Mommy! It's the new color-coded Barbies!

http://godheval.net/nabisco-barbies/#respond

On Godheval.net, an example of racism plain-as-day in our society can be shown: OREO BARBIE. This is 1997, not 1964, yet we are told repeatedly by White society that "racism is over, get past it, work hard and achieve". Yet racial stereotypes like "Oreo" for Blacks and "Ritz Cracker" for Whites are perpetuated in our dolls. Nope, no last effect on children whatsoever, right? This being likely said by the same who were yelling the smear of Obama's idea of early childhood education on Sex being detrimental for youth based on -- *gasp* -- age susceptibility.

Nope. No social racism in society these days. Minorities should just "get over it" and "work harder". Racism is only found in "extreme nutjobs" and "KKK members". White people are well to do and don't perpetuate racism (especially when they never bring it up). Right.

Pass it on.

White People, Attention: You have been and are being fooled! PART TWO

(This is part two of the previous post.)

Where were we, now? Oh yeah.

When we left off last time, we were unraveling the beginnings of Whiteness. Whiteness was created only as a contrast to Blackness, Native-Americanness, and in contrast to anything else different. The creation of the White Race did not end with Naturalization for the first American citizens. Whiteness, unlike any other racial classification in the history of this continent, did something that no other classification was able or has been able to do: expand its boundaries and inclusion of “Whiteness”. It is in exposing this that I intend to show that being White in American institutions is at its root one of the primary tools for the retention of a social power structure and is an arbitrary label to maintain class divisions for the elite.

No, Jews and Italians were not always "white". The Irish either.

The arrival of numerous new groups of Europeans in the mid to late 19th century brought with it a crisis for the White identity. Not only did Whites have to contend with the Slave issue and Blacks now attaining citizenship, but now the arrival of new Europeans who had never lived in mass amounts on the mainland. On top of this, Asians made large migrations to America. The European arrivals were comprised heavily of Irish, Slav, Jewish, Italian, and Polish backgrounds. Many of these immigrants had darker features and brought with them different religions such as Judaism and the branch of Christianity known as Catholicism. None of these groups, upon arrival, were considered “white”. In fact, the Irish were considered as “low” as Blacks. The Jews were considered a different race. Bigotry was rampant in literature, such as “The Passing of the Great Race”, dividing Europeans based off of arbitrary lines and pseudo-science.

But wait, you might think, aren’t the Irish, Polish, Slavs, etc. all considered “white” today? Yes. Is this due to some sort of coincidence or all of a sudden White acceptance of different cultures and ethnicities? Not quite. These immigrant groups aligned themselves with White labor and social movements, such as the Irish (http://academic.udayton.edu/Race/01race/white13.htm). European ethnics, previously “conditional whites”, were now melding themselves in with the White majority. Just as in the past as European lower classes were accepted to keep Black power at a minimum threat from the status quo, European ethnics were accepted so long as they conformed to the “melting pot” lifestyle, leaving their lifestyles of their ethnic homelands to Anglicize and form a skin-privileged White culture. Light skinned Europeans could leave their ethnic ties behind and become White. Blacks, Asians, Mexican-Americans all did not have this luxury.

Not just the ability to have a pretty "White" name.

These were not simply social luxuries. There were plenty of structural luxuries. An example of institutionalized White privilege and minority suppression is in the Social Security act, passed in 1935. The act denied benefits to workers of agricultural jobs and domestic employees. The majority of these workers were a good chunk of the Hispanic and Black population of the country. This created opportunities of wealth inheritance that non-Whites would not be privy to. At the same time, many school districts in the Southwest and Texas segregated Mexican-American and Anglo children into separate facilities. The Mexican schools were grossly underfunded and often offered only a grade school education. It was not until the 1960’s that Mexican-American advocacy groups were able to bring an end to discriminatory practices in education to predominantly Hispanic areas and introduce bilingual education to students.

This is not even mentioning the Jim Crow South, sundown towns, lynching, segregation, and social degradation of Blacks. By racializing Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and other groups, Whites became the “norm”, “non-racial”, and most importantly: “Americans”. By the end of World War II, the G.I. Bill pumped money to majority White families and injected even more opportunities for inherited wealth and social status. Whites, who were by and large leaving European, urban enclaves, were now migrating to newly constructed Suburbs. Being Jewish, Italian, German, these things were now less important to the homogenous White identity now formed. On their own, families had French and Italian backgrounds, perhaps. In contrast to “non-Whites”, however, these ethnic pasts were now second to being White.

