Oluo argues also that this tendency to reward mediocrity is detrimental to everyone, including white men themselves - in that it hugely inhibits the potential and progress that they could be challenged and stretched towards. When mediocrity is accepted as a bar set, then what incentive is there to improve and progress? It’s the same mentality that grants plaudits to a father who “babysits” his own children for an evening while their mother is out. She takes us through periods such as the ‘wild’ west and the Great Depression, tracing the roots of many current societal and systemic issues. Mediocre works systematically through historical, statistical, and scientific context for Oluo’s arguments, bringing them to life in anecdotal and lived experience. They also hurt people, and they compromise the integrity of our movements.” “When that true commitment to equality isn't there, when white men waltz into social justice movements with their privilege unchecked and expect to feel rewarded and comfortable at all times, they slow us down. I know I am not alone. And how much more frustrating and harmful, then, for those whose disability, gender, sexuality, and/or skin colour places them elsewhere on that totem pole? I am pretty high up on the privilege totem pole, but oh, how often I’ve found myself talked down to, talked over, had my contributions relayed back to me as if they were the straight white man’s idea in the first place. and everything in our society is centred around preserving white male power regardless of skill or talent.”Īnd my word but do I feel this in my bones.

What I’m saying is that white male mediocrity is a baseline. I do not believe that any race or gender is predisposed to mediocrity. I knew I was going to write that chapter from the start.Oluo says “I am not arguing that every white man is mediocre. To see this small space dedicated to the decimation of the Buffalo and extreme devastation to the Native populations, it stayed with me. When you're a Black woman, you can see it. You walk through the museum and realize that this racist guy is the epitome of manhood. There are restaurants, theaters - everything - named after him. There are multiple versions of towns named after William Cody in places like Montana and Wyoming. But you can tell when the mythology isn't built for you, even when they're talking about you: they're talking about the Zulu warriors and there are costumes, but you recognize that that mythology isn't for you. When I first stumbled upon the, I was astounded by its grandeur. I would spend a lot of time traveling in these areas. I had Montana, Wyoming, Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon.

I used to work in advertising for Chevy and my territory was the West.

White male mediocrity book