White, Kind of Like Me

I did a post over at the KVNU blog about Barack Obama's comment on the "typical white person." He seemed to state that his white grandma is scared of minorities, like all white people. In order that he may better understand white people, I'd suggest he check out the website "Stuff White People Like." While it covers mainly things that liberal white people who are trying to be trendy, snobby, environmentally-conscious, and diverse like, it is humorous. Here are some highlights:

• Recycling is a part of a larger theme of stuff white people like: saving the earth without having to do that much.
• The Toyota Prius might be the most perfect white product ever. It’s expensive, gives the idea that you are helping the environment, and requires no commitment/changes other than money.
• Whole Foods: Many white people consider shopping at Whole Foods to be a religious experience, allowing them feel good about their consumption. The use of paper bags, biodegradable packaging, and the numerous pamphlets outlining the company’s policy on hormones, genetically modified food and energy savings. This is in spite of the fact that Whole Foods is a profit driven-publicly traded corporation that has wisely discovered that making white people feel good about buying stuff is outrageously profitable.
• Public radio: White people have an uncanny ability to make the ordinary exciting and there is no better forum than public radio to best showcase this.

MacKenzie and I are each guilty of having/doing one thing that White People Like. For MacKenzie, it's Kitchen Gadgets:

But, in order for them to truly enter into whitedom, they need to own the holy grail of white kitchens - the kitchen aid stand mixer. They will match this mixer to their kitchen’s color scheme and it will make up the focal point. And much like many religious artifacts, it will remain untouched for months and even years, sitting on the counter to be admired as a testament to their lifestyle.

For me, it's Study Abroad, which I did in Australia, which is the base level of studying abroad (the trump card, of course, is Tibet).

By attending school in another country, white people are technically living in another country. This is important as it gives them the opportunity to insert that fact into any sentence they please. “When I used to live in [insert country], I would always ride the train to school. The people I’d see were inspiring.”

I would suggest that all of you, as well as Obama, check this site out to learn about how (liberal) white people operate.