Critical Summary of "The 'Morphing ' Properties of Whiteness"

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Recommended: Social construction of race not biological

Critical Summary of “The ‘Morphing’ Properties of Whiteness” Within the definitions and perceptions of race exists a dichotomy that Duster illuminates as inconsistent, transforming, and historically erratic depictions of what represents the racial categorization of “white”. Vacillating between racial portrayals of “whiteness”, embodying a divergence between the fluidity of historic and social transformation and a disingenuous reflection of bigotry, disrespect, and intolerance, Duster distinguishes race as a compilation of divergent biochemical, neurological, and social identities (Duster n.d.). Cognizant of concessions shown to the “white” race, Duster denotes an inevitability to refute the moral reality of “white’ exclusivity, and attempts to illuminate the vacillating conceptual perspectives on the “elementary truths” about race (Duster nd). Duster alludes to the necessity of utilizing a balanced methodological approach towards a true understanding of the origins of racial stratification in America. Utilizing the analogy of water evolving through progressive stages of fluidity, he denotes that race and the conceptual context of “whiteness” can reflect both the flow and ebb of the progression through water, vapor, and solids, but can also transform through concurrent stages of social change. It is the evaluation of vacillating perspectives and timely progression that provides a balanced understanding of race. Recitations of historic attempts initiated to biologically define differences in race and ethnicity culminated in the “Revised UNESCO Statement on Race” in 1995. The realization that ethnicity and race represent a culmination in more areas of commonality than in areas of differences, manifesting in th... ... middle of paper ... ...y existing within race, and relates his personal experiences with the morphing actions of his oppressors lays what I considered to be an important void, that being an explanation of what empowered Duster to represent his race in al almost impermeable “white” environment, particularly during the time prior to the civil rights movement. Duster’s except expounded on his prioritized points of historical and social understanding which resulted in an excellent representational expose of focused empirical truths presented with a lack of resonant racial overtones. Reference Duster, Troy (nd). Excerpt from “The ‘Morphing’ Properties of Whiteness”. John Brueggemann (Ed.). Inequalities in the United States; A Reader Ist ed., pp.125-138). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Hurst, Charles, E. 2013. Social Inequalities: Forms, Causes, and Consequences (8th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson.

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