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In reply to the discussion: 'Wypipo' Explained [View all]ismnotwasm
(42,349 posts)18. Oh for Gods sake
Race
Racialization
Whiteness
White Privilege
What is Racism
What You Need To Know
Understanding Whiteness
To understand the history of the ideology of race,' and combating racism today, involves understanding (and challenging) whiteness' as the foundation of racial categories and racism.
At first glance, it may seem that in common usage in Alberta, the word white' is used to refer specifically to skin colour' or race.' Initially, this might seem like reverting back to, or reinforcing, the old (and racist) categories of European imperialism, and in some cases, it may in fact be meant that way! (We are profoundly concerned, for example, by the increase in neo-Nazi/white supremacist activity in our province.) In our experience, however, we have found that when people refer to white people' (either in self-identifying, or identifying individuals/groups), it is in fact being used as a shorthand reference to whiteness, about which people may have varied understandings you will need to clarify. In other words, it is being used as a shorthand for the privileges/power that people who appear white' receive, because they are not subjected to the racism faced by people of colour and Indigenous people.
As with the term race,' it is important to clarify the differences between "white" (a category of race' with no biological/scientific foundation) and "whiteness" as a powerful social construction with very real, tangible, violent effects. Here are some useful definitions of whiteness,' followed by a list of its key features:
Racism is based on the concept of whiteness--a powerful fiction enforced by power and violence. Whiteness is a constantly shifting boundary separating those who are entitled to have certain privileges from those whose exploitation and vulnerability to violence is justified by their not being white (Kivel, 1996, p. 19).
Whiteness,' like colour' and Blackness,' are essentially social constructs applied to human beings rather than veritable truths that have universal validity. The power of Whiteness, however, is manifested by the ways in which racialized Whiteness becomes transformed into social, political, economic, and cultural behaviour. White culture, norms, and values in all these areas become normative natural. They become the standard against which all other cultures, groups, and individuals are measured and usually found to be inferior (Henry & Tator, 2006, pp. 46-67).
Drawing on the important work of Ruth Frankenberg (1993), the authors of Teach Me to Thunder: A Manual for Anti-Racism Trainers, write that whiteness is
a dominant cultural space with enormous political significance, with the purpose to keep others on the margin....white people are not required to explain to others how white' culture works, because white' culture is the dominant culture that sets the norms. Everybody else is then compared to that norm....In times of perceived threat, the normative group may well attempt to reassert its normativity by asserting elements of its cultural practice more explicitly and exclusively. (21)
An example of this normative whiteness was the furor concerning Baltej Singh Dhillon's fight to wear a turban, for religious reasons, as part of his RCMP uniform. The argument that the Mountie uniform was a tradition' that should not be changed belied white Canadians' perceptions of Sikh people and communities of colour as threatening' their position of privilege in Canada.
Key Features of Whiteness
Whiteness is multidimensional, complex, systemic and systematic:
It is socially and politically constructed, and therefore a learned behavior
It does not just refer to skin colour but is ideology based on beliefs, values behaviors, habits and attitudes, which result in the unequal distribution of power and privilege based on skin colour (Frye, 1983; Kivel, 1996)
It represents a position of power where the power holder defines the categories, which means that the power holder decides who is white and who is not (Frye, 1983)
It is relational. "White" only exists in relation/opposition to other categories/locations in the racial hierarchy produced by whiteness. In defining others,' whiteness defines itself.
It is fluid - who is considered white changes over time (Kivel, 1996)
It is a state of unconsciousness: whiteness is often invisible to white people, and this perpetuates a lack of knowledge or understanding of difference which is a root cause of oppression (hooks, 1994)
It shapes how white people view themselves and others, and places white people in a place of structural advantage where white cultural norms and practices go unnamed and unquestioned (Frankenberg, 1993). Cultural racism is founded in the belief that "whiteness is considered to be the universal . . . and allows one to think and speak as if Whiteness described and defined the world." (Henry & Tator, 2006, p. 327)
White versus Whiteness
race is scientifically insignificant.
race is a socially constructed category that powerfully attaches meaning to perceptions of skin colour; inequitable social/economic relations are structured and reproduced (including the meanings attached to skin colour...) through notions of race, class, gender, and nation.
whiteness is a set of normative privileges granted to white-skinned individuals and groups; it is normalized in its production/maintenance for those of that group such that its operations are invisible' to those privileged by it (but not to those oppressed/disadvantaged by it); it has a long history in European imperialism and epistemologies (for those who are of mixed ancestry and pass' as white, this normativity, I would assume, would not occur).
distinct but not separate from ideologies and material manifestations of ideologies of class, nation, gender, sexuality, and ability.
the meaning of whiteness' is historical and has shifted over time (ie Irish, southern European peoples-Italian, Spanish, Greek; have at times been raced' as non-white).
