I had supposed that I'd not have two cents to add to this thread, but
somebody asked about the origins of the phrase "mighty white of you" or
"white enough" and I can provide testimony from my youth that these phrases
were used in my neighborhood (a very white lower middle-class neighborhood
in south Houston) in the 1960s without any trace of racism, and were used to
express a sense of fairness or honor about somebody's behavior in a
transaction. The phrases "mighty fair of you" or "fair enough" could (and
were) used with exactly the same intention. None of using the phrases at
that time used them in any racial sense. But by the time I was a teenager it
no longer had that meaning, and I was using it (as were my black classmates)
with a biting sense of irony to put down anyone acting or speaking in a
racist manner --especially if a person was oblivious to their own racism.
So, that's my personal frame of reference.

Curious, I looked to the OED for guidance and I see that this phrase began
in England in reference to dealings in the various colonies, which certainly
confirms its racist origins, regardless that it might have lost its racial
overtones among some white kids in south Houston in the 60s..

Of course, context always matters. If I recall correctly, the person who
used the phrase yesterday in this Forum has also casually used the term
"negro" in previous postings in this Forum, and once defended the use of the
word "nigger" in HF not because it was authentic to the character using it,
or served the heavy irony of the novel, but instead claiming that because it
was in common usage at the time the novel was published it therefore could
not be construed to be defamatory. I'll cheerfully stand corrected of
course, if my memory is in error.

Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX 78730