Emily Bazelon has her job as the Truman Capote Fellow for Creative Writing and Law at Yale Law School because her grandfather David Bazelon was the most important judge in the U.S. not on the Supreme Court, and as the best friend of William Brennan, the Svengali of the Warren Court, may have out ranked in power most Supreme Court members.
21
Ours is the only country where the political is assumed to be the implementation of demographical identities. This is ad hominem and fits the moralization of the political and the carceral state.
Identity justifies everything. Yet, of "your" culture I like some things and don't like others, and in a democracy I should be free to say this. Let's discuss as a people how we want to be.
"White" is an identity with no appeal outside racism. Black lives are specified in a way ours cannot be. Oppressed minority groups are "marked" and dominant ones "unmarked." The tragedy of identity politics is that the oppressed cannot counter their oppression without such identifications. Left moves to right when the categories become essential rather than problematic.
The cultural left wants to blame persons and cultures that are majoritarian as responsible for their oppression, in a set of false notes that support no left politics, only Democratic Party progressivism. An ad hominem culture reduces ideas to persons. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party is largely a coalition of demographic interest groups, and "radicalism" here tends to mean attacks on aristocratic pretensions, or "privilege."
We must be one nation not with many subsets but defined and united politically on the basis of shared values while in principle open to all cultures. These are more like languages than sets of bodies. Let us all freely appropriate them, and argue about what we want and why.
8
"We need to get over it already, it's not real" is a privileged stance. Redlining, the Trail of Tears, mass incarceration, the War on Drugs, domestic terrorism, Jim Crow, internment camps, vagrancy laws, slavery, reservations, police brutality, etc. etc. etc., these are all very real things. Yes, race is a social construct, but it has been used in real ways to have real impacts on real lives. To suggest race is not real is to invalidate the experiences of those who live the reality you're denying every single day.
30
In this day and age most people consider most things to be racist or something along those lines. This article went over something that most people nowadays don’t seem to notice. That would be that some people believe what they believe by default. If you were introduced to your family and only interacted with them you would get used to them. Now spread out and interact with some friends. They would have different ways of thinking and doing things that they got from their family themselves. Now think about introducing another that has a completely different way of thinking. You would see them say no to your favorite foods to eat something else. You would assume something is wrong with them and “segregate” them from you. All of this ties back with how white people tend to think that all black people are trying to cause issue and such. The rumors, gossip, news, and general group thinking ideology tend to make people’s thoughts become “corrupted”.
6
Always thought of myself as a Jewish woman. Never gave much thought to being white. Then I moved to Silicon Valley and suddenly I felt neon white and very different. I really feel like an outsider and it’s not due to anything anyone has said or done. Being in the minority is not comfortable for anyone.
16
Focusing on the color of people's skin only distracts from the underlying social and psychological problems we face. Period.
6
I don't think much about being white, sorry. If I have to support someone like Trump and reject someone like Obama, I'm out. Way out.
5
The fact is, white people don't exist. No one I have ever met is white. The whole subjugation is based on a love pinkish tan.
White has become an empty signifier to mean not as darkly pigmented as others on the color scale.
But we should probably throw that term away, because, I am of Irish ancestry and burn after ten minutes in sun. But I ain't white.
'White' just means the arbitrarily selected genetic class.
2
Brendon, you will be interested in the following comment which I sent in yesterday:
Why am I, a dark skinned descendant of immigrants from southern Italy, forced into the same ethic category as a wealthy descendant of a family who came over on the Mayflower? My ancestors were not treated as white. A separate census category was created for them. They were lynched in the south ( look it up.).
Why is a fair skinned person from a wealthy family in Madrid classified the same as an impovershed indiginous person from central America?
As I was growing up, i was subject to ethnic taunts, forbidden to date certain girls, and denied jobs because I was Italian.
Now, some omniscient power has decreed that I belong in the same “white” category as those who hated my ancestors and who looked down on me. I am from the inner city and had way more in common with other kids in the inner city, of any racial or ethnic group, than I ever would the white upper class.
But now, my ethnic group doesn’t make the cut so by the definition imposed upon me I am white. Being white or black is not black or white! Stop telling me that I have to belong to a group that wanted no part of me, let alone my grandparents.
26
One can recognize the legacy of racism and white supremacy in America without embracing a racial identity. It is currently fashionable in left/liberal precincts to ascribe metaphysical significance to concepts like "blackness" and "whiteness." I reject that thinking, instead seeing identity in terms of culture and history. Of course, African-Americans have their own experience which informs their notions of self and community. Is this simply a racial identity? Ms. Bazelon makes the point that "white people" are coming to realize that they, too, have a racial identity. One can and should refuse to play this game. We have a perfectly good way of describing ourselves in a way that binds us – American, hyphenated or standing alone as the case may be. I'm a Jewish-American. Both parts of this identity are important to me, and the second part allows me to celebrate my connection to African-Americans, in particular, a group that in my world I have far more in common with than most people in my assigned "racial" classification. Yes, those who are "privileged" by their skin color should recognize this obvious fact, a necessary first step in joining the fight for true justice and equality. If this is the awareness that the author has in mind, it will have a positive effect. But insisting on a "white identity" is something else again, a malevolent trend that augers ill for our contentious and unhappy land. – Ari
10
cali, I can relate so much to your comment. I am descended from southern Italian immigrants. My grandparents were subject to vile discrimination. In fact, they briefly moved to another part of the country where a cross was burned on their front lawn. They quickly went back to Brooklyn. Even as I was growing up, I was subject to ethnic taunts, couldn't date certain girls, and was denied certain jobs, all because of my ethnicity. Like you, I celebrate both my ethic heritage, and the fact that I am American. Yet I am lumped into the same category as the descendants of those who came over on the Mayflower.
It is quite frankly infuriating that some omniscient power has decreed what my identity must be.
2
I was excited to hear Code Switch’s episode on whiteness, mentioned in this article. As a white person of recent Scotch/ English descent I get sick of being called just “white” when I know full well that my family’s culture & history is significantly different from families of Eastern European descent, for example. There are also huge class and religious differences. But the episode was really superficial and disappointing. As we open up as a culture to the stories and history of race in our country I hope we also begin to recognize how diverse the “white” race is as well. I hope we can not just study the cases of the slave owners and clan leaders but also of the abolitionists, the Quaker’s, and the white folks who stood in solidarity with civil rights and find a vision of ourselves in those people. There’s a lot of good in white people just as there is bad. We are just humans. It’s our responsibility now to continue the hard work of adjusting our culture so the bad is no longer justified, enshrined, and used as a bludgeon against others.
18
This is a great and timely piece. It seems to draw a lot from the ground-breaking series called “Seeing White” from the podcast Scene on Radio. I would highly recommend that to white folks who want to understand more about the history and impact of whiteness. And I also wonder why it wasn’t cited in the article...?
5
Having lived for many years in a place where differences- mine- are very apparent, I can say it takes real effort & desire, to move into connection. I see the "cosmic predicament" of persons, the endless constellating factors in each life, the 360-degree domino effects.
Gender, race, place & historical timing of birth, family size & dynamics, education of parents/role models, sibling position, books & readers in the home, alcoholism/suicide, incest, trauma, etc in previous generations (even if 'forgotten'), sense of hope/possibility or doubt/inhibition we encounter as kids...
The list is endless. Each of us is riding a big horse. It's amazing that we hang on at all.
For me, the dividing line come down to this: there are people who lean into this universal 'otherness' (expand) & those who pull back from it (contract). Those who see the self in the mirror of 'otherness' & those who reject their own self in the 'other' via projection.
It seems to me that often it has been some 'spiritual belief' that allows us to transcend our more finite self-definitions. ('Religious affiliations', when rigid, are often divisive.) The transpersonal sense allows a surrender of attachment to the particulars we cling to as identity. We can enjoy & appreciate them and acknowledge pain & injustices, without being bound by them. We can hope, evolve.
It's been said that the Truth that will set us free is love- for self & neighbor- and the Way also calls for humility & mercy towards both.
7
Centuries ago, France's Michel d'Montaigne invented the "essay," which means "to try." Emily Bazelon continues this most admirable tradition with her latest, in today's NY Times magazine. This tries to the heart of one of our most essential conversations. Well done!
9
The defensive comments prove the author's point.
