Analysis Of Scholarly Reflection: The Place Of Whiteness At The Table

Scholarly Reflection: Examining the Logic behind The Place of Whiteness at the Table

The Place of Whiteness at the Table is an adolescence educational book meant to introduce teenagers and young adults the concept of whiteness in an academic setting. This work of non-fiction is organized around relatable locations to create an accessible entry into the understanding whiteness for individuals who have not yet been introduced to the concept. The Place of Whiteness at the table is aimed at a younger audience in order to create a foundation for greater academic inquiry and understanding of society. Although whiteness is a complex, multifaceted concept that has entire academic fields dedicated to studying it, there are three primary concepts

Although this may seem very similar to seeing whiteness, looking at how whiteness is normalized take the understanding one step deeper. By examining how whiteness is normalized in a society, the audience begins to get a small glimpse at how whiteness can be challenged. This concept is first addressed in The Place of Whiteness at the Table in the subchapter Service Wednesday, which looks at how whiteness and whiteness’s position of power can be so common that they are seen as normal through everyday life. Next, Ice Carnival and The Great Minnesotan Get Together (Fried and on a Stick) address this concept at a macro level by looking at how whiteness can be equated with Minnesotan(ness) or American(ness). The Great Minnesotan Get Together (Fried and on a Stick) in particular looks at how whiteness is equated with American(ness) particular through fair food like cheese curds, corndogs, and fried onions. This normalizes white things under the guise of being American things. This concept is then continues in the subchapters Hockey is King and Ice Fishing, You Betcha, which examine how structures of sports, masculinity, and bro culture forms of normalized whiteness. Hockey is King also looks at the conceptualization of whiteness as a club that individuals have membership to be included. Looking at the normalization of whiteness not only reveals where whiteness exists, but also the locations in which is can be potentially be denormalized. This is the main point at which, whiteness from an easy standpoint, can be