Race has been a difficult topic to discuss and grasp ever since race problems began. Not only is it a sensitive topic that carries a lot of baggage to the name, but it is a continuous problem that we still today, after many years, battle with. “The Code Switch Podcast, Episode 1: Can we talk about Whiteness?” is a podcast with many speakers of different colors that discusses white ignorance and white uncertainty of talking about racial issues. White ignorance plays a significant role in the main idea of the podcast. The main hosts, Shereen Meraji and Gene Demby, talk with different speakers and ask their thoughts on ideas and events relating to the topic whiteness. The first speaker, Peggy McIntosh shares her story of realizing how ignorant …show more content…
A white student from Chenjerai’s class, Will Johnston from Clemson University, is the next speaker to approach the topic. Will explained his point of view from being in a couple of Chenjerai’s classes. He explained how ignorant he was to his white privileges until he was broken down in Chenjerai’s class. Will explains how it took a while to be able for him to talk about the topic in a diplomatic way. Tanner Colby, co-host of “about race podcast” and author of Some of my Best Friends are Black, was the next speaker in the podcast. Colby tells that he thinks people are uncomfortable about talking about whiteness and race. He says that people are unsure of how to talk about the topic which makes conversation hard. Demby and Meraji sum up what they have learned after they talked with everyone about where they stand in the conversation on whiteness. Meraji tells that they learned how difficult it truly is to talk about whiteness especially when people do not have the information they need to have a good conversation about it. Demby goes on to say how white people do not have …show more content…
The different speakers show that all types of people can truly get to the point of having an understanding mind-set of the whiteness topic. The point of the podcast is to try to let people understand what changes need to be made to solve these continual racial problems. It is going to take all people from every color truly trying to wrap their minds around what it would be like in all situations for there to be change. The message in the podcast is persuasive in the way of trying to guide all people in a more open-minded perspective so that the conversation of whiteness and race can be talked about comfortably to solve
Gina Crosley-Corcoran, author of Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person, informs her readers about her misinterpretation of white privilege. After being called out for her unknowing use of white privilege, Gina begins to plead her case. Beginning with her childhood, Gina explains how she grew up “on the go”. Travelling from place to place, Gina lived in a rundown trailer and her family obtained little to no money, had no access to hot water, survived on cheap, malnourished foods, and dealt with a bad home life. After evaluating her history when placed at the end of life’s spectrum, Gina finds it hard to pick out white privilege in her life and therefore argues she has none. Later, Gina is introduced to a woman named Peggy McIntosh
In Whistling Vivaldi, in chapter 5 it talks about how a white student takes a class with the majority of the people in the class being black and two white people including him. The book talked about how we felt like he couldn't talk in the class, and he felt like he had to be conscious of what he said because he didn't want to make any racial comments that could offend the people in his class. This certain example, was very interesting to me in the aspect that in all of the classes I've been in I've been the majority, I have never known what's it's like to be the minority nor have I ever thought about the people that are in my class that are the minority, I never considered how they felt before reading this book. It's very interesting to me
“I repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until I wrote it down. For me, white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true, this is not such a free country; one’s life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.”
Race is a social migrainous issue that many societies are faced because it divides people and brings many negative impact between people such as hatred, heartache, or even bloodshed. Even though race is hard to recognize and rarely happen in American society due to the successful civil rights movements, some people of minority groups are always feel the pressure of the Whites privilege that heavy weigh on their shoulders which hold them back from success, for example, Yosso, the author of Critical Race Counterstories Along the Chicana/ Chicano Educational Pipeline, addresses the educational disadvantage that Chicana/Chicano students are suffered because of race and racism. Yosso’s counterstories have affected people’s
Race-thinking: what is it? Isn’t the world past the issue of race? Do races even exist and if so, what does it mean to have a racial identity? Is colorblindness possible and how important is it? These are the questions Paul Taylor addresses in the book “Race: A Philosophical Introduction”. Paul Taylor is a self-proclaimed “radical constructionist” who will maintain that race is very real in our world and in the United States as a whole (p. 80). Taylor takes care to ensure he addresses the real needs concerning racial dynamics in the U.S., referencing historical events, prevailing policy affairs, and even pop culture to explain that everyone capable of forming opinions ought to have some sort of grasp of the concept of race-thinking. As Taylor will analyze, race and race-thinking “has shaped and continues to shape private interactions as well as the largest political choices” (p. 8). In other words, race-thinking encompasses everything we do and every interaction we have. In this paper I will attempt to interpret and expound Taylor’s views and definitions of race, concepts associated with race, and input my own interpretations as they are appropriate.
As a result, my thinking and perception was shaped and influenced by many of the negative stereotypes of African Americans that has been perpetuated in our society at large (this is where education can be a great liberator of falsehoods and misconceptions). I have come to appreciate Professor Marie’s Intercultural Communication course, for the class has broaden my critical thinking skills and stretched my thinking and understanding. Finally, how do I think this information will be of use to me? True understanding and teamwork will not begin to occur until individuals begin to speak up about address and embrace the controversial topics of race and culture. Setting aside the problem of racism and covering it up by saying that everyone is the same, does not eliminate the issue. Trying to patch up issues around the world dealing with culture and racism only provides a quick, short lasting solution, for when the temporary patch falls away, the problems will have grown twice as big. All it does is temporarily set aside what we know is still there.
