What Does It Mean to Be White? Study Group 4/17/17 Chapter Notes-Jan Thomas

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

What Does It Mean to Be White? Study Group 4/17/17 Chapter Notes-Jan Thomas What Does it Mean to be White? Study Group 4/17/17 Chapter Notes-Jan Thomas Chapter 8 NEW RACISM---post-Obama, post-racism Racism has adapted over time, so modern norms result in similar racial outcomes as those in the past, while not appearing to be explicitly racist. Colorblind racism—129 Aversive racism—132 Cultural racism—134---textbooks, media, teachers, 4th of July, Columbus day, Beauty norms, religious iconography, lack of loss about absence of people of color Racism in Media---136---movies directed by white men Front-and backstage racism---140 Internalized Racial Superiority and the White racial Frame—142 White Supremacy & whiteness---145 Internalized Racial Oppression—153 Conclusion: the dance---154 Chapter 9---How race Shapes the Lives of White People How whites are socialized into a racist framework. My inability or unwillingness to acknowledge and challenge this socialization is key to holding racism in place. Belonging---158 Visibility---159---The powerful, such as Congress; the rich, as CEO’s; the beautiful in the media; negative images such as King Kong; Absence, as in Seinfeld, Friends, Sex and the City, which happened in NY with no people of color. Represented in Childhood-165---movies like Harry Potter, toys; negative images like Shrek Represented in Films---168---Blind Side, Lord of the Rings The Human Norm---175 Psychic Freedom---177---Whites do not have the burden of race. Freedom of Movement---178 A Romanticized Past---178—the good old days. Was the past ever better for people of color? Rewarded for Racial Silence---180---White solidarity Allowed Racial Innocence---182 No Sense of Loss in Racial Segregation---187 Chapter 13—White Fragility, p. 245 247---Triggers 248---What Does White Fragility Look Like? 250---White Fragility and the Rules of Engagement --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 14---Popular White Narratives that Deny Racism, p. 255 1. 256---“Racism is in the past. I didn’t own slaves.” 2. 259---“Slavery has always been around. In fact, Africans engaged in slavery too. They are the ones who sold the slaves.” 3. 260---“I know people of color so I’m not racist.” 4. 261---“I was the minority at my school so I was the one who experienced racism.” 5. 262---“People of color complain too much and play the race card.” 6. 263---“People of color are just as racist as we are.” 7. 263---“I am all for equality but I don’t want anyone to have special rights. Now there is reverse racism.” 8. 265---“My parents were not racist and they taught me not to be racist.” 9. 266---“Race has nothing to do with it.” 10. 268---“It’s racist to talk about race.” 11. 269---“It’s just human nature; somebody has to be on top.” 12. 270---“The real issue is class. If we address class, racism wouldn’t be an issue.” 13. 271---“How can you say only whites can be racist? There is racism all over the world! Look at Rawanda!” 14. 271---“How dare you accuse me of racism! I am a good person!” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 15---Stop Telling that Story! Danger Discourse and the White Racial Frame, p. 277 Robin DiAngelo Chapters 16, 17 and 18 Chapter 16---A Note on White Silence 285---Overall effects of white silence 286---When is white silence a constructive move in racial dialogue? 287---Rationales for white silence and anti-racist challenge 287---It’s just my personality; I rarely talk in groups 288---Everyone has already said what I was thinking, or, I don’t have much to add. 289---I’m trying to be careful not to dominate the discussion. 289---I feel intimidated by people in this group who have power over me. 290---I don’t know much about race so I will just listen. 291---I already know all this. 292---I need time to process. 292---I don’t want to be misunderstood. 293---I don’t feel safe/I don’t want to be attacked/I don’t want to be judged. 294---I don’t want to offend anybody. 294---Anything I say won’t be listened to because I am white. 295---A note on the silence of people of color in racial discussions Chapter 17---Racism and Specific Racial Groups 302---The power of language 303---White racism and Asian Heritage people 306---White racism and Latino/Latina, Chicano, Hispanic people 311---White racism and Indigenous/Native people 315---White racism and African Heritage people 319---White racism and people of Arab or Muslim heritage 321---Biracial/Multiracial people 325---In Conclusion --Support the leadership of immigrants in the movement --Learn to identify the role of race and citizenship privilege in your relationships with immigrants --Notice how racism in the anti-immigrant debate is denied, minimized and justified --Notice who is at the center of attention and power --Understand the connections between anti-immigrant stances, racism, classism, sexism, and other forms of injustice --Understand and learn from this country’s history of anti-immigrant sentiment --Learn something about the history of people who have worked for justice --Take a stand against injustice --Be strategic Chapter 17---Anti-racist Education and the Road Ahead .