16
That assertion at the end, that "A majority of white Americans currently believe that their own race is discriminated against." I'd like an attribution. Where did that come from? (Why it's a throwaway at the end of the article, that's another questions)
7
The uncomfortable truth at the root of racial conflict is the human condition of physical attraction as a general force in our evolution. And its not just about skin color as I started to explain in my earlier post. Ask yourselves why black racial characteristics came into existence. It was the extremely hazardous environment of the African jungle full of predatory cats many tens of thousands of years ago. The only humans who could survive were those with the appearance characteristics we define in general as black. The area we now call India comes to mind which also had large numbers of predatory cats but a somewhat different environment than the jungles of Africa. Remove the extreme hazard and we see that humans evolved with the appearance characteristics we define in general as white. The reason is in the basic element of evolution, that is, natural selection. Humans, by nature of our advanced brains capable of discerning beauty, tend to favor the appearance characteristics we define in general as white. Then, within that general category of white, certain characteristics have come to be favored. They are: smooth, less hairy skin, a wide variety of eye color, a wide variety of hair color and texture, and more proportional, less exaggerated facial features.
Until we fully address these basic human factors of physical appearance and the concept of absolute beauty in light of the reality of natural selection as a basic force in life, racial conflicts will continue.
4
I'd be interested in seeing the evidence for your belief that people have evolved to see white people as more beautiful than other people. To me, it seems likely that people's notions of beauty are shaped, at least in part, by socialization. It wasn't too long ago that lip augmentation was pretty popular in the U.S. and tanning beds are never out of style. I do suspect that certain notions of beauty (ex. facial symmetry) are probably universal, but the idea that "our advanced brains" favor white characteristics seems dubious.
16
Beware
Once you unleash white tribal behavior, no amount of op eds, advertisements or other narrative driving forces will not be able to stop it.
You think Trump is bad? Trump is the beginning.
13
Why am I, a dark skinned decendant of immigrants from southern Italy, forced into the same ethic category as a wealthy decendent of a family who came over on the Mayflower? My ancesters were not treated as white. A separate census category was created for them. They were lynched in the south ( look it up.).
Why is a fair skinned person from a wealthy family in Madrid classified the same as an impovershed indiginous person from central America?
As I was growing up, i was subject to ethnic taunts, forbidden to date certain girls, and denied jobs because I was Italian.
Now, some omniscient power has decreed that I belong in the same “white” category as those who hated my ancestors and who looked down on me. I am from the inner city and had way more in common with other kids in the inner city, of any racial or ethnic group, than I ever would the white upper class.
But now, my ethnic group doesn’t make the cut so by the definition imposed upon me I am white. Being white or black is not black or white! Stop telling me that I have to belong to a group that wanted no part of me, let alone my grandparents.
10
I'm Welsh. Read about it.
1
We all need to stop thinking in terms of race already! If so called "whites" had their DNA done, they would know that they are mistaken in their concept. Even during the Middle Ages, Africans migrated into Europe. All humans migrated from Africa. The real issue is culture not race. There are differences in culture only, not color. Even Italians and Irish immigrants were not considered white when they came to this country. There are only shades of the same color.
23
I think it’s true that white people are starting to recognize their whiteness but there’s a difference between BBQ Beckey and most memes. Most memes feature people of the same race as those who spread them. BBQ Beckey was started by African Americans. Frequently, white people recognize their whiteness not on their own, but because other races are commenting on it.
6
There is nothing good that has ever come, can come and will ever come by obsessing so much over race. All these denunciations of "whiteness" and "white people" demonstrates a kind of pathology, no less.
25
It's hard to step outside one's own worldview.
Could it be that race seems overemphasized mainly to those who happen to be in the majority?
19
"America began as an act of violence. America as a nation is rooted in violence which is one of the reasons why it’s one of the most violent nations on earth whether you are talking about Black or white. Don’t let that constitution fool you and all of this democracy stuff deceive you. What are its origins? The origins of America are criminal, and therefore, it’s what I call a crimagenic society in that it breeds criminality because it is rooted in criminality."
... America won’t face this reality. And many of us won’t face it. And we won’t come to terms with it."
Dr. Amos Wilson
9
WHEN I LOOK AT AMERICANS, I see Africans. In fact, when I look at any member of the human race, I see Africans. Since the oldest human remnants have consistently been found in Africa, it means that genetically we're all Africans. So let's get over it already!
7
"How often do white people talk about being white?" I think it is often. The same way Ta-nehisi Coates writes that Trump is the first white president.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-first-white-pre...
There, and in his book, "We were eight years in power," Coates remarks on how white people see a black American president and say, "See how far black people have advanced."
"Black people don't need to advance. White people need to advance."
5
I dunno. I never really talk about being white -- what would I even say? Plus I've never actually met anyone who described their background as "white." If they were white, it was always what country their ancestors came from.
And certainly, virtually everyone I knew had the same reaction to Obama's election, and it never was "See how far black people have advanced." It was more "I really was worried this country wouldn't elect a black man as president."
19
Emily Bazelon,
Thank You!
9
Not me. My crappy lily white skin will definitely be my downfall (although fortunately I have a great immune system). And I was really disappointed when my brother took DNA tests from three different companies and each came back "100% White European." Although one test gave 1% Sardinian, 1% Ashkenazi Jew and 1% Basque. THAT'S the one I'm going with.
3
At least in circles on the left, this question was raised long ago.
My own memories (I'm 72 and white, though Jewish, which was and probably still is not-quite-white) go back to the '60s when, in the the Movement, all of us, whatever our skin color, spoke of "white-skin privilege".
4
When someone starts screaming 'the right' or 'the left' I just tune them out now.
2
You say "Identifying as Italian or Irish or Jewish seems to come with zest, pathos and a chance to take pride in some shared history."
I think that can be summed up in the humorous prayer Jews could say before a meal:
They tried to kill us
(But) we survived
Let's eat!
Most of what is supposedly "white" is Northern and Western European. For years, a majority of European Christians in the US had either Anglo-Saxon or German heritage. Along with the Scandinavians, it was hard to tell everyone apart and so they considered themselves the norm once they either killed or segregated anyone who wasn't like them. Suddenly, these folks have to deal with people with different heritages (some who the US considers white like Moroccans or Iraquis) and they aren't comfortable with not having everyone with similar origins. When others show up, it's easier to notice how they don't have your heritage.
5
"some who the US considers white like Moroccans or Iraquis"
Considering that the average Moroccan or Iraqui bears a strong resemblance to Obama, it's hard to believe that the U.S. considers them "white," as opposed to "Arab" and/or "Muslim."
3
For me, what’s found between those poles of “nothingness and awfulness” is nothing less than joy.
I’m white, and for the past few years I’ve been meeting regularly with other white people to talk about racism and our whiteness.
As my connections to my fellow white people deepen, I feel a sense of fellowship and support that gives me greater stamina to work to unravel racism wherever I see it (even in the mirror).
Nobody sticks around this work out of guilt, shame, or self-loathing. We do it out of self-interest. Fannie Lou Hamer said it best: “Nobody is free until everybody’s free.”
17
News flash: Han Chinese enjoy outsized privilege in securing work and promotions in the Peoples Republic of China.
5
So no free Tibet i take you to mean. Here's something for you in Latin: Falsus in uno, falsus in Toto.
1
It's true that, in China, the Han are "white," compared to other peoples in China, all of whom, other than Tibetans, are simply "Chinese," in the West. But how is this a "news flash" and what is your point in mentioning it?
3
Racism in other countries does not excuse our own racism- especially when that racism is institutionalized. It simply exposes the fact that prejudice is a part of the human condition that we must each fight against as best we can.
4
"A majority of white Americans currently believe that their own race is discriminated against."
Whenever a straight, white, American Christian complains that he is being discriminated against Jesus looks down from his cross and rolls his eyes hard.
36
It’s really something how we have managed to jettison, completely, the ideal of race neutrality. Probably a dusty old 1960s liberal notion, but there was a time when we aspired to replacing racial identity with character identity; i.e., to judge people on the ‘content of their character’ and not the color of their skin. Now we look at that kind of thinking as the product of white hegemony (notwithstanding MLK); a view that could only have been perceived by the dominant, oppressor race that didn’t really see itself as possessing true racial identity. But whites sure as hell did embrace racial identity with zeal during Jim Crow, before and after, so undoubtedly wiser minds had some clue that race-based identity had a bad history of producing toxic results. And yet, here we are today, once again convincing ourselves that race confers character, requiring us to celebrate identity not according to achievement, but by race. How dangerously naive.
17
I have found Thomas Kochman's book "Black and White Styles in Conflict" helpful in understanding differences in how the students that I teach communicate and value expressiveness and emotion. While it was published in the '70s, I believe, it shows how people of good faith can clash without either group quite understanding why. It had never occurred to me, for example, that self-control could be perceived as deceptive. I am white and the majority of my students are black.
2
“We generally prefer to frame identity in ethnic terms instead: Identifying as ...Jewish seems to come with zest, pathos and a chance to take pride in some shared history.”
