Speaking up for Civil Rights and confronting issues that face us.
WhitehorseUSA was created out of concern with the state of affairs regarding race relations in the United States of America. As the founder, I realized that there was no clear, concise, and positive message afforded to the white community. In other words, we had no forum to participate in giving a positive message from our community as a whole. The negative voices have more of a platform. I also understand that love, peace, and harmony, do not sell newspapers, but hate, chaos, and disorder do. I would like to strongly emphasize that there is no Guru here, no Mr. know it all, no, we have all the answers and speak for the entire white community. On the contrary, we are just one voice out of many speaking on these important issues, and we need your voice as well. Â
Our Philosophy
At WhitehorseUSA, we have all seen and heard that race relations and the topic of race is a concern of every member of every community, and we must be willing to listen to every voice regardless of whether we disagree or not. As with all communities, the white community is very vast, and we are not monolithic in our experiences and beliefs. From the very poor, to the lower and middle classes, and to the upper class and very wealthy, we will all have different viewpoints on the topic of race and race relations, and these differences are certainly a positive a positive as long as there is an absence of hateful feeling or beliefs. The mission of WhitehorseUSA is to promote a positive message and image of the white community to the non-white communities, to enhance our relationships with other communities, and to walk together to distance ourselves from any negative speech or behaviors that arises internally or externally from each of our communities. As stated, the white community is very vast and the negative behavior coming from certain members of our community, is but a small sliver of our entire community as a whole. There is an important goal of advertising the importance of a more positive message that needs to be heard from the white community, as the small number of negative messages and behaviors that we see from certain members of our community on all forms of media, drowns out of all of the vast amounts of positive voices and behaviors that come from within our community. We ask for more positive messages to be told from both inside and outside our community, to better advance civil rights and race relations.
ALWAYS ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION WITH REGARDS TO RACE OR RACE RELATIONS:
Whenever someone speaks, or whatever behavior they exhibit, does it advance race relations in the United States of America, or does it not?
More About WhitehorseUSA
Empowered by a steadfast commitment to civil rights principles, WhitehorseUSA aims to be a beacon of hope for change. Hopefully our positive message will drown out any negative thoughts and ideas and convince those small numbers spreading hate and discourse to change their views. We also believe that all communities face the same issues within their communities and that the best course of action is that we all work on our own issues within our own communities, rather than attempting to correct others in other communities. Another goal of WhitehorseUSA is to offer outreach programs, designed to change the mentality and behaviors of those that espouse anger and hate towards others on the basis of race, religion, or other factors. This is a very important aspect of the organizations founding, as the negative behaviors and images have cast a very large and lasting negative effect on the white community. Lastly, aside from our goal of giving the white community a voice at the table of race relations, of creating and promoting a positive voice and image of the white community to other communities, of working arm and arm with other civil rights organizations to find solutions to the problems of race related issues, to reach out and convince members of hate groups to change their way of life, we ask all members of the white community to lend your positive voice to the conversation. The black community and the non-white community have been wanting and waiting for a conversation on race for a very long time. Now is the time to have that conversation.  Â
Racism
Academic researchers say that race is a social construct and that there is no difference genetically between humans. In other words, we categorize each other by race from the differences we see in our appearances. One question often asked is, "can anyone from any race be a racist"? The answer is yes. Quite simply, when people see others as different than themselves, they can at times feel threatened, intimidated, fearful, uncomfortable, or even hateful because of the differences. It has often been told that the only people who can be racist is those that hold power. Although that can also be true, with the ever-changing power structure in the United States, both politically and socially, the definition of certain terms and words have also changed. Racism is when an individual or group believes that they are superior because of their race and discriminate based on that belief. Also, any individual or group, who without evidence or cause, speaks negatively, or who disparages, demeans, degrades, or is hateful to any individual or group because of their race, is considered a racist. If you falsely call someone a racist or any other derogatory term, you are demeaning, degrading, mean spirted, and hateful to that person, and therefore you are the one being racist. Remember, as we are all humans, we all have the same capability of being whatever humans do, both good and evil.  Â
Systemic Racism
