The Lightness of Whiteness… Despite the Brightness:

Thinking About Re-thinking RaceDr. Paul R. Carr

Department of SociologyLakehead University (Orillia)

prcarr@gmail.com

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Should a White person engage in race…?• Is there a choice in the matter?• Are they not already enmeshed in the racialization of society?• So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m a White guy…• But…

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Are we there yet?• Post-modern• Post-colonial• Post-racial• Post-identity• But…

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Nationalism, patriotism and hegemony• Permanent war and democracy• Structural poverty and individualism• ibrain everything and no books• Education for employment and increasing inequalities• The salience of Snooki and the irrelevance of humanity• But…

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Date Country Regime Outcome1931-1944 El Salvador Maximiliano Hernandez Assassination of political officials/civilians;

repression

1936-1980 Nicaragua Anastasio Somoza & sons Political repression; civilians attacked 1941-1979 Iran Shah of Iran Repression, corruption and instability

1954-1959 Cuba Fulgencio Batista Torture, women raped, repression, and killings

1954-1982 Guatemala Armas, Fuentes, Montt 400 Mayan villages razed; rape and torture

1954-1989 Paraguay Stroessner Wide-spread torture; political repression

1957-1986 Haiti Papa Doc Duvalier & son 20,000-60,000 murdered; political repression

1965-1967 Brazil Banco Rebels executed; students tortured1967-1998 Indonesia Suharto 100,000-500,000 dead; violent repression1969-1988 Zaire Mobutu Stole $3-5B; repression leading to

bloodshed

1970-1978 Bolivia Hugo Banzer Drug production and trafficking; repression1973-1990 Chile Augusto Pinochet 3,000 murdered; 400,000 tortured1975-1989 Angola Jonas Savimbi/UNITA Killed/displaced millions1976-1981 Argentina Jorge Rafael Videla 30,000 murdered;repression 1978-present Egypt Sadat, Mubarak Civilians killed in rebellion; corruption;

repression

1979-1988 Iraq Saddam Hussein Repression; 1 million killed in war with Iran1983-1989 Panama Noriega Support to contras; repression1990-present Uzbekistan Kamirov Rebels executed; conspirators tortured

1999-2007 Pakistan Musharaff Repression; political censorship; torture

US foreign policy, democracy and un-democratic activity

US Military spending

U.S. Federal budget 2009 (fiscal year) (billions of dollors)

Total Outlays (Federal Funds) - $2,659B MILITARY: 51% (details below) - Non-MILITARY: 49%

Human Resources - $789B (30%) • Health/Human Services • Soc. Sec. Administration • Education Dept. • Food/Nutrition programs • Housing & Urban Dev. • Labor Dept. • other H.R. Past Military - $484B (23%) • Veterans’ Benefits - $94B • Interest on national-debt (80%) due to military spending, $390B General Government - $304B (13%) • Treasury, including 20% interest on debt ($97B) • Government personnel • Justice Dept. • State Dept. (partial) • Homeland Security (15%) • International Affairs • NASA (50%) • Judicial • Legislative • other general government. Physical Resources - $117B (6%) • Agriculture • Interior • Transportation • Homeland Security (15%) • HUD • Commerce • Energy (non-military) • Environmental Protection • Nat. Science Found. • Army Corps Engineers • Fed. Commerce Com. • other physical resources Current Military - $965B (28%) • Military Personnel $129B • Operation & Maintenance $241B • Procurement $143B • Research & Development $79B • Construction $15B • Family Housing $3B • DoD miscellaneous $4B • Retiree Pay/Healthcare $70B • DoE nuclear weapons $17B • NASA (50%) $9B • International Security $9B • Homeland Security (70% military) $35B • State Dept. (partial) $6B • other military (non-DoD) $5B • “Global War on Terror” $200 billion

If everything changes…• Why is there still poverty, crime, war, hate…?• If education is not about peace, is it about war?• If education is not about social justice, is it about injustice?• If education is not about anti-racism, is it about racism?• But…

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What is racism…?• The N word?• The ability to buy a home?• Knowing that your God is the right one?• Getting a job where you want?• Not seeing yourself in the media?• Invading “brown” countries?• But…

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If we wanted to end sexism…• What would be the point of counselling women, working with

them, providing them resources, supporting them… without involving MEN

• If we wanted to end racism….

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White privilege…• Not knowing that race is the architectural framework underpinning

Canadian society• Blaming the “nasty” US and A for everything, and we can’t be quite

that bad…• Does a non-White know that he/she is not White?• Why is there the belief that we are COLOUR-BLIND?• How did we feel when the former South African ambassador

chastised Canadians who criticized Apartheid because.. “we have the same thing here?”

• It’s not about guilt and shame…

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The numbers• CEOs• Prisons• Elected officials• Principals• Bank presidents• University presidents• …

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Black-focused schools• “We don’t want to live like the Americans”• “We’re against segregation”• “Why can’t they learn like everyone else?”• “They won’t know how to interact with other people after

that experience”• Government policy, White power and neoliberal ideology

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Complexified identity• Some make it, some don’t; Some have group

issues, some don’t; Some fight it, some don’t• Gender, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation,

religion, etc. change the dynamic but race remains…

• Slavery, colonialism, empire hegemony, imperialism shape and contextualize racial identity everywhere

• But…

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Mainstream media• Homogenized, essentialized, “we’re all

one” identities• Disenfranchisement, disconnection and

fictitious “hope and change”• Is Kony a threat?• Did Americans massively engage to elect

Obama?• Did the world conflate what he could,

should and would do?

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Teacher ed. and the new world experience• “That stuff is over, that was a problem for our

grandparents…”• “We don’t think like that…”• Church, friendship and love…• White flight and could we “show your house to a

Black family?”• Accreditation and we need to do “diversity”; “we

need White kids to spend a week in Black schools…”• But…

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There is a silver lining…• Something can be done…• People can work together…• Just because we don’t hear about it doesn’t mean that it

doesn’t exist…• Anti-war, anti-poverty, pro-social justice, progressive

community… there are many positive things going on…

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Change involves…• Critically engaged, differentiated, contextualized,

meaningful, inclusive forms of education• Critical epistemological reflection and interrogation• Action, accepting that we do not know everything,

humility, conscientization, radical love and humanity… are helpful

• War, violence, vilification are not good options• Education is a societal project

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There is another way…

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