Come on Emily,you know that’s because when we Jews answer “White” we are thinking “ not the kind of White” you ( the survey) means. Not the kind of white that’s gets teased for underseasoning our food or having the kind of potato salad you mean. Or, most importantly, not the kind that sees itself as the “norm” or “ neutral.” But rather the kind that those tiki bearing Whites were talking about when they said “Jews will not replace us.”
18
We are seeing many Jews today in this adminstration and outside who are marching in lock step with whiteness and even white exceptionalism, whether those of us who are Jewish and go left, do not like to think of ourselves that way. This is dangerous for the Jewish community and for Jews individually. We have been there before when we were tax collectors and Court Jews for despotic rulers in the Medieval period. It didn't end well. Jews benefit from their whiteness as much as other whites. Therefore they are white.
12
Emily Bazelon, you have correctly identified the white American phenomenon of the ascendence of racial self awareness. Its absence has long been the established default of white America, especially where whites are in the dominant majority. Whites have had more awareness of their race generally in areas with large black populations, such as in the South throughout our earlier history. As we continue our national progress in resolving racial conflict, increasing awareness of the phenomena surrounding the issue shall occur, assuming our amended Constitution remains intact. My studies in human behavior now extends past five decades, so I believe I have gained some insight into the matter. My hope and expectation is that more such phenomena will continue to be uncovered and explored. Eventually the critical, underlying and uncomfortable truth which drives all racial conflict, that is, physical attraction as a factor in human behavior and as one driver in human evolution, along with extremely hazardous environmental factors, will come out.
Rather use scientific verbiage, I will try to be brief in the vernacular. And all of this is centered in generalization, such as in our use of the terms white, black, yellow, etc. to describe categories of race. If all black people looked exactly like white people, white racism against blacks would cease to exist. We must uncover & explore what lies beneath. Saying that white racism is just about skin color is not facing the whole truth. Later
7
"If all black people looked exactly like white people"
What if all white people looked exactly like black people? After all, all that a white person has to do to be black is to _say_ that he's black, as Rachel Dolezal has most recently demonstrated.
1
Many valid points. One broader comment though. Americans tend to universalize our national experience and not look to other similar experiences globally which might inform our understanding and therefore approach in addressing issues, particularly of race and gender. We talk of race issues primarily in terms of black and white, which is from our history. Simplistically put, slavery was an economic arrangement which was made palatable (to whites) by rationalizing black people as inferior, non-human, ownable. Slavery ended, but the ratioanlizations (and their inhuman consequences) remain. But the rest of the world sees “race” as many different groups; many “non-white” groups enslaved other non-white groups throughout history using the same rationalizations of sub-humaness to allow people to be bought,sold, abused and killed. Women are still considered less than human is most parts of the world and they too are beaten, imprisoned, sold, and murdered all through rationalization of being less human, animal, child, property. Being framed as a “race” issue (though the behavior manifests itself that way) obscures the underlying dynamic in all of these oppressions - unquestioned power (economic, political, social). All these opressions need to be addressed as one issue. Having the first black male president was historic, but was not a paradigm shift because his wife was still symbolically his property (Mrs. Barack Obama; derived from Coverture ie wife as husband’s property).
8
White males still have so many advantages in this country that in the very rare instances that prejudice rears up against us, we pretty much just blow it off. That arrogance may be the very essence of white male privilege. I gotta admit, though, that to look at me and where I live, one would assume that I voted for that malignant tumor in the white house, and that harmless prejudice is deeply painful to me.
18
I'm conflicted. I'm a black man living in the USA. I live with bias and discrimination but this feels wrong. I want to be treated equally...fairly....but I do not want to harm my white brother. Despite everything I love him and want him to be treated fairly. If America is to know peace it must stop playing the the races against each other. Trump got elected by playing the race card. If we are to progress as a nation we have to stop yelling at each other and start talking to each other. We have to admit wrong-doing and apologize....but we must also learn to forgive...not forget, but to forgive and not hold a grudge. Being offended by racist, sexist, homophobic jokes does not make it okay to make similar jokes about white boys. Holding whites accountable for past wrongs is okay....Trashing your white brother is not okay. Being a white boy is not an original sin. Just My Two Cents
38
And where exactly is the line where nonwhite ends and white begins? We're all pretty much plopped down here without any choice in the matter and have to make the best of it. Privilege is the result of many factors, probably the most important being how much your parents invest to place you in the right class, or what is now called a position of leadership. And surely the author must understand that writing about the darkness at the heart of whiteness is as ludicrous and dangerous a form of reasoning as the worst of antisemitism in 1930s Europe. Then, Jews were considered inherently evil, and the best of their attempts to prove otherwise mere acts of dissimulation. Let's be on the lookout for similar calls to hatred as an easy way out. Racism is learned and can be unlearned without destroying each other in the process.
26
Finally! An advantage to the Trump presidency...we can talk about racism....
Again. Ahem...
Isn't giving to or denying people anything based on skin color, which they currently don't control, ridiculous?
Now that we can gene splice, we can force the entire world to bear only blond hair, blue eye babies. So we do that. What then will we use to justify enslaving others? Religion? Hand size?
1
"Now white people are the ones who seem lost."
I guess so. I had no idea we were mistreating potato salad or "eschewing washcloths." I mean, white people what is up with that? No washcloths?
24
what IS that face thing ?
3
But in Bizarro World of 2018, if I judge someone--of any color--on the content of their character instead of the color of their identity group's skin, I'm called a racist.
31
Personally, I prefer to think of myself as a Pink Person: more accurate, more colorful than White.
7
Thank you for writing this
5
White America was founded in genocide of the indigenous peoples, then moved on to slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, etc. We whites have a lot to be proud of!
7
It seems to me that being black defines a person to himself and others in a way that being white does not. When I was a kid in the 1950s an early sixties in NY and someone would ask what are you they meant what ethnicity? The answer would be Jewish, Italian, Irish, etc. Nobody would say white. They might ask a Black kid where are you from, but nobody would ask what are you? That was already obvious.
18
I’m happy you ended on the note you did, because it is a question critics of whiteness have had no interest in answering. Some white nationalists were able to gain national attention by posting the innocuous statement “It’s okay to be white” on flyers around campuses. That it gained national attention is absolutely meaningful. Do self aware white liberals feel it is okay to be white? Truly? As a white person I am told by Ta-Nehisi Coates that I am born oppressing people. My mere existence is a negative. People of color, though born out of mostly justifiable insecurity, are celebrated at every turn in our liberal world to such a patronizing degree at times that a movie like Get Out isn’t hitting out at racists but white liberals. “White pride” is indivisble from white supremacy. As stated, most whites look to their “motherland” for identification and pride. What does identifying with a history of victimization lead to? The self constructed Jewish identity has led to positive things like more or less redefining western humor, it has also led to a self justifying murderous military state. I believe some American liberals know not all criticism of whiteness or white people is created equal. Some feels a purely psychic trauma tit for tat. Unfortunately nuanced takes are seen as complacency or veiled defenses of all whiteness. And some are! But the rhetorical out for the identity politic obsessed tends to be that all their critics operate in bad faith. It isn’t so.
11
It is easy to see why some white people think they are discriminated against: they are. It is called affirmative action, and despite the good intentions behind the creation of it as long as it exists some whites will point to it as proof of discrimination.
That is the crux of the lawsuit against Harvard by Asian-Americans. They are upset that, due to their success, they are now on the "bad" side of affirmative action and are being discriminated against during the admissions process.
20
Are you offended that students of all races are being discriminated against by universities offering full scholarships to athletes? I hear a lot of complaints from white people (like me) that "their spot" was taken by an affirmative action student, but nobody seems to complain about losing "their spot" to the third string outside linebacker.
9
Really? I hear this complaint all the time, or certainly did in my high school circle of “nerds”. I’ll wager this opinion isn’t the least bit uncommon.
1
It's more than just "discovering whiteness". There have been full-fledged openly anti-white campaigns by students at different universities. For starters, try googling U of Michigan and Evergreen U, to open your eyes. It is hard not to use the word "racism" here, but what else can you call it? M. L. King's dream of a truly "color-blind" society definitely seems like a distant dream now.
20
When did Martin Luther King Jr. ever call for a truly "color-blind" society? He asked not to be JUDGED based upon the color of his skin, not to have the color of his skin ignored. To the contrary, to ignore someone's race (or gender, or nationality) is a form of dismissive, as race is one way in which we identify ourselves.
8
Headline should read Our Whiteness. “Their” dulls the author’s point & reinforces the idea that white is the default.
1
An intriguing article. Yet, it posits just two aspects of 'whiteness' - the banal of white blandness and the awfulness of white nationalism and racism.
This article doesn't even touch on the third aspect 'whiteness': the broad and deep impact whites - especially white men - have had on civilization, especially Western Civilization.
