scootsy
Well-Known Member
I've been trying to wrap my head around this for the last seven months.
https://www.salon.com/2014/02/07/the_history_white_people_need_to_learn/
Condensed summary.
Took me a while to change the way I think, but I finally agree with the author's point. My summary doesn't do the author's argument justice, but basically being white is an ever-changing social construct designed to subjugate others. The definition or meaning of being white is misunderstood. It's a well-thought out article, maybe weakly argued, but convincing nonetheless.
https://www.salon.com/2014/02/07/the_history_white_people_need_to_learn/
Condensed summary.
The very notion of whiteness is relatively recent in our human history.
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“White people,” in opposition to non-whites or “colored” people, have constituted a meaningful social category for only a few hundred years, and the conception of who is included in that category has changed repeatedly. If you went back to even just the beginning of the last century, you’d witness a completely different racial configuration of whites and non-whites.
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For whiteness to maintain its superiority, membership had to be strictly controlled. The “gift” of whiteness was bestowed on those who could afford it.
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Whiteness was never about skin color or a natural inclination to stand with one’s own; it was designed to racialize power and conveniently dehumanize outsiders and the enslaved. It has always been a calculated game with very real economic motivations and benefits.
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This comprehension of whiteness could also dissuade many white people of such detrimental and pervasive racial notions, such as, “Why is black pride OK but white pride is racist?” If students are taught that whiteness is based on a history of exclusion, they might easily see that there is nothing in the designation as “white” to be proud of. Being proud of being white doesn’t mean finding your pale skin pretty or your Swedish history fascinating. It means being proud of the violent disenfranchisement of those barred from this category. Being proud of being black means being proud of surviving this ostracism. Be proud to be Scottish, Norwegian or French, but not white.
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Let’s expose whiteness as a fraudulent schema imposed as a means to justify economic and physical bondage. Let’s try to uncover the centuries-old machinations that inform current race relations and bind us in a stalemate of misunderstanding. Then let’s smash this whole thing to pieces.
Took me a while to change the way I think, but I finally agree with the author's point. My summary doesn't do the author's argument justice, but basically being white is an ever-changing social construct designed to subjugate others. The definition or meaning of being white is misunderstood. It's a well-thought out article, maybe weakly argued, but convincing nonetheless.