Worth it in the end?

Thus, the existence of the White race was formed and is today maintained as a contrast to that which is “non-White”. Being “White” is relatively arbitrary. It is not defined by what it is, so much as what it isn’t (Black, Asian, basically anyone deemed racial). Is the White Race something that should have been formed? Is this arbitrary social group, as well the perpetuated classes of “Blacks”, “Asians”, etc. worth retaining?

White People, Attention: You have been and are being fooled!

A difficult fact, yet impossible to escape.

Every instance in which I discuss race as it exists in America, I have to always remind myself of one small, yet undeniable and important fact that is key to understanding the history of institutional racism in America: the “White race” was created first as the centerpiece of racial classifications and was used to be the privileged, benefitted norm upon which all else not under said heading were persecuted for generations. If one does not understand this fact and the context around it, one is missing out on a great deal of racial reality in past and contemporary society.

Whiteness was created as a classification to keep from being included as Black, Indian, “Oriental”, or any other non-White grouping. What is more interesting than this by itself is the history of how this reality came to be and how Whiteness seems to be the one racial category that has been allowed to adapt and shift definitions over generations.

From ethnic identity to a skin color.

When Europeans arrived on the scene in North America, there was no such identity or solidarity as “White people”. The European arrivals were Dutch, French, Spanish, English, Welsh, Scottish, German, the list goes on. Just as current day Vietnamese do no see themselves as “Yellow” with their neighboring Asians countries (despite Americans classifying them as such), Europeans did not see themselves as having some sort of bond due to having light skin and lighter features. In fact, many European indentured servants worked alongside African slaves in the early colonial days. Being White and Black was no distinction at this time – class and ethnicity were the point of focus to the elites, and indentured servant Europeans simply didn’t cut it for them.

When numerous rebellions took place on the east coast in the early to mid 17th century, institutional manners of grouping people began to change. African slaves and European servants were grouping together to rise up against the wealthy elites in the new land. In 17th century Virginia was where the first laws separating “Blacks” from “Whites” in terms of marriage laws and civil privileges were seen. The European servants, now classified as “Whites”, were given property rights; court testifying rights, and other privileges the African slaves were not given. In case this is getting too difficult to follow (or too hard to swallow, whichever the case may be): the term White was created to protect the collapse of an elite, Anglo power structure. That’s it – Whiteness was a trick played on poor European servants to give up their class interests and ethnically identify with a new skin based power structure.

But one cannot simply close the book there on the book of Whiteness. The definition of who was White and who was not would not be resolved in the 17th century. The power structure and society at large had differing ideas over time of who was to be White and who was not.
(To be continued)…

Nope, no Affirmative Action needed. Discrimination's over!

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2008/12/08/focus4.html (2007 saw the highest rate of work-place, race related discrimination complaints since 1994).

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41828&dcn=todaysnews (Asian-Americans underreport discrimination).

http://economics.uchicago.edu/download/_DISCRIMINATION.pdf (Applicants with "black sounding" names like Jamal or Lakeisha get about half the call-backs for jobs than applicants with typically "white" names like Greg or Emily).

http://www.cmich.edu/Affirmative_Action_Office/Truths_and_Myths_Regarding_Affirmative_Action.htm (Myths about Affirmative Action. You'd be shocked how many you hear repeated daily in society and on television).

Yeah. "Post-racial society of Obama" my ass.

Asian-Americans: not Americans.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6365320.html

Betty Page, a white Texas Congressional Representative, has asked that Asian-Americans change or simplify their names according to standards that make it "easier to deal with". If this isn't an example of white supremacist culture and white privilege, I don't know what is.

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.

Brown later told Ramey Ko, a member of an organization for Chinese-Americans: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”

Not Anglo...er, American enough.

First off, Chinese-Americans who are voting suddenly aren't "Americans". This is key to the topic. Americans are the ones with "simple", more Anglo names. Ethnocentrism at it's best.