This would encompass philosophy (Plato, Socrates), religion (Moses, Jesus), governance (the Founding Fathers of the US), business (Ford, Gates), science (Newton, Einstein, Marie Curie), art (Michelangelo, Picasso), invention (Edison), literature (Shakespeare, Proust, Austen). And this is merely scratching the surface.
And yes, there are many white men who have taken us to the depths of human despair and depravity: Nero, the Crusaders, slavers, Western colonization, Hitler and Stalin.
So, is it a question that some achievements are so transcendent that they rise above racial pigeon holing? Or is it that in our ongoing obsession about race, some perspectives are only seeing what they want to see - that is the 'good' of their own skin color and the 'bad' of the other?
Because, as always, ultimately we are all just human.
20
Another thing about whiteness is the belief that whites work harder than especially black people and that being the reason for the continuing wealth and wage gaps. A corollary to this is among whites who are progressive on immigration who talk about them doing jobs no current US citizen will take. Ultimately, too many believe racism is an attitudinal problem of the previously oppressed who lack respectable ways. Meanwhile, my house hasn't gained any real equity since I bought it in 2009 in a racially mixed neighborhoods that whites no longer choose to live in despite it being perfectly safe and inviting. My excellent, reputable credit rating doesn't change a thing.
2
@Ben -"Racism runs in all ethnic, economic, social, and educational backgrounds."
There I fixed it for you.
7
I challenge every White person, if you can stand it, to re-watch the Rodney King beating by the LA police department and tell me that racism does not exist. Those savages in blue beat that man senseless. every one of those men beat over and over and over and over again a human being that couldn't defend the blows of those clubs, but just curled up in a ball. How those men could go back and look their small children in the eye defies logic. I challenge any and all White people to watch that which NONE of you have the stomach to watch, but remain in your bubble, like those Germans who just couldn't believe their leader could be so cruel...but found out he was just that cruel. I want one white person to explain LOGICALLY, that beating...then imagine it 100 times over to other Blacks....under cover, behind closed doors, OUT but in plain sight. Imagine that was YOUR father, brother, uncle, grandfather. How you even look at yourselves in the mirror and justify any of it is beyond me. I'd be ashamed to be a White person in this country.
12
A while ago, I wrote an essay about being white and another about talking about race. "I am granted the option, but I do not decline to acknowledge my race on the forms. I check the box Non-Hispanic Surname Caucasian, though All of the Above is closer to truth. My great grandmother on one side was from Mexico, and on the other was perhaps Blackfoot. I was never made to suffer for their color or languages. I am white. My relatives spoke English before I was born. My mother’s skin was pinkish, her eyes were blue, her hair was pale. All my dolls had pinkish skin and blue eyes and blond curly hair. They did not resemble me in any detail." https://janpriddyoregon.wordpress.com/2018/04/10/white/
3
I do not find accuracy in this article. Here in NYC, white people identified with their ethnic backgrounds. NYC is an immigrant town and people were seen as Irish, Italian, Jewish, German, etc., all followed by "-American." There was no single white identity. There still isn't one. The author's assumptions are incorrect.
21
Thank you for exactly proving the point of the article. White people do not recognize our own "whiteness" and the impact of being part of an organization we neither signed up for, nor want to be a part of. And yet, here we are, too close to our to see what is right in front our our noses.
13
As a white person, I see a lot of "white" defensiveness in these comments. This defensiveness reminds me of a quote from Matthew Stewart in a recent article from the Atlantic - "Americans have trouble telling the difference between a social critique and a personal insult. Thus, a writer points to a broad social problem with complex origins, and the reader responds with, “What, you want to punish me for my success?”
21
Robert Crumb got it precisely right in his “Whiteman” Head Comix character back in the late 60’s.
1
Doesn't some of it have to do with many people realizing that they have an "ethnicity" (my personal preferred term over "race") or several ethnicities due to tests from 23andMe and Ancestry? Honestly, I have no issues with people celebrating their ethnicities, but racial pride can be a little weird - even from minorities (e.g. Asian pride - what the heck is that? Asian cultures tend to be influenced - heavily influenced in many cases - by either China or India. So when we celebrate Asian cultures, are we really only celebrating China and India?
3
What is the single universal reaction to the US National Census? "It is impossible to fit myself into any of the ethnicity categories." Americans have always been blended people. And today we are ever more diverse, not least because of our economic dynamism. The idea of defining being black is as difficult as any other "category". In the politically charged instances mentioned in this article however, individuals have experienced highly prejudicial situations on the basis of gross generalizations based on the color of their skin. What that doesn't tell us is what it means to be "black", and people who think it does are stereotyping and part of the problem. Just like being "female" doesn't provide a lot of information about a human being. Most of us today are finding it tedious or worse to typified. Big data and profiling may want this, but individuals do not. No one is white. No one is black. No one is yellow. No one is orange or purple. This was a pointless article, which could only lead to offense. And based on the Twitter feed, I would say it's a pretty ugly can of worms. Let us rise above gross categorizations, and work on democracy and the environment, which will require overwhelming cooperation and understanding.
2
No matter what your hue a life of privilege starts with being raised in a two parent family. Why anyone would care to ignore this very basic fact baffles me. Every successful minority group has a low percentage of out of wedlock births and a reverence for education that is not necessarily universal.
14
When the data show your group is treated preferentially on a population-level, you are charged with a kind of noblesse oblige. This can be difficult because it has nothing to do with you as an individual, and may even seem unfair.
I had a roommate get 4 DWB's in one year. I've never heard of a DWW. I may not have really believed it were a thing had I not seen it.
If you give it the slightest thought, you'll grasp an inkling of how others not in your group might feel. Sadly, many aren't interested in thinking.
Further, many seem terrified of the prospect of White slipping from majority to plurality, nevermind becoming a large minority group.
Tribalism seems to be a default condition that we have to actively overcome.
10
In a political culture where the overwhelming feeling is animosity/resentment towards “the other side”, we should be careful about wanting white people to be more aware of their whiteness. The majority of whites, per the election, can be pushed into identity politics and rationalize it based on their own lived experience. We probably don’t want white identity politics as a nation, which means we have to slow identity politics as a nation.
Remember, this is the country barely removed from electing Obama, and specifically electing him instead of two of the more noble and qualified white men American politics has produced in the last 50 years. The article says that individualism is whiteness in disguise, but it’s individuals who live lives and vote at the polls. Liberals may find better outcomes if we treat people as individuals, the way Obama did.
7
I've lived in multi-cultural areas of the SF Bay area, and areas where "everyone" was white, professional, and well off.
I preferred the communities, like Oakland, where whites were a "minority" like everyone else. People are "more interesting" and you feel "more unique" when there is racial, ethnic, and economic diversity.
I moved into two all white upper class neighborhoods briefly but found them to be initially interesting, because we all shared a common background and sensibility (which was novel for me) but ultimately suffocating and, really, boring.
2
Back in February of this year - during "Black History Month" - there was a big controversy surrounding the student cafeteria at a major university here in New York City - when one of the chefs decided to serve fried chicken and collard greens and corn bread as part of the menu --
There was outrage in the press (including the ever-race conscious New York Times) and, of course, social media -- resulting in the dismissal of the chefs and a public denial by the outsourced company which runs the food service at the university --
After seeing this - I called up my oldest friend - who I've known for over fifty years - and we both immediately remarked what we wouldn't do to have a plate of his mother's fried chicken, greens, macaroni and cheese, and corn bread today - a meal I shared with him on countless occasions - and we laughed over the ridiculous story about that university --
Last weekend, I attended an event with my wife - celebrating the cultural heritage of the Caribbean country where she was born and grew up --
There were about 200 people at the event - and I enjoyed mingling during the reception - while filling up on their local cuisine and meeting many new people --
Later that evening - in the car, on the way home - my wife asked me - "Were you the only white person there?" --
I thought for a second and answered -- "Umm - yeah, I think so." --
"Really!?!" - she replied -
"Yeah" I replied - and we both laughed --
That's one small step to ending racism...
15
I've live in a country where I do not speak the language that I am struggling to learn. I speak in broken sentences. I live in a rented apartment, and I do not own a car. But, I am never branded as an "immigrant" but rather an "expat". Its because of how I look and that I have a professional job.
I never get turned back (or stopped) at the border. Even when I don't carry identification. I never get asked for ID by the police, when I see other new comers in the park asked on occasion.
But a little story. In 1987 I traveled independently to China. One day I was standing at the back of a long line at a taxi stand. The minder of the queue came to the back, grabbed me by the arm, and manhandled me to the front, placing me in the next cab. Why? Because I was white. Now, thats privilege! I would have been just fine waiting my turn.