Systemic racism, is a form of institutional discrimination based on race or ethnic group and can include policies, practices, procedures, rules, regulations and laws that exist throughout a whole society or organization that result in and support an unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others. It manifests as discrimination in pillars of a society such as criminal justice, employment, health care, education, and housing, and political representation. Thankfully, with the passage of time and the tireless work from community activists and leaders, we have made strides with identifying and correcting some of the unfair practices in these areas of our society. For example, when we talk about housing, there was a clear practice where there was a discriminatory practice where lending institutions would refuse to provide housing loans or financial services to residents of certain neighborhoods, typically based on their race or ethnicity. This practice effectively limits access to homeownership and other essential financial resources for residents of these areas, often resulting in disparities in wealth and economic opportunity. Although there still could be remnants of this practice which at times is hard to detect, the normalcy of the practice is no longer accepted. Another example in the criminal justice system would be the sentencing guidelines with regards to the possession of crack cocaine, which was typically used by poorer black individuals, versus powder cocaine which is much more expensive and typically used by wealthier white individuals. This is what has come to be known as the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity, that came from the Anti-Drug Act of 1986. The law mandated a five-year prison sentence for trafficking in 500 grams of powder cocaine or only 5 grams for crack cocaine. The result of that law disproportionately incarcerated more black Americans than white Americans. That law has since been repealed since the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. Â
Systemic Racism
The reason for these examples is not to blame members of the white community today for the transgressions by those in the past, but to show that we are educating ourselves in order to acknowledge that these concerns are real and we must help address them. There are so many complex layers of our society that is becomes impossible to know which systems were set in place purposely with malicious intent, or whether the negative results were by happenstance, or with no thought who would benefit and who would suffer. One thing that might help us get a clearer picture on our societies structure, is to go back to the beginning of the formation of the country, both with government and the private sector. All members of the entire federal, state, and local governments were white. All judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, juries, police officers, jailers, were white. All teachers, school boards, bankers, mortgage lenders, business owners, doctors, nurses, lawyers, sports figures, actors, and those creating the curriculum for the school students were white. The list could go on, and this is by no means to berate the white community, as this is just how things were in the beginning. When members of the non-white community speak about "white privilege", this is what they mean. Whenever you have a majority in population numbers, there will at times be some sort of privilege. Where, when, and with which person, group, or community, can be relative in nature. If ninety percent of the Indian population in India is Hindu, and the Muslim population is at five percent, chances are there will be at times, privileges for the majority population. The non-white communities still feel that although things have somewhat changed and now there is more diversity, the systems in place that hold people down are not yet completely eliminated.   Â
Systemic Racism
Due to the fact that the issue of systemic racism is still on the minds of some members of the non-white community, the question that should then be asked is, "what segment or pillar of society are you referring to, so we might be able to work with you to correct that disparity?" Since some people who make that statement or accusation of systemic racism, they tend to broad brush the entire subject matter instead of being specific. In other words, what part of healthcare, or housing, or criminal justice, or employment, is racist or unfair. The topic must be broken down to the least common denominator, in order to find any holes in any of the systems, in order to find solutions to fill those holes. Just saying that it's out there or exists, without any backup, will only lead to frustration and mistrust among the communities. WhitehorseUSA is here to assist with finding solutions to any systemic issues or conflicts that effects other communities. We are not here to deny and deflect any issue with regards to how others feel or what someone perceives to be true to them with regards to lasting racism. The only wish that the white community has is to have the direct and precise problems or obstacles that effect you or others explained to us in order for us to assist with eradicating those negative issues that are affecting you. Only together can we make the negative issues of race or race relations cease to exist once and for all.    Â
Systemic Racism
A few examples of how one community can see things differently than another. There is a famous news Jounalist who wrote an article in the newspaper how he was offended by a white women's unconscious bias. He stated that he was in a department store with his two young children and was standing in line at checkout. A white woman behind him stated, "my, your children are so well behaved." Now because he is a black man and she is a white woman, he took the comment to mean that because his children were black, she must believe unconsciously, that they should be running amuck in the store uncontrollably, but instead, were so well behaved which is unlike them. The funny thing is anyone who has little children know that they do run amuck in the stores and are not well behaved, so if anyone would see small children being behaved, that might bring a complementing comment. The unfunny thing is that the white women was trying to be nice and instead of her positive comment being taken in a positive way, this journalist decided he needed to write an article about the encounter labeling white people as having unconscious bias that they are unaware of. I told this story to a bi-racial friend of mine, and she caught me off guard by saying, "he sounds like he's the one who has unconscious bias."Â Â Â Â Â
Systemic Racism
