4-Interrogating Whiteness Flashcards
Social Identity Salience
some are visible, some are invisible or not that visible
Identity Salience
you can see that im black, but not that im a lesbian or immigrant
Symbolic capital of whiteness
Being white is seen as the race with the highest advantages
Wages of Whiteness (Dubois)
according to him, there are wages of whiteness. He says that People embrace whiteness because they embrace what whiteness brings them. In this sense, whiteness offers a meaningful compensation who wold otherwise be exploited by capitalism.
White Resentment and Insecurity
Working class white people think that minorities are taking over jobs, but middle class white people also resent them but it’s more distant and symbolic. They talk about how they are viewed as the oppressor, and say that they are oppressed. It’s all about protecting their own interest and identity.
Racialized social systems
Race is a factor that accounts for inequality of income, psychological welbeong, life expectancy
Symbolic Racism
more of a disagreement with policy
Aversive Racism
internal conflict with that race
Symbolic and Material Dimensions
White identities are organized around certain material interests
Whiteness is created and maintained with the purpose of having positive material outcomes
The collectivity of groupness of whites
Groups: like nazis
Series: people here dont have to consciously agree that they are part of a group
Although white people may not think of themselves as a social collectivity, they still benefit, and being a racial other carries psychological penalty
Doing race
no one is free of being marked by race, no choice on which race people identify us as
What are the 3 Dimensions of Whiteness?
1-White structural advantage
2-White normality
3-White transparency
White structural advantage
canada is 70% white, have disproportionate influence over industry and business. This gives them privilege in everyday life. Eg; white people can easily purchase movies where they are the ones represented. They can ignore the experiences of othr racial minorities. They are assumed to be middle-class, and law abiding unless they prove otherwise. Thye have the ability to set laws and policies that define who is white. They have the power to determine who gets into the country, housing policies, shape the development of educational curriculums. They can do tis because elected officials are white, even if one president is black, most people there are white.
White normality
their understanding about life, society, and the world are accepted as o things are’, so if its out of this norm, it is deviant. They dont need to justify their way of doing things.
White transparency
tendency of whites to not think of norms or behaviord that are white-specefic. They lack a racial consciousness. Some believe that they earn what they get and that their achievements are based on creativity. They believe that they are culture-less, therefore find it difficult to explain what it is to be white.
What are the 4 levels of Oppression?
1-Personal; values, beliefs, feelings
2-Interpersonal; actions, behaviours, language when itercating with others.
3-Institutional; rules, policies, and procdeures
4-Cultural; beaty standards
Privilege
advantages at the expense of people of non dominant groups. People often believe that they can easily earn it, but privileges are unearned whether the people want it or not.
White Privilege
a built-in advantage, separate fom a persons efforts. Racism is not one od the options that a white person has to face. Its a historical continuity. The power of the benefit of the doubt, theyre more likely to be treated as individuals rather than representatives of a race. They are more often humanized, more likely to receive compassion.
White racial frame
made up of peices of cultrual information that are passed along from one generation to the next. Practices implicitly and explicitly.
Level 1 White racial frame
use whites as superior, use people of colour as less valuable.
Level 2 White racial frame
white domination is seen as unremarkable, seen as just the way things are because of the government and military. Believed that white people are deserving of these positons because they are better.
White Fragility:
a way of describing white discomfort with confronting their privilege
Leaving the stress-inducing situation
White Socialization:
taboo to talk about race, pretending it doesnt exist
What are the 10 triggers to white racial stress?
1-Objectivity
2-White racial codes
3-White racial expectations
4-colonialist relations
5-White solidarity
6-White liberalism
7- individualism
8-meritocracy
9-White authority
10-White centrality
What are the 5 Fallacies about Racism?
1-Individualistic Fallacy: leads someone to believe that racism is only the nasty thoughta a racist person can have, they think of it as a crime, very black and white. They assume that racism is about intentionality, when it is not always intentional.
2-Legalistic Fallacy: they see the fact that the on the books racism is illegal, so they assume that theres more racial progress.
3-Tokenistic Fallacy: They assume because there is a person of coloor in influential positions, that there are no racial obstacles
4-Ahistorical Fallacy: Makes the claim that history has no consequence for today
5-Fixed Fallacy:They assume that racism is fixed, that it does not develop at all. They asked questosn like; “has racism increased or decreased?”.
Cultural Appropriation
the act of the dominant group taking artifacts from the other group