7
I've had lots of advantages in my life. My parents worked hard and sacrificed to give me many opportunities. Before that, their parents worked hard and sacrificed. The same is even more true of their parents. My children will have the same benefits.
Belittling generations of hard work, sacrifice, and saving as being the result of skin color demeans achievement. There are many people with similar skin color who have much less.
The fact remains that the best predictor of success for a child in today's world is being raised in a two-parent family. People who do not put in the hard work of raising children in wedlock should not complain when their children lack the same advantages.
76
The article did not dismiss the hard work of current or past generations of white people's hard work. She did not say white people are successful just because they are white. And your oblivious response to the article proves the article's point. Many white people are clueless about the systematic advantages they enjoy and when those advantages are confronted or discussed, the reaction is, more often than not, to take offense or call the police.
18
Did you miss this part?: "sparing white indentured servants from the prohibitions that barred black slaves from owning property or weapons or learning to read and write."
You know that owning, and not owning, property has led to the great inequity in assets...and that is only one of many factors. Consider the brokenness of the families of color being torn about for generations.
Color of skin is the biggest predictor of success. Disclaimer: I am white but I can see it.
16
Hard work is important. But your comments reflect a lack of understanding of the impact on slavery on black Americans today. Yes even today, hundreds of years after the fact, there is great, great racism in society. I'm a white person living in Oakland and Berkeley - a place that is supposed to be one of the most liberal places around, if not the most. Let me tell you - you drive down Ashby east to west and you will see how the neighborhood changes. This is not because all of the people of color living on the western end of Ashby are lazy - far from it. Please take your head out of the sand and realize that this is not just about working harder. This is about overcoming deep institutional racism.
13
I had always thought to live in the whole world...to learn about life from all the beauty and cleverness it brought forth. It is a far more rewarding life than living a box dictated by the false narrative of superiority.
10
In my nearly 60 years on Earth, I have dealt with prejudiced white people of all ilks. Racism runs in all economic, social, and educational backgrounds.
Surprisingly, a small amount of interaction can break down racists beliefs. Rednecks who looks me in the eye, talk with me, and learn who I am are less threatening than the more sophisticated person who works in a corporation or in government, who nevertheless discriminates. The sophisticated person can conceal prejudice and does well in doing so because it is not politically correct.
Jean Jaques Rousseau wrote about the evils of etiquette which mandated that one pretend to be another's friend. Rousseau extolled the noble savage who, in time of crisis, came running to the aid of his fellow savage who cried out in pain. Rousseau lamented that a civilized man would learn too late who is a true friend and who was merely using good etiquette.
Any group is capable of bias and prejudice. My hope is that regardless who one is that one have an awareness of that ugly feeling, asking that it go away, go away quickly, and recur less frequently. To suggest that these ugly feelings can be banished misses reality and avoids the chance for improvement, forgiveness and reconciliation.
11
"Racism runs in all economic, social, and educational backgrounds."
You left out the word ethnic.
5
"Racism runs in all economic, social, and educational backgrounds."
You left out ethnic. White people don't have a monopoly on racism.
5
Whiteness, to be even more specific, North European Whiteness, has, from time almost immemorial, connoted superiority for those white enough. As soon as it arrived, Protestant Christianity was added to North European Whiteness to make the Perfect Person.
Perfect People tend not to ponder their perfection. It is normal and part of God's Plan. Those who might ponder, or question, are deemed trouble makers, self-haters. Those who may want confirmation of their perfection need only look at the biblical pictures beginning with the King James Version.
In real life, however, the sum of all the colors of light add up to white. This is additive color theory. This also disturbs many Perfect People...
11
I have told my friends and acquaintances more than once that there is a civil war going on in white America over identity in the 21st century.
8
I never understand what's expected of me, a white male. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I fully acknowledge my lucky privilege, which I also agree I don't deserve at all. How am I expected to live and behave in our society? What am I doing wrong? There must be something, because I automatically find myself in a monolithic category composed of all other white males, apparently all alike. Let me say in advance that I refuse to knowingly hurt anyone or impede anyone's progress, even if I am guilty of subconscious biases that affect my behavior, but I refuse to spend my life obsessing over unintentional crimes. Should I?
72
Luke 12:48: Of those to whom much has been given, much will be expected.
28
As a fellow white person trying to figure out what to do about racism in America, I have found a couple of ideas helpful, and I offer them here in case you find them useful too.
1) Focus on the big picture, rather than on yourself. We are trained to think of ourselves as individuals first in this culture, and so our first questions understandably tend to be self-focused: "what is expected of me" and "why are people saying bad things about white people, I didn't do anything wrong." If you instead ask questions that presuppose your interconnectedness with others, I have found the answers to be more fruitful. For example: "Who could I listen to to expand my understanding of the country I live in? Who is not being treated fairly in my culture, and how can I be accountable to them? What kind of world do I want to live in, and how can I help create it, in small ways?"
2) There is a history and a body of literature about these topics. You don't have to think it through alone. There is also a history of white people who have worked very hard to try to support liberation movements led by people of color. They got it wrong a lot, and got it right sometimes, and you can learn from their experiences.
3) Ask yourself why you care. Do you care just because you want any criticism of groups that you are a part of to stop? Or do you care because people are still being dehumanized and oppressed? Get real with yourself. And then let the answer guide your actions.
117
last grey, thanks for writing this. As an old white male sixties Lefty I really do want to be part of the solution rather than a driver of the problem. Your suggestions clarified a few things for me and I appreciate it.
5
Yet MLK said the path to an integrated, equal society is when the content of our character matters, not the color of our skin.
63
So was MLK wrong about judging people based on their characters and not skin color? It seems we don't even recognize that goal anymore.
We're all being judged, on all sorts of criteria, white people, including men, too, even if the results aren't as awful as getting shot at traffic stops. We don't know about it because the NYT, among others, aren't asking about it.
I thought we're all individuals. But that also seems to be passe now. As individuals, we have our own histories, goals that may or may not have been burdened (or the opposite) by one of those arbitrary criteria. It is unfair that white people's individual histories, or their perceptions of them, are not also considered proof-positive, if that is going to be the standard. Instead, because of their race/gender, they are simply assumed to be privileged, and just don't know it.
Start with language. The terms "white people," or "white men" are hard to use without over-generalizing, but it's done all the time now. Used about any other demo with a follow-up negative and editors would probably flag it, probably deservedly. But not if used about those of us supposedly with all sorts of power.
I don't know the solutions other than lots of adjectives to soften such categorizations. Hardly elegant, and a long way to go beyond that.
What we're going through now is not all-negative, but I hope we can learn from each other, assume and be certain less, and maybe we can get to a less guaranteed backlash-inducing place sooner.
29
Emily, white people talk about race all the time. It's just that the discussions are not always necessarily the kinds of conversations that are favored by left wingers.
We discuss the disproportionate stopping of black and Latino motorists by the police, and also the grossly disproportionate number of murders carried out by African-American men 18-44.
We discuss the difficulties of African-American and Latino parents in finding schools that will care about their kids, and also how Asian, Nigerian, Indian, Pakistani, and Lebanese parents have figured out how to have their kids achieve here.
We discuss the way white privilege suffuses the highest echelons of both political parties, and especially the lives of upper-middle-class urban Americans, and also how the greatest privilege one can have in America is to be born to a household with two parents in the home.
We discuss with pride the way that certain recent immigrant groups have come to thrive in the United States. Bring more.
With whom are we having these conversations? Our friends, classmates, colleagues, church, AYSO, and community organization members. Pretty much anyone of any race, ethnicity, or religion who won't yell at us. See, we learned early on that there are a limited number of people allowed to yell. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, commanding officers, the police, and coaches of all kinds. Otherwise, we pass. Yell amongst yourselves.
59
Thank you for writing this.
I am black. I am conflicted. I believe in personal responsibility and believe America is the land of opportunity. Nevertheless, should we not ask ourselves whether the immigrant experience is comparable to the experience of the decendants of slaves? Many blacks from the Carribean and Africa seem to be outperforming native-born blacks. Perhaps the conversation should move beyond race and focus more on history. Unfortunately I do not believe that America will recon with this history until the baby-boomers have passes away.
39
History certainly has a lot to do with it. Much of the stereotyping and mythology about races was invented to justify things like slavery, colonialism, the taking of native lands and other things that led to the current state of white Americans. We must understand enough of this history to understand how we got to where we are historically and how much of this history we need to unravel before we can fix things. We should remember it was not so long ago that we had myths that identified Irish, Italians and Jews as members of separate
'races'. It's just that our racism toward those with darker skins or other superficial physical characteristics runs deeper and takes more work to understand and deal with.
2
Please don't add ageism to this discussion. I'm a baby boomer, grew up poor in an integrated housing development for veterans. I was bullied because I had a funny last name and was bright. We were all the children of men with severe PTSD. My best friend there was black and told me that she was afraid to grow up. Labeling people puts up barriers we cannot cross.