Another recent incident occurred on a major news network round table discussion on whether Kamala Harris lost the election due to racism.  When one of the white male commentators attempted to give his take on the issue, a prominent female commentator who is a Latina, stated that as a person of color, she takes offence that a white man with privilege thinks he could have any legitimate opinion on the subject. The white male did not know how to properly respond to such a statement. First of all, this type of discussion does nothing to advance race relations, and it finds no solutions to any racial problems in our country. Secondly, to disrespect and insinuate that a white person has not right or no place to speak their minds on any racial issue or any other issue is Ludacris. It is absolutely insulting to say such a hateful and discriminatory statement to anyone. In order to help solve race, we must have many conversations. We do not shut people up due to their race, as you cannot solve the racial problem in our country solo. Also, interesting is that with a Spanish surname, this female commentator is most likely mixed with White and Amerindian blood. Another recent incident is when a Black Congress woman was speaking to the Secretary of Education who is a White woman, and asked her, "Do you believe that there is illegal discrimination against people who are black and brown in this country?" The Congress women also stated, "The federal government has racial bias in immigration and education policies, that amounted to favoritism and prioritization of white over color." First, the white community should be disappointed that the Congress women feels that way, as that's exactly the kind of belief that we as a community wish did not exist, but if it is there, we want to help eliminate it. The issue raised needs to be better explained in detail and not just thrown out there without any evidence to support the argument. With regards to discrimination against black and brown people, what about white people? What about Asian people, or people from far reaches of our globe. Which education, housing, employment, health care, criminal justice policies are you speaking of, so we can help you fight the discrimination? When we ask this question, we never hear specific details, only generalities of discrimination, which makes it difficult to find solutions. In closing, instead of just saying there is systemic racism in our country, break down your concern and give specifics regarding each pillar of our society where there seems to be holes, and instead of playing the blame game, let's work together to find these holes that are said to be still there, and work on chipping away at any policy, procedure, rule, regulation, or laws, that is discriminatory, and fill that hole. When Barack Obama was President, he was in office for eight long years. He was in charge of the country, and all of the pillars of society. If he believed there was still systemic racism, whether in housing, education, employment, criminal justice, and all other systems, he could have sounded the alarm and used his power to make change, which is what his slogan was when running for President. His two Attorney Generals, Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, who are both black, and were in charge of the justice department as the highest-ranking law enforcement officers in the country, could have and should have, looked at the entire criminal justice system, and if they found systemic racism in the system that they were in charge of, they should have at that time, sounded the alarm bells and instituted change. In closing, the power structure that the whole idea of systemic racism is built on has drastically changed over each generation. The white community's population numbers have plummeted, and we have seen a Black President, Black Attorney Generals, Black Governors, Black Congress Persons, Black Senators, Black Mayors, City Council Persons, Ceo's, Human Resource Directors, General Managers, Teachers, and the list goes on. The overall numbers are still unequal, but that is simply due to the population numbers. The same is true for other Non-White community members across this country. We realize that there is still work to be done to bridge the divide in the country, and all we should be asking for is that we are included in the topic of race, not just one community. The white community needs to stop being the benchmark on the main topic of racism and race relations, so we all can come together and unite in the pursuit of racial harmony and racial justice for all.
The Ball of Race Relations
Imagine walking into any media company building, and you enter into the lobby and get onto the elevator and proceed to the 3rd floor. You exit the elevator and walk down the hall to the last office on the left side. Inside, there are working in there working. There is a gigantic iron clad pot in the middle of the room, and inside the pot, there is a large stick. On the stick there are all of the names of every media outlet and source in the whole country. The pot is the pot of the racial divide in the United States of America. The job of these workers is to constantly stir this pot in order to get a weekly paycheck. They were told and are convinced that negativity, hate, discourse, chaos and disorder sell newspapers. Love peace, harmony, and unity do not. When two people are kissing on the sidewalk, we drive by without a care, but if we see two people fighting, we stop and take out our camera to film the incident for a later gratification. We can only hope that the media understands that as Americans, we actually yearn for positive stories of unwavering unity, which far outnumber the stories of division and hate. To counter the external threat to all communities from the media, we shall institute a game. Instead of the pot of division, we shall utilize a football, since we all seem to come together with a unified celebration when it comes time for the super bowl. The football is the football of race relations. We shall place this football on the 50-yard line, and the goal is to move the ball of race relations further down the field to score a touchdown, and what a glorious day that shall be! We don't want the ball to just sit there and not move, and we surely don't want the ball to go backwards. The way to move the ball further down the field depends on what any individual or group says, or what behavior and individual or group conveys on any given day with regards to race or race relations. Ask yourself this question when listening to someone or observing their behavior. Is what they are saying or doing, moving the ball of race relations further down the field or is it not? The state of affairs with regards to race relations in the United States of America, will take all of us collectively to help solve this issue with a positive voice and with positive actions. No one community can accomplish this endeavor solo. We all need to have a seat at the table of race relations, and we must truly listen to each other's concerns and needs to make this happen. Let's move this ball all the way down the field and score that touchdown! Â
Hate Groups