Racialization
Whiteness
White Privilege
What is Racism
What You Need To Know
Understanding Whiteness
To understand the history of the ideology of race,' and combating racism today, involves understanding (and challenging) whiteness' as the foundation of racial categories and racism.
At first glance, it may seem that in common usage in Alberta, the word white' is used to refer specifically to skin colour' or race.' Initially, this might seem like reverting back to, or reinforcing, the old (and racist) categories of European imperialism, and in some cases, it may in fact be meant that way! (We are profoundly concerned, for example, by the increase in neo-Nazi/white supremacist activity in our province.) In our experience, however, we have found that when people refer to white people' (either in self-identifying, or identifying individuals/groups), it is in fact being used as a shorthand reference to whiteness, about which people may have varied understandings you will need to clarify. In other words, it is being used as a shorthand for the privileges/power that people who appear white' receive, because they are not subjected to the racism faced by people of colour and Indigenous people.
As with the term race,' it is important to clarify the differences between "white" (a category of race' with no biological/scientific foundation) and "whiteness" as a powerful social construction with very real, tangible, violent effects. Here are some useful definitions of whiteness,' followed by a list of its key features:
Racism is based on the concept of whiteness--a powerful fiction enforced by power and violence. Whiteness is a constantly shifting boundary separating those who are entitled to have certain privileges from those whose exploitation and vulnerability to violence is justified by their not being white (Kivel, 1996, p. 19).
Whiteness,' like colour' and Blackness,' are essentially social constructs applied to human beings rather than veritable truths that have universal validity. The power of Whiteness, however, is manifested by the ways in which racialized Whiteness becomes transformed into social, political, economic, and cultural behaviour. White culture, norms, and values in all these areas become normative natural. They become the standard against which all other cultures, groups, and individuals are measured and usually found to be inferior (Henry & Tator, 2006, pp. 46-67).
Drawing on the important work of Ruth Frankenberg (1993), the authors of Teach Me to Thunder: A Manual for Anti-Racism Trainers, write that whiteness is
a dominant cultural space with enormous political significance, with the purpose to keep others on the margin....white people are not required to explain to others how white' culture works, because white' culture is the dominant culture that sets the norms. Everybody else is then compared to that norm....In times of perceived threat, the normative group may well attempt to reassert its normativity by asserting elements of its cultural practice more explicitly and exclusively. (21)
An example of this normative whiteness was the furor concerning Baltej Singh Dhillon's fight to wear a turban, for religious reasons, as part of his RCMP uniform. The argument that the Mountie uniform was a tradition' that should not be changed belied white Canadians' perceptions of Sikh people and communities of colour as threatening' their position of privilege in Canada.
Key Features of Whiteness
Whiteness is multidimensional, complex, systemic and systematic:
It is socially and politically constructed, and therefore a learned behavior
It does not just refer to skin colour but is ideology based on beliefs, values behaviors, habits and attitudes, which result in the unequal distribution of power and privilege based on skin colour (Frye, 1983; Kivel, 1996)
It represents a position of power where the power holder defines the categories, which means that the power holder decides who is white and who is not (Frye, 1983)
It is relational. "White" only exists in relation/opposition to other categories/locations in the racial hierarchy produced by whiteness. In defining others,' whiteness defines itself.
It is fluid - who is considered white changes over time (Kivel, 1996)
It is a state of unconsciousness: whiteness is often invisible to white people, and this perpetuates a lack of knowledge or understanding of difference which is a root cause of oppression (hooks, 1994)
It shapes how white people view themselves and others, and places white people in a place of structural advantage where white cultural norms and practices go unnamed and unquestioned (Frankenberg, 1993). Cultural racism is founded in the belief that "whiteness is considered to be the universal . . . and allows one to think and speak as if Whiteness described and defined the world." (Henry & Tator, 2006, p. 327)
White versus Whiteness
race is scientifically insignificant.
race is a socially constructed category that powerfully attaches meaning to perceptions of skin colour; inequitable social/economic relations are structured and reproduced (including the meanings attached to skin colour...) through notions of race, class, gender, and nation.
whiteness is a set of normative privileges granted to white-skinned individuals and groups; it is normalized in its production/maintenance for those of that group such that its operations are invisible' to those privileged by it (but not to those oppressed/disadvantaged by it); it has a long history in European imperialism and epistemologies (for those who are of mixed ancestry and pass' as white, this normativity, I would assume, would not occur).