Recommended publications
  • ABSTRACT Arab American Racialization and Its Effect
    ABSTRACT Arab American Racialization and its Effect oniAmerican Islamophobiaa in the United States Catherine Haseman Director: Dr. Lisa Lacy, Ph.D. Over the past few years, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric and discrimination has surged. Prejudice against Arabs and Muslims has moved from the fringes of American society to the mainstream. The American Islamophobic discourse is so deeply rooted in U.S. history, culture, and society that we often misunderstand its origins as well as its manifestations. This paper proposes a critical dialogue about how to understand one contested concept (Islamophobia) by using another contested one (racialization). This paper seeks to understand if--and if so, to what extent--racialization is central to understanding America’s pernicious brand of Islamophobia. In addition to reviewing the historical connection between racialization and Islamophobia, this paper analyzes the results of a survey of Texans’ views of Islam and Muslims. The survey results are used to understand how racialized conceptions of Arab Muslims correspond with Islamophobic tropes. APPROVED BY DIRECTOR OF HONORS THESIS: ____________________________________________ Dr. Lisa Lacy, Department of History APPROVED BY THE HONORS PROGRAM: __________________________________________________ Dr. Elizabeth Corey, Director DATE: _________________________________ ARAB AMERICAN RACIALIZATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON AMERICAN ISLAMOPHOBIA A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Baylor University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Honors Program
    [Show full text]
  • Jim Crow Racism and the Mexican Americans of San Antonio, Texas
    ORAL HISTORY AS A MEANS OF MORAL REPAIR: JIM CROW RACISM AND THE MEXICAN AMERICANS OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS by Rebecca Dominguez-Karimi A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL May 2018 Copyright by Rebecca Dominguez-Karimi, 2017 ii ORAL HISTORY AS A MEANS OF MORAL REPAIR: JIM CROW RACISM AND THE MEXICAN AMERICANS OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS by Rebecca Dominguez-Karimi This dissertation was prepared under the direction of the candidate's dissertation advisor, Dr. Sandra Norman, Comparative Studies Program, and has been approved by the members of her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. SUPERVISORY COMMnTEE: ~~o..... .:i N1~"" Sandra Norman, Ph.D. ~~Susan Love Brown, Ph. 'S:"..,;ae~.~~o~ JosephinBeoku-Betts, Ph.D. Directo , mparative St ilies Pro? MiC11aeliOfSWclD.~-# Dean, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts andn:ers . 5"", "Zo/g "~~2.~~ ' iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author offers her sincerest thanks and gratitude to members of her committee (past and present-Dr. Robin Fiore, Dr. Marta Cruz-Janzen, Dr. Sandra Norman, Dr. Susan Love Brown, and Dr. Josephine Beoku-Betts) for their guidance, input, and support in bringing this manuscript to fruition. She wishes to especially thank her dissertation advisor, Dr. Sandra Norman, for her patience, advice, and inspiration during the composition of this manuscript.
    [Show full text]
  • Talking Race” in University Classes: a Discourse Analytical Approach
    Language Research Bulletin, 23 , ICU, Tokyo “Talking Race” in University Classes: A Discourse Analytical Approach James W. Tollefson Mai Yamagami Many university classes introduce issues of race and racism – topics that are difficult for some people to discuss openly. The ICU ELP Program, for example, includes challenging readings on race and racism as a focus for class discussion and writing assignments. In this article, we discuss an approach to the analysis of race and racism that can help students apply their critical thinking skills to this important topic. We argue that focusing on the discourse of race offers rich opportunities for class discussion and student writing. Specifically, we summarize critical discourse analysis, particularly its understanding of the concept of “racism,” and we provide suggestions and examples for its use in class. University classes at ICU and elsewhere address profound social, political, cultural and economic issues of race and racism. The ICU English Language Program (ELP), for example, includes six thematic units that form the basis for lessons in reading and writing. The six units are: educational values and critical thinking; reading literature; culture, perception and communication; issues of race; bioethics; and visions of the future. The ELP Reader (ICU English Language Program, 2007) includes core readings for each of these topics. Lessons for the readings focus on content as well as a wide range of reading and writing skills. In this article, we discuss the thematic unit “issues of race” in order to identify some of the challenges facing classes in which race is a major topic. We distinguish explicit (“old”) and implicit (“new”) forms of racism, arguing that implicit forms of racism require a discourse analytical approach to analyzing race.
