Understanding whiteness
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Transcript of Understanding whiteness
ByMar GlobalTraining for Organizational Transformatio
nDr. Marquita Byrd
[email protected]: 408-573-1234
Where is Your Voice in the National
Dialogue on Race
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Why Dr. Byrd?
Teach Diversity Courses
Whiteness is one of the basic areas of study
Developed techniques that allow us to examine the topic without bruising each other.
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Safe Climate
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� Respect Each other� No blaming� Laugh with each other, not at each other� Respect Confidences Shared� Frustration accepted, hostility not welcome� Treat each other as equals� No shaming� No name calling
Workshop Objectives
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I. Understand the nature of WhitenessII. Become aware of how whiteness works in
our everyday livesIII.Learn about “race” and “ethnicity”IV.Contemplate the role of “race” in our own
livesV. Facilitate Dialogue on the topic of raceVI.Discover the impact of racism on White
PeopleVII.Create ways to remove the baggage of race
in our lives
We cannot move forward “unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
Senator Obama Speaks on Race March 8, 2008
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Race is an Ambiguous Means of
Categorizing People
Social construct: a way of talking about something that we experience or know. Race doesn’t exist in that we all have DNA from the same woman.
Race: a way of talking about a group of people based on biologically transmitted characteristics such as skin colour, hair, facial structure, etc.
Ethnicity: a way of talking about a group of people based on their learned characteristics such as language, traditions, values, and history
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Who Are We?
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Africa Sub-Saharan
Asian-Pacific IslanderFar East, South EastSouthern Asian (India)
European: Britain, France, German, Poland, Italy, etc.
Spanish First LanguageSpanish SurnameIndigenous in New World conquered by Spain
Indigenous People of US, maintaining identity through tribal affiliation
Racio-Ethnic Groups in the US
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African 12% Asian
6%
European68%
Hispanic13%
Native1%
The Taboo Topic
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The Dialogue is
Skewed
Some groups consider themselves “muted” in this great discussion.
They find themselves in a “spiral of silence” because they do not feel comfortable entering into the conversation.
That group would be white people.
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Whiteness: The
elephant in the
room
The elephant in the room that many whites don’t want to talk about or don’t know how to talk about it.
People of colour talk about it
frequently.
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Why are most
whites not talking
about it?Unconscious: don’t know that it exists
See whiteness as devoid of culture
Shame over group actions in the past (history)
Tired of being blamed?
Fearful that people will misunderstand or be angry
Don’t want to accept that there is a position of privilege based on race
Whiteness is the “white noise” in our culture.
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To Learn More About Ourselves
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Studying whiteness means studying institutional racism, especially practices that create “white privilege.” This approach can combat the tendency to get stuck in the “white guilt” syndrome (which involves both confessions and denials).
Teaching about whiteness helps move classes beyond the "celebrate diversity" model of multiculturalism.
Silence about whiteness lets everyone continue to harbor prejudices and misconceptions, beginning with the notion that “white” equals normal. Whiteness oppresses when it operates as the invisible regime of normality, and thus making whiteness visible is a principal goal of anti-racist pedagogy.
1. Topic examined in the philosophy, literature and discussions of People of Colour
2. Expounded on by those who wished to validate the oppression of people of Colour
3. Academic Disciplines of Law, Feminists Studies and Performance Studies
Critical Race Theory
Critical White Studies
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Whiteness is More than a Skin Colour
� Group and individual identity
� Ideology: set of ideas about the nature of the world
� Ownership
� Dominance
� Privileged Group
� Attitude of superiority
� The standard by which all others are judged
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Who Invented Whiteness and Why?� Europeans of means who encountered various cultures
around the world during exploration.
� To create solidarity among Europeans in the colonies
� Justify oppression
� Divide and conquer disadvantaged
whites and people of colour
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Impacts of Racism on White Americans (2nd ed.)
Bowser and Hunt (1996), Sage Publications
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Promotes1. Lack of cultural knowledge of self and others2. Isolates or sets apart from the rest of the world (3/4 people of colour)3. Lives susceptible to social and political ills first appearing in communities
of colour and the poor.4. Aversion to coalitions among poor, working poor and middle class whites
and people of colour.5. The invisibility of poor whites 6. Distorted views of reality (Ex. Numerically the majority of poor people
are white).7. Hinders development of potential.8. Dehumanization of self and others.9. Moral and social confusion. 10. Increase and aggravation of psychiatric disturbances.
Activity: Where are You in the
Stages of Racial identity
Development
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Unaware Conscious Foreclosed
Moratorium Achieved
We all interact from the “standpoint” of
who we are without even thinking about it.
Whiteness College Professor
� Speak in a tone of superiority
� Don’t think to take into account the culture of others
� May not understand the impact of your race on interactions with others
� Unaware of self as an ethnic group
� See yourself as the standard
� Preachy
� People developer
� Dominate conversation with information, rather than listening
� Because I am right (correct information) I have to be right
� Privileged
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What Marquita Brings to the
Table
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FemaleSenior CitizenAfrican American
Educated College Professor
MidwesternerMinister
Middle Class [according to the federal government] (But this is what my house looks like!!!)
Effective communicators must always
take into account who they are.
Aware of how my:� Race� Gender� Education� Occupation� Physical Characteristics� Style of communication� Worldview� Past Experiences� Future Expectations
Influence the way people see me, how I see myself, and how that shapes my relationships with other people, personally and professionally.
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I think the athletic
system in higher
education is unfair to
the rest of the
student population
Have to be aware of my bias against college athletics and guard against that interfering with my scholar-athletes in my classes.
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All of Us have BiasesBiases Parent Tapes
� Racial stereotypes
� Myths about other races
� Discriminatory behaviors against others
� Negative attitudes about the poor
� Misunderstanding of the immigrant experience
� Who is good
� Who is bad
� Who I should love
� Who I should avoid
� Why I should wear good underwear
� How I should be in the world
� How the world relates to me
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My Parent Tapes About Race� Blacks are better than
whites
� Blacks don’t do all the bad things that white people do
� Whites will always have the advantage in every situation
� White people don’t have to struggle
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Parent tapes
must be
examined
Some of the messages have to be erased, sometimes the playback equipment must be turned off.
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Racial groups
Ethnic groups
The poor
Disabled
Women
Men
Which Ones Do You Need to Purge?
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Biases are a Part of the Human
Experience
Biases Awareness of Biases
� Don’t make you a bad person
� Makes you normal
� Unrevealed biases
cause harm and
discrimination
� Being aware of your biases
� Managing your biases
� Makes you more effective in your work
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Home Work� Think about what your race might mean to the clients
you serve.� List the biases you might have about the clients you
serve.� How do those biases manifest themselves?� What can you do to keep those biases from harming
your clients.� Develop a vision of your work and how it would be with
these biases under control.
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Become Aware of Your Race
Learn more about it.
Become part of the national dialogue
Let your voice be heard!
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