6
The piece was OK. I didn't think it very persuasive but the subject is vital to understand the racial fears, tensions and conflicts of the modern world. The supremacy of whites needs to be confronted, from colonialism to white's control of the world today. Then we can move forward, if not, we will just continue chasing our tail.
2
Going into my twenty-fifth year at a "Hispanic-serving" university, I again rejoice in the gift of having been called [and calling myself] an Anglo all that time. Living in a majority-minority city is an advantage, if you have ears to hear.
3
Most white Americans reject unearned guilt and unearned shame. This seems reasonable. Nevertheless, do most white Americans reject unearned benefits?
What benefits you say. Let's count the ways:
1. Housing policies that result in a white high school diploma holder having a higher median net worth than a black college degree holder;
2. Being given the benefit of the doubt in almost any situation (i.e., shopping, driving, walking, napping, etc).
3. Getting into a petty dispute with a black person and believing that I can use the police to assert my petty position;
4. Not having to aplologize for their unearned benfits (see above, alumni privilege, nepotism, cronyism, etc.), unlike blacks.
In a truly color blind society there should not be unearned shame, guilt, or benefits for anybody.
I dream of a color blind society; however, my every day experiences jolt me awake.
39
Now they should learn about when they became "white". I recommend "Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race", by Matthew Frye Jacobson.
He relates the history of how Irish, Italian, Slavic, Jewish, and other ethnic groups, were considered black, and only gained recognition as "white" as a counter to the African-Americans.
30
Seriously? A majority of white people think they are discriminated against because of their race? Where did they get this statistic? And if it is true I am horrified and disgusted. Speaking as a white person, these people have no idea what it means to be discriminated against. Just because a tiny few people of color maybe get some (not all!) of the privileges extended to most white people, they think the white race is discriminated against? Words fail.
23
It is more facile and soothing to decide that you are suffering from discrimination, rather than to acknowledge that you are suffering nothing more than the leveling of (unearned) status and privilege, which you are struggling to remain unconscious of. This is especially important if your whiteness or maleness is most of what you have going for you, and you have been personally unable to cash in on this cache, so to speak. Remember "free, white and twenty-one"? You're not supposed to need anything else. What terrible conspiracy can be forcing white men to survive on their merits, instead of on the ticket punched at birth? It's just not fair if things are going to become more fair.
9
My first driving license, in Baltimore, had no photo. I was asked to place a letter on the application naming my race and I placed a C for Caucasian. The first time I was stopped for a traffic violation the cop was laughing and said I had better change that letter to W because the license said I was Colored.
8
" “White people” were suddenly identified as the subgroup of Americans most likely to call the police on black people over a barbecue "
Interesting that the "white person" remembered in the story is the racist, not the outraged witness who outed the racist on social media.
26
How is 'outing a racist' (I am quoting you) in any way being racist?
4
Next to skin color, hair texture defines us. I was surprised to learn from an Asian friend that celebrated fine white hair is compared to animal fur as opposed to straight, strong Asian hair.
2
I realized young that my interests will never be served by old rich white men. Maybe it was just watching the Bush administration fail upwards, sending my generation to fight in a war they had no idea how to end and then crashing the economy. Maybe it was growing up with Disney movies that always showed the stupid red neck racist as a secondary incompetent bad guy. Maybe it was simple tribalism. Obama inspired me. Obama was my guy and the constant attacks on him were petty and galling especially after the incompetence that was Bush.
Maybe watching old white men walk off with millions of dollars while the people they hurt, my whole community, was forced to eke out tiny desperate lives pushed me to realize the bond of whiteness between the classes was illusionary and the protections it offered were only there to protect against the socials mechanisms used to exploit minorities. It was wrong and worse, it hurts everyone eventually. Our meritocracy is based one whiteness and its a lie. At least tump has exposed this as we now see that many at the top of society are massively incapable but allowed to stay because there is no accountability for white privilege. They "look the part" so they get away with it. If we end up in a nuclear war we will have only white privilege and the effort to protect it to blame.
63
As Emily Bazelon writes, white people have had endless opportunities to avoid talking about race. I anticipate many reader comments will be defensive and along the lines of why people can't be seen as individuals rather than be defined by their race. Isn't one of the key points of this piece that for people of color, the ability to *not* be defined by their race hasn't been within their control, unlike for white people? I'm a person of color and I would love to be seen as an individual and not be defined by my race. So would the vast majority of Americans. But the painful reality is that how people see you and react to you, even when you act and dress the part, isn't always up to you.
It doesn't have to be that way. But first, it will take self-reflection to change. Until recently, we didn't have to face the fact that people of color were defined by their race because incidents like the ones at Starbucks in Philly and in the Oakland park (and many others) weren't captured on film and broadcast over social media. Now that we are facing some difficult truths, it's unfortunate that so many people are reacting defensively and claiming that race doesn't matter. Perhaps facing how race is imposed on people of color and reflecting on it are the first steps towards becoming a society where we can be accepted as individuals and not be defined by our race.
74
Exactly. This is so true. I visited Holland and Norway last summer and I just kept thinking to myself, "This is so alarming. These people, this culture, seem so lost."
14
exactly
1
Your post is unclear to me. Who are these people who seem so lost? The Dutch?
6
It's nice that you have the money to travel to Europe. Millions of those "privileged" white seniors on SS don't even have the money for food. And, by the way, Norway ranks at the top in qualify of life countries every year. Norwegians have a right to their culture, their safe streets, high literacy rate, and clean environment, whether you like them or not.
24
"We continue to act as racial managers, clinging to the job of setting the culture’s terms and measuring everyone else’s otherness against those terms."
I see this play out again and again with white people, even among those who think of themselves as progressive. It's clear that there is no ill intent, just an obliviousness to the narrative that is running in their mind, at such a volume, that it renders the white person unable to listen.
I know that the greatest transformation in who I am as a white woman, age 60 years old, has happened by me becoming aware of that unconscious voice that is part of me, the voice of the culture in which I grew up and live, and then intentionally silencing it. I attempt to listen to Black people free from my own narrative, and because I cannot know the experience of being Black in the USA, I simply believe what they say.
It's definitely an ongoing process that challenges my thinking.
53
Rebecca, yes, exactly
And I really don’t want to hear from my fellow white people how ‘painful’ it is to admit you have been poisoned since childhood with racist ideas and feelings, much to your own benefit at other peoples’ expense
Puleeze
And be sure, if you are unwilling to bear the tiny discomfort of this obvious truth, you will not be able to bear the coming difficulties of defending democracy and rebuilding the type of society you claim to want.
5
The term "White" seems to be a bit of a misnomer, as does "Caucasion." I've heard that in some parts of the Caribbean there is a term "Clear" which more accurately describes the lower amount of skin pigmentation that renders the veins beneath visible. My own observation is that human skin tone occupies a complete spectrum from very dark to albino, and my hope is that intermixing will eventually eliminate the concept of race.
9
Believe me, won't matter, people will find other traits to fixate on.
9
I, too, used to think that if there was more intermixing of races, that would eventually mitigate racism. But there has been intermixing of peoples throughout history -- since the founding of this country, for example, whites have intermixed with enslaved and indigenous peoples. Unfortunately, that has not eliminated the concept of race, because racial categories are about power, hierarchy, and dominance.
9
It will never go away even if race were no longer to be an issue something else would be. When we all become enlightened and sit under a bodhi tree and become Buddha-like pre-judging others will come to an end. It’s about a sense of superiority. It’s human nature. Everyone wants to feel better than someone else. Hispanics do it to blacks, Christians do it to Muslims and Jews. Men do it to women. Ego creates this division in humankind.
1
My favorite sight at the supermarket is a biracial family. I hope we all blend together so all of us will be "colored". Skin color is really a function of how far your ancestors lived from the equator.
Too little melanin at the equator and you would die from sunburn-causing skin infection. Too much melanin at the arctic circle and you would not make enough Vitamin D in your skin to grow good bones. Now we have vitamin D capsules and sun screen, so color shouldn't matter any more. Cultural differences will still exist and hopefully we can explore each other's cultures and celebrate them.
6
Gee. As a white Southern Male Christian, I ask myself that same question everyday. Actually, I think I will go and ask my Black, Asian, Spanish and Middle eastern friends whom I dearly love and respect as human beings the same question. Hey, with great intensity, are you noticing something abnormal about your color-ness? Insulting to say the least. As people of all color, we should one, embrace what contributions we can make to our own communities success, big or small, and two, simply understand that differences do exist. Trouble starts when we all refuse to be mindful of those differences. Those differences do not have to include fear nor a reason to infringe upon another. Those differences can be used to create understanding, not fear or anger which guides like an uncontrolled substance. To do so, as already proven, makes us deaf to listening. Like white people, EVERYONE needs to recognize their misguided conceptions about all other people. That being said, this article is about everyone, not just white people. Self Introspect is not just for white people, it is for all people. I am white. White is normal in being part of the many colors of the same painting. Last time I checked, the word Human sounds so much better with the word Race after it.