    [Show full text]
  • Performative Allyship
    Let’s Talk: How to be Actively Anti-Racist Session Overview • Explore key terms and definitions related to Anti-Racism work. • Explore the contemporary significance of racism within a Canadian context and explore how we as individuals can commit to anti- racism work. • Conversation: Questions and Answers. 2 Guidelines for Anti-Racism Conversations 1. Acknowledge and accept the fact that racism exists. 2. Take risks and lean into discomfort 3. Avoid making assumptions and generalizations about other people or groups of people. 4. Take accountability for your behaviour and be open to critical self-reflection. 5. Give Yourself Permission to make mistakes. 3 “Many of [us] are trapped in a history which [we] do not understand and “ until [we] understand it, [we] cannot be released by it. “ James Baldwin 4 Common Terms and Concepts Colonization Definition: “Colonization is a process of establishing foreign control over target territories of people by creating colonies and possibly by settling them.” 6 Settler Colonialism Definition: “Settler Colonialism is a form of colonization that seeks to replace the original population of the colonized territory with a new society of settlers. As with all forms of colonialism, it is based on exogenous domination, typically organized by an imperial authority.” 7 Key Features 1. Settler colonizers come to stay. 2. It is a structural system, not an event in history. 3. It denies the existence of indigenous people and the legitimacy to claims to land. 4. It claims to vanish indigenous peoples and replace them with settlers. 8 Key Features 5. Its logic of elimination requires the removal of indigenous peoples of a territory, child abduction, religious conversion, reprogramming (via missions or boarding schools; and myriad forms of assimilation.
    [Show full text]
  • Leading for Racial Equity Glossary
    one needs to be anti-racist, • Awareness of environment, including structurally and inone order needs to pursue to be anti-racist, racial justice, systemically activated benefits and disadvantages; in order to pursue racial • Knowledge, language, strategies, and skills to connect andjustice, achieve and liberation. achieve liberation. with others and cultivate equity in order to realize shared goals and thrive mutually. The terms in this glossary have been adapted The terms in this glossary have been fromadapted several from sources, several and sources, form the and common form Diversity: Difference, not “different.” Fundamentally, language chosen by the Leading for Racial differences are neutral. The value that society ascribes to the common language chosen by the differences is not neutral. Diversity includes the wide range of EquityLeading and for KIPP Racial CARE Equity Teams. and The KIPP work CARE of human characteristics used to make or identify individual and transformational change and social justice group identities. While quantifiable, diversity does not represent Teams. The work of transformational an identity. Moreover, diversity should not represent a proxy beginschange with and the social examination justice begins of self/self- with the for historically marginalized groups (e.g. “we are 28% diverse”). awarenessexamination and of the self/self-awareness adoption of commonly and Diversity does not equal equity nor racial justice. understood and aligned language. the adoption of commonly understood Equity: A condition that balances two dimensions: and aligned language. fairness and inclusion. As a function of fairness, equity implies ensuring people have what they need to participate in school life and to reach their full potential (flourish).
    [Show full text]
  • The Four “I”S of Oppression
    The Four “I”s of Oppression Ideological • The very intentional ideological development of the …isms Examples: dominant narratives, “Othering” Any oppressive system has at its core the idea that one group is somehow better than another, and in some measure has the right to control the other group. This idea gets elaborated on in many ways—more intelligent, harder working, stronger, more capable, nobler, more deserving, more advanced, chosen, superior, and so on. The dominant group holds this idea about itself. And, of course, the opposite qualities are attributed to the other group—stupid, lazy, weak, incompetent, worthless, less deserving, backward, inferior and so on. Institutional • Is demonstrated in how institutions and systems reinforce and manifest ideology Examples: media, medical, legal, education, religion, psychiatry, banking/financial The idea that one group is better than another and has the right to control the other gets embedded in the institutions of the society, the laws, the legal system and police practice, the education system, hiring practices, public policy, housing development, media images, political power, etc. When a woman makes 2/3 of what a man makes, it is institutionalized sexism, when 1 out of 4 African American men are in jail or on probation, it is institutionalized racism, etc. Consider that dominant culture also controls the language itself used to describe all groups in society and can make things visible or invisible when necessary. Other examples/things to consider are the “War on Drugs” instead of “War on Poverty,” as well as an expanded definition of violence and how violence towards targeted groups happens at a systemic level.
