History of Armenia 34: How Armenians Became Legally White In America

Racial supremacist ideologies have to be vague because the reality of who holds material power and who doesn't is the real driving force behind the oppression of groups of people. You're only not considered white because it's more convenient to keep you and your group of people in an oppressed social position which is easier to exploit, and you only become white on a broad social level when you join in with the oppressive system. Whiteness is only a demarcater of social power and in-group rule, and wanting to become white is to want to join in with that club of dominators, or to not be grouped in with those who are categorized as the oppressed class on a legal basis. It's an incredibly sickening idea to try to free yourself from oppression by joining the oppressing group, just buying into the system instead of destroying it and freeing everyone.

It's awful but it's hard not to chuckle sometimes because of how goofy it all is.

Finno-Armenian handshake of being Asiatic

I really loved this episode. It sparked a memory my wife told me when we were engaged. My wife told me, the One Drop Rule in America, specifically the Southern United States is a real thing. Whereas before, you would be in chattel slavery, or legalized apartheid where all attempt at civil rights are met with brutal state sanctioned violence. Now it’s hidden, behind closed doors and gated communities, it’s promoted in prisons to indoctrinate youth when they get out. Place where the public eye tends not to look hard. From stop and frisk to DWB. People here still actively discourage miscegenation, entirely too similar to eugenics campaigns in America. Social ostracism exist still around where we live. Aside from that. Great episode, super glad I listened to this one. Gave a lot of insight to things I didn’t know.

Pardon me, 'The Loyal Order of the Moose'?

"I look sort of White Your Honor, I rest my case."

When the calipers come out and they're measuring skulls, you know there's going to be some racist bullshit. And "using American racism to defeat American racism" is probably one of the most American things to America.

I had an Armenian American history teacher (who was the uncle to my aunt’s ex husband) too, he’d talk about this when he talked about race laws in the USA. He would show us racist Facebook comments towards Arabs and Muslims from Armenian Americans and point out they’re making the same white supremacist argument that was used against Armenians to deny them citizenship.

Not gonna lie my family asked this question when my aunt married an Armenian guy.

It’s still crazy to me how much the word race is still used even in English like it is spoken today, if somebody here in Germany would start using that word when talking about humans you would know with quite the high likely hood that they are probably some leftover Nazi or other kind of far right extremist

This whole series could be it's own podcast. It's terrific! 😀