Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America

by Ijeoma Oluo

“Lord, give me the confidence of a mediocre white man.”

everything in our society is centered around preserving white male power regardless of white male skill or talent.

ignorance and hatred are their birthrights and that the effort of enlightenment and connection is an injustice they shouldn’t have to face.

as a society, somehow convinced ourselves that we should be led by incompetent assholes.

Nothing says “American” like a boy making a woman struggle so that he can seem independent.

Mediocre, highly forgettable white men regularly enter feminist spaces and expect to be centered and rewarded, and they have been.

have never had the luxury of shunning everything in our society that does not appear to be built 100 percent for me.

What exactly do people who aren’t white men have that could be more inclusive of white men?

the sport became a tool for maintaining elite white male power by distracting dissatisfied white working-class men.