Thomas' Response: A Letter from Carlos to Benjamin Franklin

Dear Benjamin Franklin,

You lament that the world is primarily made up of "swarthy" or dark/tan-complexioned folks--and that the English are the only purely white race. You further lament that the initially English-colonized Pennsylvania has begun to be overcome by these swarthy folks, specifically the Germans. I will neglect to expand on the irony that you and your pure-white kind were the first immigrants to take over this land from those who lived here--but I do have one concern. How did white become the gold standard--or more accurately, "the white standard." I'm less concerned with the fact that the people you initially considered dark and un-white became white--I am more concerned that white was something that everyone should try to achieve.

A certain amount of assimilation will always be in order, and I understand the need for people to meet certain language requirements. I myself started as a farm boy but became educated and of higher rank. Yet that was not enough, was it?

Immigrants of all colors have been or are mistreated in this country. But some are able to get absorbed into the larger white category--a totally unfair category--a category that no one should have to fit into in order to be treated fairly and considered an American.

My question is--what makes being white so inherently great? People of different colors from around the world have had great empires, technological and philosophical advances, and great cultural achievements. What did the English do that was so great or so much better than France or Italy or Spain or China or the Aztecs?

Respectfully,

Carlos