There are internal and external forces that usually taint the image of any community with regards to race or religion. One internal threat to the white community, is any organized group or lone individual that practices, behaves, or believes in hate or superiority over others, is a threat to our community. The white community collectively says to you, "lay down your arms and your beliefs, in order to save your own souls." The vast amount of damage that you cause the white community as a whole, is unmeasurable, and will takes years to wipe away. You might be safe in your own personal space wherever that might be and might not ever feel the repercussions of your behavior or your speech, the white kid that is walking home from school, or from the mall, or in the park, or just walking in his neighborhood, will feel the brunt of your activities because of his race. When he is attacked, they see you in him or her. The white community needs you to change your way of thinking, to become a more confident, secure, and strong white male, not only for the sake of our entire community, but also for your own souls. Now, we must understand the reasons why someone would behave and think this way. Maybe some come from broken homes, or from some sort of abuse or abandonment. Maybe they are angry and what they feel is a constant attack of false accusations of racism that drives them into this way of thinking. Maybe it's anger and not from a sense of superiority. We also should realize that all communities have their haters, no matter the reasons. We can only hope that men realize that the way to change our negative image, or to have a voice, is not by hate, but rather to be a decent man of righteousness, who is strong, confident, and who lacks fear and insecurities. Fear produces hate, and hate will kill your soul and your spirit. Instead of hate, procreate. A strong family will change your character and your whole outlook on life. The white community is looking for you to change your behavior and your whole way of thinking, for the community as a whole, in order to show the country and the world that we are not fearful, but fearless in our pursuit of strength and decency. Â
Reshaping our Image
To begin with, let us say that the white community in general feels that we under constant attack from both internal forces and external forces, that paint the white community as a whole, in a negative light. Although some of the attacks come from outside our community, we must focus on what we can do collectively to change the image that has been portrayed. Some of this negativity is self-inflicted, and so what we must do is not allow people from within our own community to taint our image with either negative or hateful speech, or negative or hateful behavior. We must not stand on the sidelines anymore; we must call them out. This is not a sign of weakness, this is a sign of fearless strength. One of the holes that we see member of the white community fall into, is on social media. Any member of the white community should not ever post any article or video on social media, that is negative, demeaning, degrading, hateful, and surely not related to race or religion. Any member of the white community, should not post any comment to any article or video, that is negative, demeaning, degrading, hateful, and surely not related to race or religion. By doing so, the damage you cause and the ammunition that you give, is unmeasurable in the destruction of our image to other communities. By doing so, we are giving ammunition to those who accuse the white community of racism and white supremacy. We are not saying keep your hateful thoughts and comments to yourself, we are saying that you should have them in your heart to begin with. This is not pandering or cowering down to others, this is all about you freeing yourself of the negativity associated with these types of beliefs. Let others fall into that trap. Instead of wasting time on these posts and comments, do something more productive with your time. Take a class, join a gym, go to the beach, read a book, take a bike ride, go see a movie, and the like. Let's not drag ourselves into the gutter of social media. When other communities see that we are as a community, positive, confident, friendly, understanding, fearless, thoughtful, and filled with empathy and unity, we will cease to hear the accusations of racism as much as we hear it today. Let us take the lead to reshape ourselves in a more positive and respectful manner, and to lead by example in this pursuit.Â
Reshaping our Image
When we speak about reshaping our image, it can be quite challenging when you have internal destructive forces like the KKK, Neo-Nazis, Skinheads, White Supremacists, and any other hate group, that receives all of the attention from the media and other sources. We understand and agree that these groups should be exposed, but we also feel that they are but a sliver of the vast and diverse population of the white community. The white community would like to see more of a positive side of the contributions and achievements from the white community, in order to show that the majority of the white community do not espouse these beliefs and behaviors. We see daily attacks from individuals on social media posts, from news journalists, activists, politicians, comedians, movie writers, and even certain professors and sociologists, that given on a constant and relentless basis, is causing such anger and such a divide, that it all must stop. All forms of hate and negativity from every community must stop. What we in the white community should focus on, is educating ourselves with the history and responsibilities that we all have regarding race and race relations. The white community cannot be held accountable for the sins of certain members of the white community, either today, decades ago, or centuries ago. We do, however, have a responsibility to take action whenever a member of our community, either an induvial or group, engages in hateful speech or hateful behavior. By doing so, this will slowly improve our image that a few bad members of our community have brought on to us. Â
Reshaping our Image
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Contribute to an Equal Future
Join us in our mission to champion civil rights, promote justice, and foster a community of empathy and understanding. Your support can make a difference in the lives of those fighting for their rights. Be a part of the change we wish to see in the world. Contact WhitehorseUSA to learn how you can contribute.