Alice Mcintyre Talks About How Whites View Racism In Many

W.E.B. Du Bois has contributed greatly to contemporary sociological thinking because he began a conversation of what it means to be “other” in this American Society. In his conversation of what it means to be other he constructed and included three major concepts that continue to resonate till this day. His concepts include “the color-line”, “the veil”, and the “double consciousness” (Appelrouth and Edles, 269). Together, these concepts not only described past experiences of blacks in American society (e.g., slavery) but also continue to remind us that the relation of whites and people of color remains complex. In Du Bois’s own words, “the Nation has not yet found peace from its sins” (273).

Although the text, Women: Images and Realities a Multicultural Anthology, has done a wonderful job of showcasing the diversity of women’s experiences, I find Beverly Daniel Tatum’s work “Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?”” to be the most striking. In the essay, Tatum describes how she (and many other feminists) define racism and who can and cannot be racist. Tatum argues that there are important distinctions between prejudice and racism, wherein racism is defined as a ‘system of advantage based on race” or more precisely “prejudice plus power” (388). Through multiple examples Tatum illustrates that if one accepts and uses her definition of racism then only White people (the group of people who ‘dominate’ society) are racist because “people of

In “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh argues that racism can be found imbedded into the culture of society; conferring and denying certain privileges on some rather than all. This is a dangerous cultivation; endowing a strong expectation that white privileges are naturally deserving. Furthermore, making the cornerstone of McIntosh’s main argument; that white privilege is just a less aggressive synonym for dominance. When you receive privileges for looking a certain type of way, the recipient becomes immune; often not being able to acknowledge their advantages. As a result, this creates a cultural divide, between racial groups.

In conclusion, Peggy McIntosh pointed in her article, white privileges don’t come from an individual person or flaw of a person. White privileges arise from the flaw of the system placed in a society. Therefore, if we want to change the society and equalize the privilege amongst whites and colors, then change must happen within the system. It is the system that influences individuals to act upon in the society. A great way, we can demise

The article “The Great White Way” by Debra J. Dickerson attempts to show her readers that “Race is an arbitrary system for establishing hierarchy and privilege” (68) in America. In her article, Dickerson questions how “whiteness” leads America in our culture and society and how all the other races are defined in America. She also explains how history has divided whites from non-whites in America. The intended audience that Dickerson’s essay gravitated towards are political or liberal Americans. In her article “The Great White Way”. Debra J. Dickerson powerfully argues that race is an overall way to establish social classes and who and what get special privileges because of their certain race or skin color. Dickerson argues that “Race is

Wise’s examination of the inconspicuous character of racism 2.0 dovetails fittingly with our course’s recurring theme of institutionalized racism. In class lectures we have defined institutionalized racism as the discriminatory practices that have become regularized and routinized by state agencies, organizations, industries, or anywhere else in society. Although such practices might not be intentionally racist, they end up being racist nevertheless as consequence of the systematized and unspoken biases that have become increasingly convoluted and entrenched within society over time. It also doesn’t help white people to recognize these discriminatory practices considering they have been unconsciously tailored to be consistent with white perspective and mentality. In her article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh examines not only how white folks often consider themselves to be a normative figure within society, but also how they are carefully taught not to recognize the advantages they gain from the disadvantages that impair people of color. In the article, McIntosh acknowledges the reality of her own white privilege and expresses, “In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth” (McIntosh 4). In fact, even if white folks do not believe themselves to

In her 2012 TEDx Talk, “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion”, Peggy McIntosh discusses how race is a privilege system and how white people are given an advantage without even realizing it. In her lecture McIntosh says, “These privilege systems, which locate us above and below the hypothetical line of social justice, were invented and we were born into them. And we all know both sides and that is the reason for compassion, about the sadness of having been born into systems that gave us such… such different ‘politics of location’”. Here, it seems that McIntosh’s main goal is to inform people that we are born into a privilege system because of our skin color and the only way that we can prevent a social hierarchy we must be able to recognize that we are all different. I think that the human population should be able to identify that people are different and have compassion for the differences in society our world today could have little to no race issues. After listening to McIntosh’s arguments, I support the ideas she makes throughout her works and I find that privilege systems are still prominent in today’s society.

