personification of the machines that run the Matrix. Such is the typical meaning of “white” when used as an insult. The related connotations of sexual repression and lack of spontaneity are often implicit as well.
It’s worthwhile to think through how exactly to respond when “white” is used as a term of insult, just as we did in the article What Do You Say When You’re Called a Racist?.
Here’s one possible response, if a white person makes the remark: “Using ‘white’ as a term of insult is an expression of racial hatred, and that offends me. Turn it around. Imagine a black person said, ‘I can’t do well on the SATs because I’m too black.’ We would think any black person who said that was suffering from morbid, sick, self-loathing. We’d recommend that he seek mental help. And I feel the same about you! I demand an apology! I don’t want to spend any time around people who promote racial hatred!”