As a European immigrant in the USA, I have encountered many new cultural phenomena in the last 4 _ years that have challenged me to perceive who I am differently. This experience has been even more polarized by the fact that I have lived most of that time in Los Angeles, a melting pot to be reckoned with. Coming to America, I expected these adaptations to my Irish self but the intensity of becoming cognizant of my label of 'whiteness' has mocked the limitations of my anticipations.
When asked about white privilege, many whites believe that it is a myth while others deny the existence of white privilege entirely. However, white privilege is not a myth. White privilege is very prevalent in society and uniquely effects many different groups. Peggy McIntosh discusses white privilege in her article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” McIntosh states, “I have come to see while privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was, "meant" to remain oblivious” (par. 3).
Some of her points are, “13”. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my face on trial” she also points out that people of minority will not experience never being “ asked to speak for all the people of my social group” (McIntosh 99). No matter how one may try to analyze a situation, white people are privileged bottom line. Some are more privileged than others by way of money or reputation and others are privileged just by skin alone. In conclusion, everyday people experience racism in some type of way regardless of their skin color.
Not only does White discuss those instances of racial prejudice, she also talks about how racism affected her in her adult life. She is unsure if her being black was the reason her group of faculty members were denied a boat to explore the river. However, finally at the end of her essay, White explains how she overcame her fear and connected with a part of her identity that allowed her to find peace and strength in nature. She talks about how her ancestors from Africa were not afraid of the world around them and how they embraced it and how she
Whiteness is a term that has been discussed throughout history and through scholarly authors. Whiteness is defined in many ways, according to Kress “pervasive non- presence, its invisibility. Whiteness seems at times to be everywhere and nowhere, even present throughout U.S history, and yest having no definable history of its own. Whiteness as a historically rooted cultural practice is then enacted on the unconscious level. Knowledge the is created from the vantage point of Whiteness thus transforms into “common sense,” while practices or behaviors that are enacted based on the unspoken norms of Whiteness become the only acceptable way of being” (Kress, 2008, pg 43). This definition for example, whiteness has become into hegemony. I define it as racial ideologies that have been established throughout history. Which has formed racial segregation between white and non-whites, and has led to discrimination and injustice. White privilege has also been a factor in whiteness; it’s the privilege that white color people get better benefits
Introduction We live in a society where race is seen as a vital part of our personalities, the lack of racial identity is very often an important factor which prevents people from not having their own identity (Omi & Winant, 1993). Racism is extremely ingrained in our society and it seems ordinary (Delgado & Stefanic, 2000). However, many people denounce the expression of any racist belief as immoral (Miles & Brown, 2003) highlighting the complicated nature of racism. Critical Race Theory tries to shed light on the issue of racism, claiming that racism is ingrained in our society both in legal, cultural, and psychological aspects of social life (Tate, 1997). This essay provides us with the opportunity to explore this theory and its influence in the field of education.
I am well aware of the oppression that has faced many people of color in our society. I did learn a great deal about how our government is to blame for the racial segregation in our society. America has a history of placing laws and policies on non-whites, thus making it extremely hard for them to live a well-balanced life. I thought it was interesting that immigrants were far more likely to work in mining and industrial jobs than whites. I feel as though this a trend that continues today in America, thus it is evident that we still exclude certain ethnic groups in our society. Although I did not have any biases going into this documentary, I learned a lot about how our government has been the main contributor to white privilege in our
Overall, the information gathered by these interviews causes both hope and worry. The view of feminism is improving exponentially and gender roles are slowly becoming neutralized; however, the truth about the economic standing of minorities and women is anything but clear. There is still hope that with the changing views of the America people the reality of economic prosperity will truly be blind to color, gender, creed, and sexuality and the truly exceptional individuals will rise to the highest ranks. This will take time to occur; it takes time to turn a plain into a mountain or a dessert into a sea but it has happened and will happen again. It will take time and work but eventually a racist, sexist, classist, heterosexist society can become egalitarian society.
Unlike hooks and Frankenberg who give detailed views on the idea of whiteness that consistently criticize it as a way of thinking that influences our lives, instead McIntosh gives the readers a perspective of whiteness from a privileged white woman. McIntosh 's admittance and understanding to her class and racial advantage allows her to be able to view the problems surrounding whiteness and by doing so, allows her to make the changes needed to make a difference. Even with the different class viewpoint, McIntosh acknowledges the idea that "whites are taught to think their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average.." (McIntosh 98) and that this way of thinking creates a situation where whites view non white individuals to be abnormal and under average. This prescribed way of thinking produces the idea that if a white individual volunteers or works to help others, this helpfulness is a way of assisting non-whites to be more like whites. This form of education that the people, who have access to education, receive can then be understood as being obviously problematic. The perspective of class is an important viewpoint from McIntosh because as a privileged white woman, she is provided with more access to education and varying resources than many people. Again, the subject of education is brought forward. This access to the different educational institutions that she has had and her acknowledgement to her uneducated ideas on race show how the educational system had failed her. "As a white feminist, I knew that I had not previously known I was 'being racist ' and that I had never set out to 'be racist '" ( Frankenberg 3). Although Frankenberg had begun with the goal of working for the rights of feminism, her lack of knowledge on race, hindered her from understanding more aspects of