Sikivu Hutchinson: In the march of great Western liberal democratic traditions there were no textbook portrayals of the homegrown activism in our own communities or link between the apartheid legacy of the past and its echoes in the present.
Whiteness
Whiteness, as the term is used here, describes the cultural, historical and sociological aspects of people identified as white, and the social construction of whiteness as an ideology tied to social status. The articles listed in this category focus on this topic.
The Lowdown on Accidental Racism
By
Bruce Reilly: The sensational buzz around country star Brad Paisley’s song “Accidental Racist” is perfect fodder for a Twitter blurb — but is this the extent of racial analysis we can muster in America?
Indifference Can Destroy a Nation
By
Charles D. Hayes: Devoid of compassion, mainstream indifference is a hostile, authoritative, and testosterone-laden environment where the weak are ridiculed and the poor are held in contempt.
Nice White Boys Next Door
By
Sikivu Hutchinson: When you’ve been suckled on Ozzie and Harriet, its “hard” to have your whiteness referenced as a source of violence; especially by people of color.
Rich Klimmer: Pride of the American Working Class
By
Mark Naison: Richie, a tough, working class kid from Chicago who had played basketball at Marquette, approached this campaign as if it might be the last of his life because, in fact, it was.
Message to My Fellow White People
By
Tom Degan: The history of the next century will primarily be the story of how well (or badly) white America dealt with that inevitable change in the coutnry’s racial makeup. Deal with it well, my friends. History will smile upon you.
Post Racial America?! Hell to the No!
By
Sheria Reid: No matter how well intentioned, burying one’s head in the sand and pretending that the monster doesn’t exist never works out well.
Gabby Douglas and White Man’s Privilege
By
Unai Montes-Irueste: Bob Costas’ backhanded compliment of Gabby Douglas’ ability to overcome “imaginary barriers,” is undeniably a statement uttered by a rich white man, blinded by his privilege.
White People, Chris Rock, and the Long End of the Stick
By
Sharon Kyle: Chris Rock’s reminder that slaves weren’t independent on Independence Day was only a big deal because he mentioned “white people”
Art, Transnational Whiteness, and Racism
By
Jessie Daniels: It’s the picture of the event – the cutting of the cake and the culture minister feeding the cake to the artist is really what created the big stir.
The Problem with White Guilt
By
Sheria Reid: I’m tired of the generalization on the part of far too many white people that they have somehow borne and continue to bear the great burden of white guilt and that they’ve been treated so unfairly.
Trayvon Martin: White Picket Fences, White Innocence
By
Sikivu Hutchinson: Fifty-seven years after Emmett Till was lynched in the name of white womanhood, the murder of Trayvon Martin—a beautiful son, friend, and prospective college student—is yet another testament to the terror of white picket fence innocence.
Kony 2012: Whiteness, Social Media and Africa
By
Jessie Daniels: Kony 2012 is, then, an endorsement of the moral superiority of white values of reason, order, and now social media against the supposed chaos and violence of Africa.
Hey NBC, Monday’s Debate Panelists Need to Better Represent!
By
Linda Milazzo: What’s truly needed in these debates are the images of a diverse blended America – not more monochromatic mirror images of the candidates themselves.
Is AA “Too White”?
By
Jeff Deeney: Dismissing AA as a white-person’s movement, many black addicts take a pass on the 12-steps and seek salvation from their church. That’s not always a prescription for success.
In Search of “The Great White Hope” (Again)
By
Anthony Samad: If the President is the solution to the nation’s problems, then the Tea Party doesn’t want those problems solved. They’ll collapse the country and start over rather than let Obama rebuild it.
“The Help” Reflects the Racial Divide, Then and Now
By
Sharon Kyle: In a culture where “whiteness” is rarely mentioned and hardly ever critically examined it is not surprising that the women in my church saw the story as heartwarming and uplifting. I, on the other hand, saw this as just another story of the black experience as viewed through the white lens.
Depression, Not Recession Rocks U.S. Ghettos
By
Sherwood Ross: Instead of investing in a framework to help blacks advance by their own initiative, the Federal government has flushed billions down the toilets of friendly foreign strongmen such as Egypt’s Hosni Mubarek.
White Elbows: “Better Than What?”
By
Rodolfo F. Acuña: My mother always knew that Mexicans had to be better than gringos if they were going to make it. We had to be cleaner; she would scrub my elbows until they were raw, trying to make them white. She bought us an Encyclopedia Britannica that none of us could read.
Racism, Whiteness and the Health Disparities Industry
By
Jessie Daniels: We need to begin to critically examine those who hold the most power and resources in society, that is at white people, for the ways that they contribute to and benefit from the inequality in health outcomes.
The Real Story of the White Citizens’ Council
By
James C. Cobb: Pledged to maintain white supremacy, the councils foreswore violence but did their best to intimidate blacks who might think about challenging the status quo and to make painful examples of those who did.
White House Continues Drumbeat for DREAM
By
Seth Hoy: Yet even with the weight of the White House and a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score that has DREAM reducing the deficit by $1.4 billion over ten years, Republican votes may be short.
It’s Nonsensical
By
Berry Craig: Never before have so few with so much promised to take away so much from so many and then laugh their asses off as the so many with so little vote for the so few with so much.
Tea Party Diversity?
By
David Love: People of color and other minorities need membership in the Tea Party like they needed membership in the White Citizens’ Council during Jim Crow. And the notion of Tea Party diversity is just as implausible.
PCL offers monthly Open House Events on the 2nd Saturday at 2pm and 3rd Thursday at 6pm. Click here to learn more.
Tim Tebow and the Politics of Whiteness
Mark Naison: Best of all, Tebow doesn’t confirm racial stereotypes. He is strong, tough, athletic, dominating the game because defensive players can’t tackle him. And he has clearly won the respect of his black teammates. I like that.