White People Love/Hate the Ivy League

Ok I'm just a sucker for Stuff White People Like, but last week's entry, The Ivy League, is too spot on not to share:

White people have a tortured relationship with the Ivy Leagues, and if you broach the subject in the wrong way you can offend and even anger a white person.

But before getting into the more nuanced aspects of the subject, it’s important to know that all white people believe they have the intelligence and work ethic required to attend an Ivy League school. The only reason they did not actually go to one is that they chose not to participate in the “dog and pony show” required to gain acceptance... This should always be at the back of your mind as you talk to a white person about the Ivy League.

Once you have determined that a white person did not attend an Ivy League School, you should try to give them the opportunity to explain why their school was actually a superior educational experience. Some easy ways to do this are to mention grade inflation, professors who value research over teaching, or high tuition costs. Any one of these will set a white person off on a multi-minute rant.

...White people also like to call their school “The Harvard of the [insert region or conference]”. Do not challenge this, it will ruin their confidence.

Replace "white people" with "elite New England liberal arts school students" and it is just as effective. Sorry if this post offends you, either as a white person or as a Wesleyan student.

Stuff White People Like: The Ivy League

Wesleying: Still Waiting for Our Book Deal

So the founder of everybody's favorite racial deconstructing blog Stuff White People Like, Christian Lander, just got a $300,000 book deal. According to the NYTimes, this is part of a larger trend of popular blogs getting attention from publishers... including I Can has Cheezburger, of lolcat fame.

Even the snarky can retain a bit of wonder. On Wednesday, Mr. Lander, who is white, added his 92nd entry to Stuff White People Like: Book Deals.

“White people,” he wrote, “like having their dreams come true when they least expected it.”

Uh, apparently all we need is more snark and 1.6 million hits a day and we're set.