Then think about the privilege Page has in the discussion.Chinese is "rather difficult", but English isn't difficult? Do you wonder has she ever tried to learn another language when she utters those words? What would her reaction be if she had to change her name in Vietnam or China to Huang or Wang? It is this type of privilege, an ability to not empathize or pay attention to the situations or realities of non-whites, that exemplifies white privilege. She can say this type of thing and get away with it: Asians, your names are not simple enough for US (Anglos) to pronounce. Please, change YOUR ways for US. Nope, forget that Asians may be just as proud of their names and heritage as any European-American. This is Eurocentric America. Get on board, already! Sheesh.

And also note the Euro-supremacist overtones: You and YOUR citizens. Are Asian-Americans not citizens she represents? I guess Ramey Ko, the Chinese-American that confronted her, represents them separately. And this is said by someone in power.

Victimization without being victims.

The final blow dealt here is towards the end of the article where a spokesperon for Republicans claims Democrats and Ko are "using race". Here, they are alluding to the all-powerful "race card". If the race card were such a strong card, it wouldn't be so easy for whites to knock down and end the discussion with. Instead, it is my theory that whites use the "race card" argument whenever they want to divert the topic and project back to the other end in an attempt to discredit the argument without addressing the topic.

Whites never seem to ever pull the race card it seems, even when they claim names are too hard for "them" to deal with and they should adopt "simpler" names for Ko and HIS citizens (yeah, no grouping of people and separating them from Americans there, eh?). Whites can complain and get their way out of the discussion because it's "too hard for them to pronounce and deal with them weird names from Asia".

And supposedly it's minorities, not whites, who play the victims in society today. Funny.

We're living in a "colorblind" society.
Segregation and slavery are over!
Everyone has equal treatment!
Discrimination from the dominant power is only imagined by minorities! They should try harder!

Right.

Why White People are Afraid

http://www.alternet.org/story/36892/

I found this article by Robert Jensen of the University of Texas. He's pretty much nailed on the head why many white people who perhaps do have some idea of white privilege or racial injustice do nothing - fear, on multiple grounds. White people now have to deal with being the problem in the race discussion. This spurs all kinds of axieities of them.

A couple of things that he mentions are that whites in some degree fear what seems now inevitible: becoming the minority in the country. Whites likely will not be the majority demographic in the U.S. They may hold unequal amounts of wealth, but this loss in numbers can mean social and economic changes in the balance of power. This makes whites wonder if they will be treated the same way that non-whites were treated in the past and are currently treated today. Will whites no longer be the equivalent of "American", "normal", "standard"? This causes fear.

He also mentions that with greater economic justice and less privilege, resources would be more evenly distributed. This means whites lose some of the comfortable, higher lifestyle they've come to live in and become accustomed to. This also incites fearful reactions to such ideas of changing white privilege.

Along with the final fear in the article, which is the most obvious, that whites do not want to admit a degree of having been given an unearned head start due to their skin color, I must say that this article is dead on. Jensen points out what I believe is the biggest fear holding Whites back from helping to achieve racial and social justice - the above mentioned fear of "what will happen when we're the minority? How will we be treated?" And oddly enough, it is this fear that will likely lead to the worst result if it is used as an excuse to do nothing.

The more white people live oblivious to social injustice, not speaking out and recognizing the supremacist system set up in our country, and use their guilt and fear as a reason to do nothing, the less sympathy other ethnic groups will likely feel in the U.S. when a time may come when whites no longer hold all of the power demographically. If steps are taken now to correct inequalities based off of hundreds of years of past discrimination, and whites stop using cop-out excuses like "colorblindness", "I never owned a slave!", "my ancestors weren't even here!", "Affirmative Action discriminates against whites!", then maybe history may be kinder in such a hypothetical situation.

One thing is for certain: doing nothing does whites no good.

Colorblind only to themselves.

It seems that white America feels it has reached a social fork in the road so far as it pertains to racial discourse and identity. To the average “white” American, there are basically only two types of “white” person you can identify as in our society. The first is the less frequent, yet still existing, white supremacist/racist. This is the white person who feels pride about their European heritage and finds it superior (and by definition, others inferior) to all other groups based on skin color. The second is the more frequently seen and heard “color-blind” white person. This person sees that race shouldn’t make a difference in how we view each other (not a bad outlook in and of itself), but since that is true one then assumes we should treat social situations as though race is not a factor and does not exist, hence, being colorblind. This second mindset allows the colorblind person to not see being white as having any real effect on their lives.

