You've already mentioned eating outside. Can you talk a little bit about
the importance of the outdoors?

It's just where white people want to be. From the time white people are
raised, they're taught that being indoors is a bad thing, and that it's always
better to be outside. So they're always on this constant quest to be camping or
bicycling or eating outside, whatever it takes to get outside. The more time
you spend outside the more credibility you have to dump on other people for not
going outside.

And even if you're not outside, you might be wearing what you call outdoor performance clothes. Why is that?

White people need to know that if someone calls them up, and says: "You
want to go camping?" they're ready at the drop of a hat. Bam, out they go.
You could be in the Ikea, just leave the cart in one of the aisles, head up to
some campsite.

Can you talk about the deep love of David Sedaris?

It's hard to talk about it. It's like talking about a love of oxygen. It's
just there.

Why David Sedaris?

They love him, because he's funny, and he lives in France, and
he's gay. He's like everything you could possibly want in the ideal friend. Oh,
he also writes for the New Yorker. He hits so many things on the list it's
unbelievable.

On the site, I've been getting all these e-mails from people who have gone
to his signings, and they said that it's just like this sea of white people and
huge lineups usually reserved for rock stars.

You have this quiz in your book to calculate how white you are. So, how
white are you?

It's tough for me to say this, because there is the answer based on my quiz,
and then the fact that I wrote the book gives me like a bonus score. So, I'm
going to say 91 percent.

So, are you like the ultimate, advanced, elite white person, because you
are categorizing all the rest of them?

I think, but I know that people are gunning for me, and I don't think that
it's going to last much longer.

Do you see yourself as critiquing this white culture, or are you kind of
celebrating it?

I think I'm critiquing it, as well. I make fun of myself a lot on the site.
That's why I put my photo on there to let people know that I'm making fun of
myself. It's been a great chance for me to call out so many of my pretentious
leanings.

There is such a strong belief among this type of people that you're right,
of being unwilling to listen to anything else, and I think that's one of the
things I'm trying to point out. There is a critique in there, but the top
priority is to be funny.

But don't you say that even self-deprecating humor is a marker of the
white culture?

Yeah. I was trying so hard to sound smart there, and you totally called me
out on it.

White people figured out an awesome way to use self-deprecating humor to
compliment themselves. Like, when you talk about being "broke," what
you're really saying is that the people with money are sellouts.

Haven't you gotten a lot of hate mail about the site?

Yeah. I used to read all the comments on the site, when it was getting like
30,000 hits a day, and I was getting comments every couple of minutes. I was
reading them all, because it was fascinating to me, and there are so many funny
people out there. But as it got bigger, people left a lot of mean comments
about me, about the site, so I stopped reading them entirely, because I was
trying to write the book, and I just wanted to stay positive. Reading the
comments broke my spirit. I'd just feel so down. But I still read every e-mail
that comes in.

Are the angry commenters mad about the idea of the site, or do they feel
like you're making fun of them?

A lot of them just hate me for the fact that the site got popular. A lot of
people just hate it because they think I'm being racist, but they don't really
think it through. The people who write in think that I'm perpetuating hate, and
that all stereotypes are evil, and I think that they're kind of missing the
point.

The white people who like your site -- are you just giving them another
way to feel self-congratulatory?

Possibly. That might be part of it. It's a funny concept that is open-ended.
A lot of people can add their things that I'm missing.

To some extent I'm sure there is some self-congratulation in there, and
that's fine. I'm not a performance artist here. I'm really trying to make
people laugh more than anything. If it leads to questioning, that's great, but
I think a lot of people are quite proud with how white they are, which is
certainly an unintended consequence.

Comments:

well then I spend a lot of time outdoors.They threw me out

comment by fredo on July 5, 2008 1:29 PM ()

Homeless for six months, I slept on newspapers two big dogs at my feet. After I squatted in an abandoned house, three little dogs sleep at my feet. The advanced white gentleman always sleeps in a camping outfit set to go into the woods.

reply by bumpedoff on July 5, 2008 8:34 PM ()

I'm coloured - so are all my children & gran kiddies, we're a kinda pinky~white . . . 'everyone is coloured' ~ regardless of the 'hue'.
It's what is in the 'heart' of people, which makes the difference ~ regardless of 'shade'.

comment by augusta on July 5, 2008 1:15 PM ()

You are absolutely right. I share many characteristics with white people because I grew up in small town America. Racially, I happen to be a Semite.
Barack Obama has many good advanced white characteristics, while John McCain is a sub par white man. John denigrates others rather than helping them.
The heart is a lonely hunter.

reply by bumpedoff on July 5, 2008 8:56 PM ()