Hot take: Becoming conscious as a white person is like waking up 'covered in blood and surrounded by dead bodies'

We don’t normally do posts on Twitter randos unless their takes are too hot to ignore. Proponents of critical race theory and anti-racism really just want one thing: for white people to be aware of their “whiteness” and what that means in a society that was built on white supremacist roots — and then dismantle that society. That’s why researchers have done studies to define whiteness and why the government sends executives to three-day reeducation camps to deconstruct white culture.

All we know about Caitlin Johnstone is what she tells us, and that’s that she writes about “the end of illusions.”

Becoming conscious as a white person is a little bit like waking up with a bad hangover, covered in blood and surrounded by dead bodies, and slowly realizing that you're holding the murder weapon.

— Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) June 26, 2021

we’ve all been there

— Chet Archbold (@Erkenbald) June 28, 2021

White people talk about "white guilt" like it's this horrifying dangerous thing made of molten lava that will kill you if you don't run away from it as fast as you can. But coming to conscious terms with your place in the world will bring up many emotions, like grief, and guilt.

— Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) June 26, 2021

It's not ABOUT the guilt, it's about becoming aware of reality. But the guilt is there, waiting to be felt, and you're either conscious of it and real about it or you're not. Pretending it's not there just makes you defensive and aggressive.

— Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) June 26, 2021

Narrator: It’s about the guilt. With guilt, people have something to capitalize upon. It’s a tool they can leverage to get what they want.

People are responding to this thread like I'm suggesting something dangerous, and I promise you I'm not. Becoming an authentic person will bring up a lot of feelings, and it's safe to feel those feelings. Feelings are meant to be felt.

— Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) June 26, 2021

Lady, what happened to you?

Despite a few self-induced breaks, I've been conscious since birth, if not before. I've been learning who I am all my life, and none of that has been the result of repetitive lectures and political peer pressure. I'm not perfect, but I know who I am.

— melvis 🇺🇲 (@wxmel) June 26, 2021

Everyone alive today would be holding the murder weapon if sin is inherited. It's that very illiberal, uncontructive, neo-religious belief system that is currently paving all sorts of roads to Hell

— Emm Gifts (@EmmGifts) June 26, 2021

Telling others how they ought to feel when they accept what you purport to be reality is not only depriving them of individual agency and sovereignty, but it is also the epitome of "privilege" to assume that you know what is "real" for them and how they should feel about it.

— ∞ΨInfiniteMindΨ∞ (@Transpersonal) June 28, 2021

I'm not my skin color. No one is, not any more than they are their hair color, eye color, or nose shape. Owning responsibility for all the good and bad deeds done by anyone who ever historically had your skin color is intensely narcissistic.

The guilt comes from elsewhere.

— Andre St. David (@DreStDavid) June 26, 2021

This is ridiculous

— CryptoNoob (@moynihan_alan) June 26, 2021

pic.twitter.com/R4PUdnoPwo

— DUTCH.HODL (@SStacksats) June 27, 2021

My ancestors were a rabble of poor peasants, starving farmers, debtors in prison from many ethnicities/races who conquered no one. Their role in conquest was as conscripts or victims. Any blood on them is their own. Same for 99% of folks . Take your elite tribalism elsewhere

— Grandpa jenkins (@Grandpa_jenkins) June 27, 2021

1) What an unfortunate and irrational way to esteem yourself. I’m sorry you think unearned guilt and shame are appropriate or even healthy. Imagine a parent telling you how awful you are, and embracing that message as the truth. Why is it any less awful in this case but for the

— Mark Pellegrino (@MarkRPellegrino) June 27, 2021

2) social cred you get from pointless self flagellation. You can still acknowledge the sins of the past and their present impacts without being responsible for them in any way. Claiming you are in some way complicitous is a masochist’s errand.

— Mark Pellegrino (@MarkRPellegrino) June 27, 2021

Rebranding the Marxist theory of “class consciousness” in a desperate attempt to be relevant.

— Not Yohn Thtossel’s Mustache (@Trustinscience2) June 26, 2021

What is wrong with you people?!!! What is this intense self-hatred?

— Obianuju Ekeocha (@obianuju) June 28, 2021

It's not self hatred. It's a high they get from appearing virtuous to others and themselves through no effort.

— Elle Driver's Firebird (@JacobyChrisrt) June 28, 2021

But just imagine how much better you feel when you accept all of that guilt.

Related:

WaPo taps ‘mental health experts’ to guide white people on coming to terms with their white ‘shame’ and atoning for their whiteness https://t.co/6TvFXGwXH5

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 21, 2021