The White Racial Frame Analysis

According to “The White Racial Frame”, the author Joe R. Feagin states that to “framing” is “the idea of a perspectival frame that gets imbedded in individual minds (brains) as well as in collective memories and histories, and helps people make sense out of everyday situations.” (Feagin). Feagin discusses upon how most of whites believe they are greater to those of color. El Teatro Campesino serves as a great way to break down the rationalizations of the white supremacy by demonstrating how Chican@s and Latin@s rose up as a community.
Feagin’s “White Racial Frame” states that the majority of whites are “willfully ignorant or misinformed” about the circumstances people of color face in today’s society (Feagin3). “The White Racial Frame” that Feagin presents is “an overarching white worldview that encompasses a broad and persisting set of racial stereotypes, prejudices, ideologies, images, interpretations and narratives, emotions and reactions to language accents as well as racialized inclinations to discriminate” (Feagin3). It all started with the first contact of Europeans and the Western Hemisphere. In the European colonialism,

colonists used a hierarchical structure. This hierarchical structure demonstrated that “The higher up the chain of being, the more valued” and “the lower down, the less valued and human” (Feagin40) .Colonist “framed” those who were non-Europeans, such as women, indigenous people and African Americans, to be in the lowest levels of the hierarchical structure (Feagin40) and the whites to be at the very top of the hierarchical structure. Feagin states that the European frame was due to racial factors (Feagin41). The massacre of the Natives was sought to be by the Spanish conquerors and occurred due to the fact that they saw indigenous people as “Indians”, “natural slaves, as subhuman beasts of burden” and “wild animals” (Feagin42). This shows how those of color were treated and seen as different people to the country. In addition, “Negro workers was never equal to that of European American servants” (Feagin44). The enslavement of Blacks occurred because whites where clearly on the top of the racial hierarchy (Feagin49).
El Teatro Campesino is a great technique Luis Valdez used to make awareness of the situations going on in the past and still today. It all started with “actos”, or skits, that Luiz Valdez would put on in the fields in the Central Valley of California. These plays were about “social, political, and economic positions to minorities” (UCSB Library). Luiz Valdez skits broke down rationalizations of the White Supremacy by raising awareness to the public. The skits were about everyday lives of minorities especially among Chican@s and also on the problems they faces in America such as not getting paid enough and not being treated right. Humor, costumes and puppets were techniques they used to make statements about society (UCSB Library). El Teatro Campesino made it to broad way, theaters and festivals in Los Angeles and New York, and even the PBS station (elteatrocampesino.com). Luiz Valdez and his amazing plays and now movies demonstrate how not being from the country did not stop him from being at the bottom of the social class. He worked hard not only to prove Chican@s are not what others say but to educate the people on situations in society and to aim for being farm workers to be valued in America. The Teatro Campesino informed not only Chican@s but all races, which was a way to rationalize the White Racial Frame. Although Chican@s were frames as being colored and not succeeding, Luis Valdez and his performers sought out justice and got far in their work. He proved to others that those of color can also be at the top.
“The Color of Debt” is about how black neighborhoods in America are having more lawsuits than white neighborhoods. Why is that people with lower incomes get lawsuits more commonly than those with higher incomes? This clearly displays the white supremacy. Yolonda Fountain Henderson was the first black city mayor of a St. Louis suburb (Birch and Martinez). Many black people from her neighborhood and herself were on the list of lawsuits (Birch and Martinez). Although the Teatro Campesino demolished some of the rationalizations from the White Racial Frame, this incident brings back how the Whites are more privileged and how the blacks get treated “less valued and human” (Feagin). As demonstrated, the white get treated better than the blacks.
All in all, framing can be good and bad but the White Racial Frame demonstrated how some racial and ethnic groups believe they are superior to the rest.

The White Racial Frame has changed over time to some extent. It’s not just an idea that started in the 21st century but it has been around since the first contact of Europeans. El Teatro Campesino displays how Chican@s rose above and came out far. Luiz Valdez and his performers performed about social issues that raised awareness to communities. Where as in “The Color of Debt” white supremacy takes action when the blacks are being treated unfairly and differently than the whites. Overall, El Teatro Campesino was a great implement to demolish some of the framing of racial and ethnic groups that Feagin discussed in The White Racial

Frame.