22
I think you are missing the point. There is a power dynamic involved that affords privilege to white people that others do not have. Some white people are becoming aware and starting conversations around their privilege.
30
I was born in India and definitely - not even by Indian standards - can be considered a white person.
Yet, I associate more with "white" Americans than any other group including Indians living in America.
I do not know psychology of this, but to me "white" Americans indeed are more "color" blind than any other folks in our country.
I worked in the oil industry for 45 years through various levels. Our industry is known or notorious for certain intolerance.
But except in one incident, I can truly attest that no "white" supervisor ever treated me different in any way. Astonishingly, a first generation American of Indian descent was that one exception.
And of course, India is notorious for caste discrimination. And even within the highest caste to which I am supposed to belong - having a "whiter" or a "fairer" skin lends you even a few notches above the rest.
So, I would take this "white" mentality anytime in America.
118
I am trying to understand your point. If I can paraphrase: you are a light-skinned, high-caste Indian professional working in the US petroleum industry and white people have been very kind to you, so you will take their racist attitudes toward dark-skinned people over the caste system in your country of birth. Did I get it?
18
Your point seems to be that the "color-blindness" of white Americans is more acceptable to you than the caste/color discrimination you have perceived in India. Thankfully, there are people who are more perceptive of broader world than India. While you may be personally relaxing in the false self-identification with whites in the West, you need to peel beneath the surface to recognize the biases and discrimination plaguing anyone that is not white
8
I think it's a mistype. He means " even by Indian standards, I *cannot* be considered a white person"
2
Sometimes it can be comforting to learn that things we find difficult have been faced before. Melville devotes an entire chapter in Moby-Dick to "The Whiteness of the Whale," and it is pretty clear that he is intent on eradicating that insipid presumption that all you can say about whiteness is that it is in some superficial way "goodness" or "light" or "purity". Not that it isn't those things, too, but that it is much more complicated than that. And Melville does his work by piling up example after example of what whiteness actually means in concrete situation after situation, contemporary and historical. It may not be easy now, but it can't have been easy then either, and Bazelon's solution is essentially Melville's -- look at what has actually been done and said.
And so to work.
8
Another thing a modern reader notices in Moby Dick is that the crew of the PEQUOD is multi-racial, including "Indians" and blacks. The narrator's partner is a Maori. And yet even there there are subtle signs of racism. All the nonwhite crewmembers have one particular task -- harpooners -- and the narrator makes an explicit comment that whites are running everything.
Racism as seen from the perspective of a clear-eyed
19-th century writer.
6
The major problem with your writing ( and with all generalizations of any culture/society as defined by a colour) is that you don't define 'whiteness' . People of middle eastern descent have been identified by U.S. immigration policy as 'White' since 1947.
People of Spanish descent are historically of 'White ' ancestry.... yet these groups do not conform to your cultural definition of 'Whiteness'.
So is 'Whiteness' a cultural definition ?
Is 'Whiteness' a linguistic definition?
My family is Indigenous, yet because your tendency to simplistically generalize/categorize defines them as 'White' because of appearance and language, while someone of Spanish descent is not considered 'White'. Ironic considering that Spain was the # 1 country that participated in the slave trade.
'Whiteness' is a historical construct used to enhance the status of a group of people, or criticize the status of a group of people.
Think more complexly.
Analyze your own context: post-structural criticism means that you focus on yourself, rather than making sweeping generalizations about others.
Think...about who you are.
Now... do something about it....
then, when you have actually done something...
write about it.
49
Just one historic note, people of Middle Eastern and North African ancestry have been white in the United States since they had a presence here (I'm not sure where you get 1947 from). You can read Strangers in the West by Linda Jacobs to understand whiteness in relation to people from those regions. They were viewed as Mediterranean people, similar to Greeks, Italians, etc. and physically indistinguishable to Americans at that time.
In America, white has always meant Anglo-Saxon in the sense of language, culture, history, physical appearance, and this essay serves only to reinforce that by talking about crayons and potato salad and seasoning food.
It is clear that whiteness, while it has expanded to include many ethnic groups, many languages, many religions, many histories, many people who were (and in some cases still are) not white enough, and most of all, skin colors ranging from pale to brown; while it has expanded, yes, it can ultimately be boiled down and reduced in every meaningly sense to being primarily about people of English ancestry.
8
It as more to do with the fact that the first wave of Middle Easterners to the US came from Syria and Lebanon, where blondes and redheads are actually quite common(Spot check, the Assad family with the blue eyed President ,his redhead mother and naturally blonde wife) ,more so the Christians from the region. Lebanese Christians tend to have some European ancestry because of the Crusader period while Syrians of all religions have always had features that allow them to pass for White.
"The Trump era, however, has compelled an unprecedented acknowledgment of whiteness as a real and alarming force"
Among those who take NPR podcasts seriously, there is surely nothing unprecedented about what used to be called the white guilt complex.
12
For me it seems we will get just more racisms, when everybody defines themselves by race. No, thank you.
62
Another illustration of the maxim: be careful what you ask for, you might get it.
7
Here's my question:
"How often do white people talk about being white? Not often"
Would it be better for anyone if we did this more? Does anyone want to live in a country where white people talk about being white frequently? I'm not trying to be snarky here. I am really asking.
I'm just trying to understand the thesis here. Is it purely an observation or a criticism?
81
Sir, this type of question is why I despair of a solution
It is not up to you to set the list of questions
If you really want to understand, take a ride out to a park in a black neighborhood, and sit down and chat with people you meet, and listen.
Just listen, really listen
7
"The darkness at the heart of whiteness."
Chilling.
12
"The growing self-recognition among white people, prodded into being by demographic change"
"Prodded into being"? I don't know. I think it's more like "Directly caused by".
I'd be skeptical if you told me that the Japanese run around daily saying "We sure all look just as Asian today as we did fifty years ago" to each other.
10
What demographic change? The census decided to classify people differently ( for example, Hispanics were no longer considered "white") and this created the illusion that the proportion of whites in the country was going down. Politicians have been in a tizzy ever since.
5
I’m confused by this article. White identity
as an invisible concept? Unspoken perhaps but not invisible. Friends, Sex and theCity, theTrump Administration and so on.
2
Nearly all the white people i know find ways to distinguish themselves from other white people, just as us brown folks figure out how to be different, better than other brown people ..
21
"Identity" used to mean what made a person unique. Now sociologists have redefined "identity" to mean what groups people belonged to, then start obsessing about meaninglessly questions like "What do white people think about their identity?"
12
From the first sentence this article reeks of racialism, a less harmful but still polarizing subset of racism. Does the author really think that this kind of journalism will have a net positive effect on race relations?
73
My nickname is whitey because of my hair and pale skin. Should I be offended or proud?
15
Colorblindness is definitely considered a fault in left-wing circles. It is a battle for hearts and minds that has been fought and lost in recent years. But I have yet to meet anyone who can explain to me why defining who you are based on superficial characteristics, like race, gender, or eye color, makes any sense. It's true that we all have tribal identities, mine is being a New Yorker, but at the end of the day we exist as individuals. Our capacity for suffering is individual, as is our capacity for love. It's our choices that truly define us, not the obstacles we face in life. And the choice to judge the people around us by attaching stereotypes to them based on their skin color will always be wrong. In fact, I believe there's even a word for it.
36
This is certainly high-minded and sonorous, however it bears absolutely no relation to the world in which Americans have actually lived for the past 400 or so years.
White people were okay with defining people based on their "superficial characteristics" for centuries ("Blacks are lazy; they can be enslaved,a and if enslaved, they count as 3/5 of a person " "Redskins [sic] cannot be trusted to keep their word." "Yellow-skinned people are devious," "Irish, Italians, and Jews aren't really white [when they first got here]," "women can't serve as judges because they menstruate," "homosexuals are a national security risk," etc.
The only "colorblindness" here, is the authors willful blindness to the role that "superficial characteristics' have played and continue to play in American life, and the fact that these "superficial characteristics" were used and are still being used to deny individuals the dignity of their suffering, autonomous choice, and the opportunity to love whomever they might wish. You wonder what country he imagines he has been living in for however long he has lived here.