In Peggy McIntosh’s, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” she introduces the topic of privilege from the point of view of a women in a world designed to favor men. She sees that men acknowledge the fact that women are disadvantaged but are unable to admit that they themselves have higher power. This denial of power is what creates the gap between men and women and is a clear stepping stone to her primary point of white privilege. The problem does not lie in the existence of white privilege but more so in the validation that is given to it. To be oblivious to this privilege is what gives it power to aid the white population, while simultaneously crippling other minority groups. She goes on to state that realizing there is hierarchy is the first step to systematically taking it down. This however has to start by finding where the problem originates.

White Fragility is an essay by Robin DiAngelo that critiques the inner workings of how white majority population poorly converse and interacts with the racial social construct that resides in modern American culture. Not privileged with the opportunity to ignore racial tensions, blacks are ready to discuss the disadvantages they face daily in America’s white privileged culture. DiAngelo states that since whites have not had been forced to develop a mode of conversing about racial inequalities in black culture; therefore whites become uncomfortable, evasive, and angry. Because of evasive language when triggers such as “suggesting that a white person’s viewpoint comes from a racialized frame of reference”, the construct of white supremacy is

By associating the potential existence of racism with consumption, a form of rationalization is that we now live in society that does not recognize and reward race, but merit. In turn, whites do not inherently realize the privileges that they are born with. Peggy McIntosh actually used the terms unearned entitlement and unearned advantage to describe disproportionate lead that whites have over blacks (McIntosh, 103). The fact of the matter is that most white people are in denial that they have been born with unearned entitlements that minorities do not have and according to McIntosh this is because they have been taught not to recognize it. As much as white people have been taught not to recognize that they have been given white privilege, blacks and minorities recognize that they do. Although many believe that the playing field is now level, is apparent that there is an uphill struggle for people of color. But how should one first recognize this struggle?

In this paper, I will be reviewing Robert Jensen’s “The Heart of Whiteness. Confronting Race, Racism, and White privilege”, along with developing a critical analysis of this work. I will be comparing my analysis with the opinions of others that have reviewed this book along with utilizing concepts from James W. Neulieps textbook, Intercultural Communication.

What is white talk? White talk is not simply an action, or a category to describe certain interactions, it is an exercise that coincides and exonerates racism its self on a fundamental level. This may be a bold statement but with the deeply grounded roots in which racism lie, “white talk” is a shining example of how our intents do not determine the impact our words, thoughts, and actions have with a system like racism. Speaking in terms of the article"White Talk." by Alice McIntyre, white talk can be deduced as the summation of multiple factors in the following definition comprised from quotes from the text.

White privilege is never having to pay reparations for exploitation, crime, or past wrongs. The music remained in a low tone, but it rapidly increased in pace, and the sound grew louder. White privilege is doing anything and everything just because you can. Talking without asking. Taking culture without asking. Doing it just because, no need for reflection. White privilege is making space for “diversity”. They would say: if others were better, we would include them. They would say: let’s make the dance community great again. At each point, the speaker inched closer to the mic, projecting his voice, and the music boomed dramatically, emphasizing and branding the speech into the audience’s minds. The very ideas of these constructed thoughts froze me in my seat, and all I could do was stare. My hand continued to drag my pencil aimlessly across the pages of my notebook, and I could hear DeFrantz speak with his commanding voice, but I could not comprehend. White privilege and dominance is infused into daily American life. Whiteness is a blind perspective. Care for others; care with others. No, you can’t have what you used to have just because you always had it. Things must change. These scrambled thoughts were littered across my notes, and before I knew it… the lecture performance was over. The music stopped. I began to understand. I felt helpless when I discovered that my very being was determined by an institution of

During an interview about color capital, an NEA member stated that “White people today are empty. In a way we have to take what they (being people of color) do and implant it in our own organizing.” In the same topic of the interview, a member of the WRI stated “Whiteness is being complicit with the artificialness of the mainstra (-- removed HTML --) . Being less white is subcultural there is something more real there… oh with black people.” Both groups have similar attitudes towards black culture and how they should take from it and implant it into their own

When discussing Intercultural communication, we cannot ignore the roles that racism and white privilege play. Jackson (2014) explains Racism as, “the belief in the inherent superiority of a particular race” and he discusses how in many