robert shetterly

As a kid growing up in Ohio in the 1950s and '60's I was taught to admire and respect--frankly, be intimidated by--white men in suits. They were the priests of the High Holy Church of How the World Works, constantly chanting the liturgy of economic expansion, war, consumption, entitlement, white supremacy, American superiority, extraction of profit from nature. This teaching wasn't direct, as in, See that man in the charcoal gray Brooks Brothers suit with the red and blue striped tie -- listen to, obey him! But everywhere I looked voices of authority and power emanated from these white men in suits. Kids assumed they were our wise elders, our role models. Some were politicians, some teachers, some generals, some TV broadcasters, businessmen and bankers.

The suits weren't pretending. They believed their authority was authentic. They believed in the sanctity of their superior whiteness. They believed America was both good and great and white--it seemed the melting pot's most important ingredient was bleach. They believed capitalism was the only right and righteous economic system. They believed they embodied the pinnacle of the great chain of being. They believed nature's bounty was endless and endlessly forgiving. They believed God was rewarding them for their beliefs. They still saluted the flag of Manifest Destiny. They believed the US was right to dominate the people and resources of other countries; imperialism rhymed with duty rhymed with White Man's Burden rhymed with profit. They observed men of their tribe in all the positions of power, and they knew the tribe's costume (the expensive suit) advertised and accentuated their authority. Initiation into this tribe was the fitting of the first suit on the teenage (white male) acolyte. Often the men in suits were corrupt and yet they went on believing anyway; such is the nature of smug entitlement. Corruptness was at one end of the necessity scale. The exception proved the rule.