    [Show full text]
  • The Race Issue
    SPECIAL EDITION Serving the San Jose State University community since 1934 Volume 150 No. 37 Thursday, April 26, 2018 SPARTAN DAILY sjsunews.com/spartan_daily THE RACE ISSUE Culture, history and perspectives in our community Racial composition of SJSU 3.2 % African-American 17.7 % 9.7 % White Other 0.4% Pacifi c Islander 0.1% 27.5 % Native American Hispanic 41.4 % Asian According to SJSU’s Institution of Effectiveness and Analytics, there were 33,409 students enrolled in fall 2017. The largest groups were Asians at 41.4 percent, Hispanics at 27.5 percent and whites at 17.7 percent. SOURCE: SJSU INSTITUTION OF EFFECTIVENESS AND ANALYTICS, INFOGRAPHIC BY MARCI SUELA | SPARTAN DAILY News Opinion Sports Trump administration We should be aware SJSU recruited black immigration policies that racism will student athletes felt in San Jose always exist before pro leagues Page 3 Page 11 Page 13 sjsunews.com/spartan_daily 2 THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018 NEWS EDITOR’S NOTE I was really nervous local communities in ride, and he was sitting one of those times. I am proud of them to write this note. the past and present right next to me. I would rather have for pushing forward to I acknowledge the and how they may play But the port my diverse staff tell initiate conversations fact that I am a white out in the future. authority officers the stories that need to about race and tell woman writing about I believe it’s true that asked him for his be told and tackle race stories that our why our newsroom when we are young, documents, not me.
    [Show full text]
  • And Minorities in Post-Apartheid South Africa: a Case Study of Indian South Africans
    ‘Positive Discrimination’ and Minorities in Post-apartheid South Africa: A Case Study of Indian South Africans Anand Singh Abstract There are numerous ways in which people attempt to make sense of the transformation that is taking place in contemporary South Africa, especially with respect to ‘positive discrimination’ and ‘affirmative action’ – often used interchangeably as synonyms1. Against the background of its racialised past, characterised by the highest privileges for Whites and a narrowing of privileges for Coloureds, Indians and Africans (in this order) – during apartheid, reference to changes is often made in the context of a continuation in discriminatory policies that resembles institutionalised patterns of ‘reverse discrimination’, a somewhat grim reminder of the Apartheid era. As people (Indian respondents) refer to this they often bring up a sense of turgidity in at least 3 issues such as ‘positive discrimination’, ‘affirmative action’, and ‘Black Economic Empowerment’. In a similar vein, their references to these being forms of xenophobia, ethnocentrism, ethnic nepotism, collective narcissism, or sheer racism in reverse, shows the lack of clarity that the lay person often has about the academic contexts of these concepts. This article argues that while they may not be accurate, as people often tend to use them interchangeably, the terms often overlap in definitions and they do have one thing in common i.e. reference to institutionalised forms of discrimination and polarisation. While South African Indians often feel that the alienation brought about by affirmative action/positive discrimination is harsh and reverse racism, the evidence herein suggests that ethnic nepotism is a more 1 For the purposes of this article both words will be taken as synonyms.
    [Show full text]
  • Common Racist Attitudes and Behaviors 28 That Indicate a Detour Or Wrong Turn Into White Guilt, Denial Or Defensiveness
    By Debra Leigh, Organizer, Community Anti-Racism Education Initiative COMMON RACIST ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS 28 THAT INDICATE A DETOUR OR WRONG TURN INTO WHITE GUILT, DENIAL OR DEFENSIVENESS. Below is a list of 28 common racist attitudes and behaviors individual, regardless of color or gender, or disability, etc., has that indicate a detour or wrong turn into white guilt, denial or the same access to the rights, benefits and responsibilities of the defensiveness. Each is followed by a statement that is a reality society. The rationalization continues: since slavery is ended and check and consequence for harboring such attitudes. people of color have civil rights, the playing field has now been leveled. It follows, then, that there is no reason for a person of color to “fail” (whether manifested in low SAT scores or small numbers in management positions) EXCEPT individual character 1. I’m Colorblind. flaws or cultural inadequacies. These “failures” could have no “People are just people; I don’t see color; we’re all just roots in racism and internalized racism. human.” Or “I don’t think of you as Chinese.” Or “We all bleed red when we’re cut.” Or “Character, not color, is what counts with me.” 3. Reverse Racism. REALITY CHECK + CONSEQUENCE: A. “People of color are just as racist as white people.” Statements like these assume that people of color are just like you, white; that they have the same dreams, standards, problems, B. “Affirmative action had a role years ago, but today and peeves that you do. “Colorblindness” negates the cultural it’s just reverse racism; now it’s discriminating against values, norms, expectations and life experiences of people of white men.” color.
