Play the white man is a term used in parts of England meaning to be decent and trustworthy in one's actions.
The origin of the phrase is obscure. The term carries with it a reference to an obligation which outnumbered English civil administrators in the latter years of the British Empire might have considered themselves to be under: that is, the obligation to uphold respect for their county abroad by maintaining personal standards of behavior and fairness which darker-skinned native peoples could respect. The act of calling upon someone to remember his personal moral obligations in this way is expressed in Rudyard Kipling's poem The White Man's Burden. On the other hand, the racially neutral color white has long been associated with pureness and virtue.
A similar expression in the United States is "That's mighty white of you", meaning, "Thank you for being fair". Among African Americans, this phrase is said in response to being patronized or told what to think.
Famous quotes containing the words play the, play, white and/or man:
“Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence?”
—Bible: Hebrew, 1 Samuel 21:15.
A King, said of David who pretends to be mad.
“But popular rage,
Hysterica passio dragged this quarry down.
None shared our guilt; nor did we play a part
Upon a painted stage when we devoured his heart.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The villagers are untying their disguises, they are shaking hands.
Whose is that long white box in the grove, what have they
accomplished, why am I cold?”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“Gloucester. Nor further, sir, a man may rot even here.
Edgar. What, in ill thoughts again? Men must endure
Their going hence, even as their coming hither;
Ripeness is all.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)