In _The White Scourge_, Neil Foley uses a wealth of archival materials and oral histories to illuminate the construction and reconstruction of whiteness and the connection of this whiteness to power. Focusing largely on cotton culture in central Texas, Foley 's book deconstructs whiteness through a new and detailed analysis of race, class, and gender. The most intriguing aspect of this book is its comparison of the impact of whiteness on various ethno-racial classes and how each struggled in relation to the other to develop a meaningful existence. _
Through personal anecdotes, historical analysis, and sociopolitical commentary, Wise skillfully dissects the complex dynamics of racism and the ways in which white individuals unconsciously perpetuate systemic inequalities. He highlights the significance of understanding privilege as a necessary step towards fostering a more equitable and just society. Both "Tim Wise: On White Privilege" and "White Like Me" serve as wake-up calls for individuals to recognize and challenge their own privilege. They emphasize that white privilege is not about guilt or shame, but rather about acknowledging the advantages that come with being white in a racially unequal society.
The major thesis in this book, are broken down into two components. The first is how we define racism, and the impact that definition has on how we see and understand racism. Dr. Beverly Tatum chooses to use the definition given by “David Wellman that defines racism as a system of advantages based on race” (1470). This definition of racism helps to establish Dr. Tatum’s theories of racial injustice and the advantages either willingly or unwillingly that white privilege plays in our society today. The second major thesis in this book is the significant role that a racial identity has in our society.
As Americans grew less settled in the wars and actions of their government there was also a focus in the black community of a desire for equality, both in public and in politics. Jacobson discusses how this disillusionment also belonged to the ethnic white communities. In fact, he pointed out several slogans in which slurs would be interchanged to prove a point. However, these turns of phrase were also used by those that opposed the presence of ethnic diversity in America. Going on to explain things such as the sources and effects of the ethnic revival, Jacobson also discusses ethnic consciousness and a disassociation of ethnic whites from those whites who oppose ethnic diversity.
In “Decolonizing Desire: The Politics of Love,” Dalia Gebrial discusses how one’s race structures one’s experience of desirability, emotional labour, support, and commitment in regards to love. The article centers around the idea of love and how as a society, we have created “codes” as for who is lovable or who is deserving of our love. Throughout the article, Gebrial focuses on how colored women were seen as “animalistic” and undeserving of love and fair treatment as opposed to white women, using the fact that colored women couldn’t even get into a court room as an example of this. This article brings importance and attention to how colored women did not receive something as simple as love the same way that white women did. This made me think
Throughout the second chapter of Darkwater by W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of White Folk, Du Bois highlights the dichotomy of White vs. Black that he argues has been established by European colonialism. According to Du Bois, the dichotomy exists under the premise that whiteness is synonymous to goodness and purity, whereas blackness is its opposite, being synonymous to evil and taintedness. Furthermore, he asserts, it is this racist dichotomy that upholds whiteness as “the ownership of the earth, forever and ever,” through the guise of European colonialism, to the extent of becoming the nation’s “religion,” especially by way of “white Christianity.” Du Bois argues that whiteness is seen as “Everything great, good, efficient, fair, and honorable,”
Fahad Albrahim Response 1: Review/Summary: “Whiteness as property” is an article written by Cheryl Harris, in which she addresses the subject of racial identity and property in the United States. Throughout the article, professor Harris attempts to explain how the concept of whiteness was initiated to become a form of racial identity, which evolved into a property widely protected in American law (page 1713). Harris tackles a number of facts that describe the roots of whiteness as property in American history at the expense of minorities such as Black and American natives (page 1709). Additionally, Harris describes how whiteness as property evolved to become seen as a racial privilege in which the whites gained more benefits, whether
In the essay, “A Genealogy of Modern Racism”, the author Dr. Cornel West discusses racism in depth, while conveying why whites feel this sense of superiority. We learn through his discussion that whites have been forced to treat black harshly due to the knowledge that was given to them about the aesthetics of beauty and civility. This knowledge that was bestowed on the whites in the modern West, taught them that they were superior to all races tat did not emulate the norms of whites. According to Dr. West the very idea that blacks were even human beings is a concept that was a “relatively new discovery of the modern West”, and that equality of beauty, culture, and intellect in blacks remains problematic and controversial in intellectual circles
Reading the article White Privilege, I was reflected back to the 2 past classes. I disagree with some of the article because I believe that women and black people can have the same amount of power as men and whites. The 2008 election showed no matter what skin color you have, anything is possible. On the other side, I see where it’s coming from. In our country, there’s still discrimination about women and blacks.
Power and privilege is one of the most common discussions regarding issues in America. It is having the freedom and opportunities more than others, and often times this power and privilege isn’t earned it is given to those unfairly. The factors that decide between those who have power and those who don’t are becoming almost unbelievable. The simple color of one’s skin, something they have no control over can put you at a disadvantage for no reason beyond the fact that your skin is not the same as someone else’s. Two examples of this lack of balanced power come from first, the article referred to in class “Song of El Sur” which discussions the lyrics of songs written by discriminated Mexicans who come to America in search of a better life, and find that the south is not the answer they were looking for.
Examples of hegemonic structures that perpetuate white supremacy as described in the Takaki, Wolfe, and Smallwood readings are the socioeconomic institutions of slavery, Apartheid, the Trail of Tears, and a more contemporary example such as the West Bank barrier.
Women in society were and are treated like second class citizens, and for women, it’s time to be aware of this epidemic. There are numerous reasons why I feel so passionate and drawn to this controversy. Women have suffered for centuries trying to be respected in the eyes of society and men, but the people who’s had and still do have rough time is African American women. As a young African American woman, I find myself addicted to the truth and the hidden flaws behind the women’s suffrage movement. I want to further research on the first women suffrage movement to find out why was it ever okay to exclude black women and working class women.
When discussing social privilege in regard to social identity, it’s important to note that, from an anthropological viewpoint, the various forms of social privileges are cultural constructs. Some of the forms that social privileges manifest themselves in are race, gender, sexual orientation, and social class—the members that are afforded certain benefits are decided and supported by cultural relativistic views and ethnocentrism of the hegemonic group. While these views and beliefs support one group, they actively oppose the minority groups within each form of social privilege. For example, white people have been afforded dominance and privileges, while black people are actively demonized and denied basic rights – all because their skin contains
History not only explains what happened in the past but reveals how humanity has transformed. Throughout centuries, there’s this identification where societies have all had a similar thought-process: “never having enough,” which led to migration, expansion, and mobilizing, one example of this is the age of exploration. In spite of this movement that led Europeans to a favorable position for abundance in new land, new resources, and capital; this was an adverse effect towards colored populations because it established systems of slavery, oppression, and inflicted inhumane treatment. Although the era of exploration was an advantage to multiple countries, it became catastrophe towards civilizations of color because Europeans ' bias created inequality that reflected when they communicated, when revolts occurred, and when offered assistance. These historical events led a distinction of white superiority towards the colored societies, in fact, it expresses through their communication with one another.
When authoress Alice Walker coined the term colorism in 1982, she revealed the rudiments of a typically private conversation amongst blacks to mainstream America. The ghastly secret of intraracial prejudice within the African American community was not a new concept, however; Walker’s candid designation exposed another, often muted, layer of the destructive psychological trauma ensued by English imperialism and exploitative colonialism. In spite of this, discriminatory practices against darker skin are not solely an American concept birthed from systematic racism because colorism and racism are not mutually exclusive. Colorism is solely prejudiced attitudes based on one’s skin color while racism can be fluid and slightly more complex. In addition,