18
Yes, and until we, as white males especially, acknowledge our privilege this will not be true: "It's our choices that truly define us, not the obstacles we face in life." POC don't get the same choices as we do, and they, in general, face a whole pile of obstacles we don't. That's why colorblindness is a falsehood and why whiteness must be recognized as a distinct advantage. It's not at all a superficial characteristic, much as you or I might like to pretend it is.
24
Look at all the categories where disparate racial impact is obvious: incarceration, poverty, maternal and infant mortality. As long as there are scandalous demographic impacts, we must use demographic categories to have any chance for justice.
9
The problem with discussions about the concept of race is:
1. The idea of race is invalid in itself.
2. It serves to perpetuate the problem.
There is a tiny fraction of variation in the human genome between the so called races. Most discussions about race deal with the characteristics that arise out of certain populations isolating from one another in the distant past.
Skin color or other clearly visible variations in appearance between groups of humans are just that. Looking different is not an indicator of race. What we’re uncomfortable with is how the behavior of dominate cultures of a particular appearance did to those who were the victims of the invention of the idea of race.
20
Yes, race is a social construct that has no basis in biology. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have very real consequences in our society. The entire point of the article and what many whites are just realizing for the first time is that not thinking about race is a privilege that has come with being white. Latinos and blacks are forced to think about their "race" every day in way that whites are not.
It would be great if we lived in a society where race was no longer an issue and we could stop talking about it, but we are FAR from that point.
10
Speaking as a person of color, a next step in this author's series on this subject could be how white people form alliances with other white people in different settings, in the workplace, in neighborhood groups, in international airports, in concert venues, dance parties, and restaurants. And that these actions occur regardless of gender, class, religion, national origin or LGBTQIIA differences within whites, and are especially true of older 50+whites.
13
Interesting point - those alliances deserve further investigation. Do they take place due to propinquity or perhaps to the lack of curiosity about interacting with any person who appears to be different (any difference needs to be quantified? Those reasons would be benign. On the other hand, does the additional dimension of societal power (past, present, potentially expressed in the future) need to be considered? These considerations merely scratch the surface. I invite other readers to add to this list.
1
And you of course never do that with any people of color?
4
They do indeed. Which is why I, a 50+ white woman, mostly stay home. The white cliques are awful.
2
I don't feel that we are handling very well the contradiction between two things we supposedly know: that racial identity matters, and that racial identity is imaginary, and socially constructed. I find myself wishing we could socially deconstruct it out of existence. Being white is about as real to me as being "Anglo-Saxon," that 19th century fantasy label. On the other hand, I am able to recognize my whiteness as something real in the eyes of people of color and, importantly, the police. I see what it is and how it matters. I just don't think that it's me. Do I have to embrace a racial identity at all?
36
Beyond the natural human instinct to embrace "tribe" (self similarity), it is state promoted and cultural sanctioning of systematic discrimination and profiling of race that gives rise to racial identity. If you do not suffer from that indignity then you need not embrace that identity as a means to fight the injustice collectively. If you promote it and support it, then you are rightly labeled with the counter identity created by the initial cultural injustice eg. "the man", establishment, Racist, NAZI, fascist,homophobe, sexist pig, predator, bigot, etc. I am not sure white belongs on the list, per se, but white supremacist certainly does.
3
The fact that race has no basis in biology and is purely a social construct doesn't mean that it doesn't have very real consequences. There is no contradiction here.
14
I think that there is an important distinction between recognizing that people of European descent are not the human default, nor superior - which is simply true - and racialism, or making generalizations, often untrue or hurtful ones, based on race. The former is positive, the latter is harmful. I believe that the value of individualism still has a lot going for it.
60
The human rights our Constitution protects from government and criminals are that of the individual American - not "identity groups", protected or otherwise.
I was raised in the 60s and 70s by parents from the South that taught me to view ourselves and others as God sees us, that is our spirit, our values, ideals and behaviors - not what we look like much less the color of our skin, which is only a veneer on our humanity, not the essence of it.
MLK understood such and while we erect statues of him, we ignore, undermine and destroy his true legacy, the dream for a raceless society of Americans.
12
You need to read more of Dr. King's work. He was acutely aware of whiteness and its pernicious effect on our society. He didn't seek a color-blind society but one where all colors were accepted. Stop trying to erase the other and accept them.
4
Aaron,
So, was he lying with that "content of their character" business?
I am becoming more and more aware of my race.
I am becoming aware that our society is changing and that it views me on racial and gender lines. I am a white man and because of that I am judged in a certain way.
I am judged as the inheritor of unearned and undeserved privilege. Many see me and see a murderer or a plunderer or, at best, the descendant of murderers and plunderers. They see a person who oppresses everyone around me- women and minorities. They see a person obsessed with oppressing people and maintaining my unearned privilege.
The facts are different. I am descended from people who were not here during slavery. I am descended from people who came from countries that were not involved in slavery and who moved to regions of the US that never had slavery. I am descended from people who were serfs- white slaves in Europe.
I am descended from people that worked hard and took from no one. There are tens of millions of other white people exactly like me. Whiteness, like all races, encompasses a range of behaviors because it encompasses a range of individuals.
159
And yet, you and I, as white males, can be assured of the special acceptance and privilege that comes with our skin and gender. The argument "not all of us" doesn't cut it anymore, so the fact that your particular ancestors "came from countries that were not involved in slavery" (and I wonder where THAT could be) is a moot point. You live in the USA in a white male skin; ergo you have advantages that must be acknowledged if you want to count yourself among the people who are working for racial and gender equality. You are, in fact "the inheritor of unearned and undeserved privilege" whether you realize it (and like it) or not.
199
The thing is, out and about in the country, it doesn't matter that your ancestors were not "involved in" slavery -- every single part of the US has had its version of Jim Crow enacted through history since slavery was outlawed, giving anyone who claims "white" on a questionnaire (or appears such by sight) a level of privelege. It doesn't necessarily mean you had more money or grew up better off than those around you, it means society afforded those without this privilege LESS chances, e.g.: you are less likely to be arrested for certain crimes (though no less likely to commit them), your ancestors were less likely to suffer from predatory home loans and were not denied loans for trying to buy in the "white" part of town. Certain types of discrimination that people of color have experienced for centuries has never touched you or your ancestors -- which, yes, is your white privilege. (Read "The Case for Reparations" if you don't understand why your ancestors' escape from this discrimination and institutionalized racism is relevant. It doesn't make you complicit, it doesn't mean you need to have guilt, but to insinuate your whiteness is an exception because your ancestors were not "involved in" slavery is to falsely purport that slavery was the only wrongful act the US ever committed against POC.)
88
WillT: Took from no one? By centering your good Whiteness on slavery, you're ignoring Indigenous Peoples.
You are in the US, I gather, and reaping some benefit off land that White people took from Indigenous Nations in nefarious ways.
44
White people in our country are just beginning to grasp the awful history and current experience of persons of color, and the active and passive roles played by White people in making and perpetuating the systemic advantages afforded to people who are identified by others as White. It's painful to process and to avoid the pain, many people who are White have aligned with #notme, as though skin color has not provided a protective factor and advantage when it comes to access to education, safe neighborhoods, jobs and ability to create wealth. White people who have had the scales lifted from their eyes and who talk about their experience are deemed "divisive" by other White people who find such discussion uncomfortable to the point of feeling threatened and angered by it. Now that we are beginning to know better, we have to do better, and part of that work, in my opinion, is to acknowledge out loud what we know. This is shining a light in a dark corner, calling out racism and systemic oppression and working within our families, communities and country to establish true equal opportunity and equal justice. Doing so is the least we can do, and what we must do.
83
Thank you for your insightful and much needed essay. My parents fled from where I now live in the 1930s to give themselves a chance at a better life. They sacrificed their intelligence and dignity and worked as domestics and purchased a home-- by saving in a shoebox--in an area in Cleveland intentionally integrating. My father obtained signatures of neighbors necessary to void the restrictive covenant prohibiting blacks from buying homes in the residential tract. I was the sole black kid in my kindergarten class, and transferred in second grade to a Catholic school intentionally diverse with northern and southern European immigrants and whites fleeing Appalachian poverty. As a result of this upbringing, I grew up learning that whites were just people; this helped me immensely when I faced the voluntary prison of imposed otherness as an adult.
The false folly of race places tremendous burden on all of us, and we see the terrible result of ignoring racism as a political tool since 1980. Now it is OK to persecute brown people fleeing failed states the United States created. It has got to stop.
55
I am a black man and owner of a five year old business in a predominately white area. During construction before we opened I hired a much younger white male to manage it. On occasion we would go to the construction site together and more than once contractors would initially ignore me and go to him. He was embarrassed and at a loss for words but his whiteness despite being 30 years younger than me afforded him that assumption that he was the owner and writing the checks. I was not surprised because business ownership aligns in the whiteness assumption checklist not so for blackness.
69