As a non-white person, “white” has two meanings. One was assigned by society, “white” is people with white skin. The other, by science, “white” is a color produced when all the light waves are reflected. I feel like the term “white” when referring to skin tones, was created to distinguish between the superior and the inferior. I am going to use the British empire as an example to prove this point because it was the empire on which “the sun never set”. As the British empire successfully expanded, its military and financial stability allowed it to easily conquer and subjugate people of different nations. Britain captured and enslaved African Americans, Native Americans as well as Indians (not Native Americans). For the British as well as the
I think this because look at how the term first came about; it was created as a way to identify someone. Then as years progressed, it evolved to mean a person with power and used to define someone, telling them where they stand on the social hierarchy. Now, “white” goes far beyond skin color. Being “white” is a concept, if you have money, no matter what skin tone, you are white or white washed. White doesn’t mean to be white, it means to be privileged, so if you are privileged you are
Moreover, to be white in the United States means that the lighter your skin, the more power, prestige, and property you have; which then results to the higher your social class is. To be white in the United States means you have easier access to the “American Dream.” The “American Dream” in which you are able to socially mobilize yourself to higher positions. According to sociologists, social mobility is the extent of which an individual can move in the class system. When you are white, you are oblivious to the systematic oppression of those beneath you. The education system, criminal justice system, and the government system are all in your favor. This white supremacy flows through our society. A few examples include the income gap between Blacks and Whites. People of color are paid less for the same efforts and level of labor compared to someone who is white. Some structural-functional sociologists believe this occurs in order to motivate those beneath the poverty line or in the working class will push forward and continue to extend efforts in order to possibly climb the social ladder. Others disagree and believe this income gap is the outcome of dominance and straining relationships due to scarce resources. Those who disagree are sociologists abiding by the conflict theory perspective. Of course, my definition and opinion on white
There have been many people such as, historians, politicians, academicians, and writes who believe they have a theoretical justification for White
-The one that caught my eye was #20 “I can easily buy posters,post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.”
Intersectional oppression does not stop when felons are released from prison. It follows them even after they have served their time. Black people are much less likely to be hired for a job after they are released from, making them more likely to return to crime in order to make money, in fact, many are left with no other choice. Black people and Latinx people are also much more likely to be stopped by the police for “suspicious behavior” than whites, even if a white person had been doing the same thing in the same neighborhood. This makes former prisoners who are people of color much more likely to either become homeless or be arrested once again, trapping them once more in the unjust criminal justice system. Another strike against a former
David R. Roediger displays the history of how the theory of “whiteness” has evolved throughout the years in America in his book, The Wages of Whiteness. According to Roediger, “whiteness” is much a constructed identity as “blackness” or any other. He argues that this idea of “whiteness” has absolutely nothing to do with the advantage of the economy, but that it is a psychological racial stereotype that was created by white men themselves. He claims that it is definitely true that racism should be set in class and economic contexts, also stating that “this book will argue that working class formation and the systematic development of a sense of whiteness, went hand in hand for the U.S white working class.” Roediger basically lays out the fact that “working class ‘whiteness’ and “white supremacy” are ideological and psychological creations of the white working class itself.
Throughout the centuries the “White” people have been known to think of themselves as being superior because of their color. If we look back at the time when the White Europeans came to this country they saw no reason to apply rules of honor to people they considered savages because they looked and acted different. Some might call this kind of thinking Social Darwinism where the “White” race is superior and destined to rule over all others. Clearly, the Native Americans were discriminated because of their color, which resulted in economic deprivation. However, now they play a huge role in our communities.
The Dictionary of American History, defines White Supremacy as “the belief that members of the Caucasian or white race are superior in all ways to other groups or races in the world” The ideology supports the position that, intellectually whites are superior and by virtue of that superiority must form the Government and lead other races, who were thought of as less than humans and existed only to serve the whites. White Supremacy is the foundation upon which the United States was built. It is manifested in all the important areas throughout the country’s history. For instance, “the United States Government has a total of 55 members; all white and 15 of the 55 are owners of African slaves” . “No blacks, or other minority races were included in the formation of the Government. Only one person of color has ever been elected to the US Government” .
This essay is going to be about white supremacist in america, so it happens to be all neo nazis and KKK members suddenly ignite once our “president’ Donald Trump came into office he also says mexicans are nothing but drug dealers and rapist just to get more white people on his side so they made black and brown people the enemy and know that he is president he can make sure that keeps on going for another 4 years or more.
Intersectionality is seen as the basis for understanding how topics such as race, gender, class and more all come together to define an individual and their societal patterns. An example of intersectionality at work can be explored through “Leith Mullings: Intersectionality among “Race,” Gender, and Class” as mentioned in “Cultural Anthropology: A Toolkit for a Global Age by Kenneth J, Guest, (p. 405).” In the 1990s, Mullings conducted a study called the Harlem Birth Right Project. It overviewed the effect of class, race and gender on women and the infant mortality rate. The study focused on Harlem, a poor, primarily African-American sector of New York city. Mullings and her team found that poor living standards, pollution, and many other factors
“White privilege refers to the fact that in many societies, “white” people have access to greater power, authority, and privileges, than non-white people” (Robbins et al. 2013:81). It goes beyond letting white people get away with more than other races; it also discriminates against them. This is well illustrated by the history of white privilege in America and how it changed over time (Nkomo & Ariss 2013) and how white privilege is used to benefit white people (Blum n.d). Without white privilege, people would be equal and perhaps live in a more peaceful society. Therefore, if white privilege has been around for years and continues to be an issue in America and all around the world, than without educating the population and making them aware of the issue it will continue to happen.
White people have an invisible package of unearned assets. Invisible in the way that they can't be seen or touched, but can be cashed in everyday at colored peoples expense. White people have these unearned advantages and privileges just for being white, and in our society this leads to a systematic tendency to over empowerment, where denial of these advantages occurs leading to no changes in society.
society has been shaped, it is very easy to see how the concept of white
Prior to beginning my readings on white racial identity, I did not pay much attention to my white race. If someone had asked me to describe my appearance I would have said short blond hair, blue eyes, average stature, etc. One of the last things I would have noted was the color of my skin. Growing up in overwhelmingly white communities, I never thought to use the color of my skin to differentiate myself from others. Over the course of this dialogue I have learned that my white racial identity is one of the most defining aspects of my appearance in this society. There is a certain level of privilege that I am afforded based solely on the color of my skin. According to Peggy McIntosh, “White privilege is like an invisible weightless
Any person of color can be a victim of racism and be treated differently because of their race. Although it can also happen to white people people, it is usually occurs to people of color and it can happen in court. TKAM explores the idea of racism. In TKAM, Scout is introduced to racism for the first time. Jem already knows about it and Scout it slowly starting to understand it.