    [Show full text]
  • Whites See Racism As a Zero-Sum Game That They Are Now Losing
    Perspectives on Psychological Science 6(3) 215–218 Whites See Racism as a Zero-Sum ª The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Game That They Are Now Losing DOI: 10.1177/1745691611406922 http://pps.sagepub.com Michael I. Norton1 and Samuel R. Sommers2 1Harvard Business School, Boston, MA, and 2Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA Abstract Although some have heralded recent political and cultural developments as signaling the arrival of a postracial era in America, several legal and social controversies regarding ‘‘reverse racism’’ highlight Whites’ increasing concern about anti-White bias. We show that this emerging belief reflects Whites’ view of racism as a zero-sum game, such that decreases in perceived bias against Blacks over the past six decades are associated with increases in perceived bias against Whites—a relationship not observed in Blacks’ perceptions. Moreover, these changes in Whites’ conceptions of racism are extreme enough that Whites have now come to view anti-White bias as a bigger societal problem than anti-Black bias. Keywords racism, zero-sum game, bias, affirmative action Empathy for one party is always prejudice against another. game, as evident in the comment above by Senator Sessions – United States Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala), July 13, 2009 during a recent Supreme Court nomination hearing, which can be summed up as ‘‘less against you means more against me.’’ Despite the rush in some quarters to anoint contemporary Indeed, previous research suggests that White Americans American society as ‘‘postracial’’ in the wake of Barack perceive increases in racial equality as threatening their domi- Obama’s election as president, a flurry of legal and cultural nant position in American society (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999), disputes over the past decade has revealed a new race-related with Whites likely to perceive that actions taken to improve controversy gaining traction: an emerging belief in anti-White the welfare of minority groups must come at their expense prejudice.
    [Show full text]
  • USING the RACE CARD: CONSTRUCTING REVERSE-RACISM WITHIN the ANTI-IMMIGRATION DEBATE a Thesis Submitted to Kent State Universit
    USING THE RACE CARD: CONSTRUCTING REVERSE-RACISM WITHIN THE ANTI-IMMIGRATION DEBATE A thesis submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By Karen M. Martinez May, 2017 Thesis written by Karen M. Martinez B.A., California State University Bakersfield, 2013 M.A., Kent State University, 2017 Approved by Tiffany Taylor , Advisor, Department of Sociology Richard Serpe , Chair, Department of Sociology James Blank , Dean, College of Arts and Sciences TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................4 III. METHODS .............................................................................................................................9 Data Collection and Sample....................................................................................................9 Analysis.................................................................................................................................12 IV. FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................13 Affirmative Action ................................................................................................................14
    [Show full text]
  • Reverse Racism: Affirmative Action, the Family, and the Dream That Is America Robert S
    Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly Volume 23 Article 6 Number 4 Summer 1996 1-1-1996 Reverse Racism: Affirmative Action, the Family, and the Dream That Is America Robert S. Chang Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/ hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly Part of the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation Robert S. Chang, Reverse Racism: Affirmative Action, the Family, and the Dream That Is America, 23 Hastings Const. L.Q. 1115 (1996). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol23/iss4/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reverse Racism!: Affirmative Action, the Family, and the Dream That Is America By ROBERT S. CHANG* We should transform 'reverse racism' from a curse to an injunc- tion (Reverse racism!). -David Roediger' I am a product of affirmative action. Thus, to imagine a world without affirmative action would require that I imagine a world with- out me, something that I am not inclined to do. I am reminded of a cartoon which depicts the philosopher Descartes saying, "I think, therefore I am." The second frame shows him musing, "I think not, therefore.... ." The last frame is blank. I find it ironic that so many affirmative action babies can advocate against the policy responsible for their very existence. And although I disagree with much of what Stephen Carter says, I agree with him that we must invert the negative meaning attributed to the term "affirmative action baby," and in order to do so, we must embrace the term rather than reject it.2 And so, let me repeat, without shame, I am a product of affirmative action.
    [Show full text]