Chapter 7: Whites/Caucasian Flashcards
What is true about overt discrimination and Whites/Caucasians in the U.S.?.
White ethnic groups became dominant through:
Overt actions of the government
Recognition that the way to become American was to assert their Whiteness
Intermarriage with Whites that diluted the differences among White groups
Invisibility of their ethnicity
What is considered “White privilege”? Know some examples.
When Whites remain oblivious to white advantage, the myth of meritocracy is allowed to continue, thus perpetuating the system of White privilege. In discussing White, heterosexual, male privilege, Roy Jacques (a White, heterosexual male) similarly notes that passively receiving privileges does not make one a bad person, but failing to question and resist privileges are “moral and ethical” issues
- good relationship with police usually
- favored by authority
- advantages in school and institutions
- learning their own history
- overrepresentation of race in media
Myth of meritocracy: Idea that society’s resources are distributed on the basis of individual merit
Unearned privileges confer racial dominance and grant control simply due to race or sex
Failure to question and resist unearned privileges is a moral and ethical concern
Privilege includes unearned advantages for dominant group members along with unearned disadvantages for non-dominant group members
Research and know some facts regarding “white identity development.”
The White Racial Identity Model was developed by an African American psychologist, Janet Helms in 1992.[1] It is a racial and ethnic identity model created specifically for people who identify as white. This theory, heavily influenced by William Cross, has become a widely referenced and studied theory on white racial identity development.[2] This model was created “to raise the awareness of white people about their role in creating and maintaining a racist society, and the need for them to act responsibly by dismantling systemic racism through a framework of power and privilege,”.[3] In addition, Helms presented the idea that all people have a racial identity in some way that is influenced by power and privilege
The White Racial Identity Model is broken into five stages, split into two groups: Abandonment of Racism and the Evolution of a non-racist identity. White individuals transition from understanding themselves as racial beings and the privilege associated with being white, to taking ownership of and abandoning racial privilege, and finally learning about other racial group
phase 1: abandonment of racism
phase 2: evolution of a non-racist identity
What were Albert Einstein’s thoughts regarding discrimination?
His passionate resistance to racism and his civil rights activism, however, are virtually unknown. References to his anti-racist stance and activism are almost completely absent from nearly all the books and publications about his life and work. This absence is attributed to the media and biographers’ desire to avoid controversy, to avoid tarnishing Einstein’s “feel good” image, and to the strength of his views about what he called the “worst disease” in America, a “disease of White people,” which he did not “intend to be quiet about.
“It seems to be a universal fact that minorities, especially when their individuals are recognizable because of physical differences, are treated by majorities among whom they live as an inferior class.” Einstein encouraged Black people to engage in purposeful activism and educational enlightenment to work toward emancipation and encouraged others to recognize and assist Blacks in their work. Einstein perceived the treatment of Black people in the United States as a mockery of the principle that “all men are created equal.”
it is estimated that two-thirds of the Whites who participated in the Civil Rights Movement were Jewish, including Schwerner, Goodman, and Albert Einstein. Whites who supported Black causes in the South risked ostracism, harassment, and murder.
What is meritocracy?
Myth of meritocracy: Idea that society’s resources are distributed on the basis of individual merit
Unearned privileges confer racial dominance and grant control simply due to race or sex
Failure to question and resist unearned privileges is a moral and ethical concern
Privilege includes unearned advantages for dominant group members along with unearned disadvantages for non-dominant group members