Most white people are taught to be one or the other, with mainstream America favoring the colorblind ideology. Our conventional wisdom teaches us that being racist is bad and being colorblind is good. Choosing one or the other certainly seems to make a lot of sense; given these were the only two real options. The problem lies in the fact that this is a false dichotomy whites are presented and one they continue to acquiesce to day in and day out. The fact is that there are not only two choices and that there exist other philosophies on the matter. Furthermore, being a “colorblind” white person not only allows a person to not see the effects of whiteness in society, but also keeps a person from seeing discrimination based on color when it occurs, thereby perpetuating discrimination.

But, at least I'm not a "racist"!

In our post-Civil Rights social era, being “colorblind” has become the mainstream way to handle race discussions for many white Americans. Polls on racial topics consistently find white Americans supporting the principles of integration, racial intermarriage, and minorities living in or near their neighborhoods. On top of this, polls also show that white Americans believe racism to largely be a thing of the past. Others show whites supporting overwhelmingly the idea that racism is the fault of behavior and culture on the part of minorities. That said, whites in similar polls also reject the notion of legislation to overturn many years effects of institutionalized racism in America, namely that of Affirmative Action. Thus, we have what may be labeled a possible society of “Racism without racists”. That is, the deep divide in polls on whites opinions with respect to race and society reflect a want or need to maintain the racial order in the U.S. in a non-racial way. One can now vocally adopt non-racist platitudes and stands without completely combating racism or racist structures.

I just want everyone to be equal, so long as I'm still ahead.

An example of this mindset can be seen in the conservative, though not contained in this ideology, movement to end affirmative action in hiring policies on the grounds of it being “reverse discrimination” against white Americans. Affirmative Action as it is constructed today was started decades ago to combat what whites claim they are against now – affirmative action itself, only targeted towards a different group of people (you guessed it – whites). Indeed, white Americans themselves benefitted from various forms of affirmative action for the larger part of this country’s history and colonial times. Slavery, Jim Crow, restrictive Euro-centric Nationalization and Immigration laws, anti intermarriage-laws, and various government acts (such as the Homestead Act) all worked to maintain a white status quo, give European-Americans a leg up, and maintain dominance in American society. White Americans calling for the end of affirmative action policies today now claim a want for equal footing and grounding in employment and other areas when it was denied to so many for nearly 200 years. This all being said as numerous studies show existing inequalities, in various sectors of American life between minorities and whites. Nearly all studies show how affirmative action legislation has moved to reverse inequalities in the workplace, yet by removing this on the grounds of “reverse discrimination”, it would at best halt and stagnate any progress made on these grounds and at worst allow the work environment to return to a place of ethnic and racial discrimination.

Thus, being colorblind allows a person to make decisions based on their skin color without consciously, or perhaps only verbally, ignoring the effects their skin color has on them or their decision making. Even to those who acknowledge the existence of other races and their inequalities, it allows whites to ignore the privilege they’ve inherited in this country with respect to income, education, and power. To be more succinct, this ideology allows whites to be colorblind to whiteness. For example, a 2006 study by the University of Minnesota showed that while a majority of white respondents agreed that past discrimination put minorities at a disadvantage, a much lesser amount agreed that it had given whites an advantage. Thus, whites are allowed to see minorities as “underprivileged” without seeing themselves as “privileged”. Whites can see race as African-American disadvantage, but not one of white privilege.

In a Pew poll, 54% of whites said programs to increase the number of minorities in college are a good thing, compared with 87% of blacks. If based on similar polls, we can conclude that more often than not whites will admit to African-American disadvantage but will not support policies aimed at giving them advantages. That is to say, whites will admit aversively to being higher in society but only do so verbally in a way that justifies not feeling an inclination towards doing anything about it.

Where to go from here. A possible starting point.

So if one accepts that colorblindness is a dead-end in achieving racial justice in America, where can one turn? If the only other true choice would be that of racism, it would seem that we’ve come to a point of no resolution. The good news is that there is another choice: white racial awareness. That is, accepting ones heritage as European-white and even having pride about that, but acknowledging the inherited privilege one is given with that distinction in society and working to end the White-centric mold of American society. Racially savvy whites who work to overturn economic and social disadvantage by acknowledging their own advantages do more justice towards minorities than simply calling oneself colorblind and ignoring the world around them.