distinct but not separate from ideologies and material manifestations of ideologies of class, nation, gender, sexuality, and ability.
the meaning of whiteness' is historical and has shifted over time (ie Irish, southern European peoples-Italian, Spanish, Greek; have at times been raced' as non-white).
http://www.ucalgary.ca/cared/racialization
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Yes, the power imbalance means it isn't the same as using anti-black racist terms
enki23
May 2018
#1
Sort of ironic for someone with a Hillary Clinton avatar photo to post an article by this person
oberliner
May 2018
#47
We? I was never a slave owner. I never lynched anyone, I never raped anyone, I never beat anyone.
wasupaloopa
May 2018
#253
You didn't fight in the Revolution or know any presidents, but probably celebrate the 4th of July
EffieBlack
May 2018
#262
It's hypocritical for an oppressed population to coin humorous terms to describe their oppressors?
WhiskeyGrinder
May 2018
#21
Now see, if anyone dares express a negative opinion to this ridiculous and derogatory term,
Tipperary
May 2018
#73
"Switch white to anything else and there would be almost universal scorn and derision for such a
WhiskeyGrinder
May 2018
#19
Switch white to anything else and it would make no sense unless we switched EVERYTHING
EffieBlack
May 2018
#42
If you switch EVERYTHING you wont have to worry about quibbling over words or speech
Eliot Rosewater
May 2018
#155
Any white person who stops being an ally because Harriot or someone on DU said "Wypipo"
EffieBlack
May 2018
#166
It's not any black person's responsibility to tiptoe around making sure not to offend the tender
EffieBlack
May 2018
#173
Respelling a phrase (in this case "white people") and attaching all sorts of negatives to it is...
TCJ70
May 2018
#249
"As always, if it doesn't apply to you, it doesn't apply to you" - there's the problem
muriel_volestrangler
May 2018
#66
He can't be trusted on anything because DID YOU SEE WHAT HE SAID ABOUT THE CLINTONS?!?!
EffieBlack
May 2018
#89
You're OK with him not voting for Hillary in the 2016 general election?
muriel_volestrangler
May 2018
#91
I don"t agree with him on that but that doesn't mean that nothing he has to say has any meaning
EffieBlack
May 2018
#94
How many? None, openly. That was why admin made everyone agree to support her.
muriel_volestrangler
May 2018
#248
It is meant as a pejorative; that's what the article in the OP is about
muriel_volestrangler
May 2018
#259
I loved Safire's "On Language" column, like you I read it every week in the NYT Sunday Magazine.
George II
May 2018
#212
Yes, he was the speech writer for both Nixon and Agnew. Even though he was a conservative...
George II
May 2018
#214
No right wing author posted here; nor did any poster agree with any right wing political content.
lapucelle
May 2018
#217
If previous criticism of a Hillary Clinton was a bar to being cited on DU, this would be a very
EffieBlack
May 2018
#222
Sorry. I don't give credence to the opinions of anti-Democratic activists
Steven Maurer
May 2018
#34
Ironic. given it is the empathetic person who will act to change things, address injustices AND
hlthe2b
May 2018
#123
Ugly, divisive, ignorant, unproductive, racist crap that should have no place in this site.
50 Shades Of Blue
May 2018
#41
Clearly, there needs to be a corollary to this discussion that touches on white fragility...Why Whit
MrScorpio
May 2018
#45
I know some people who wrote in "Bernie Sanders" in the last general election
oberliner
May 2018
#209
my mom probably would have gone nuts if she knew the places i went for estate sales.
pansypoo53219
May 2018
#57
You might want to take the time to read up on this person you quote with such glee.
Tipperary
May 2018
#69
I just find it ironic. I have no doubts that Hillary can take care of herself.
Tipperary
May 2018
#92
The emergence of different cultures and languages is the evidence of the instinct to be suspicious
muriel_volestrangler
May 2018
#95
If humans had no instincts, then babies couldn't suckle, there would be no such thing as
Coventina
May 2018
#122
Yes, it absolutely is. Why do people raise their babies? Why do we fear things?
Coventina
May 2018
#137
No, babies are abandoned, people are disinterested in sex, and computers were invented by
betsuni
May 2018
#144
I do read, that's why I know the difference between anomalies and normative behavior.
Coventina
May 2018
#145
Yes, and as a reader, please give me the source of a reputable anthropologist
Coventina
May 2018
#148
Thanks for introducing this derogatory term, so we can emphasize our differences and fuel up racism!
Chemisse
May 2018
#82
If it "carries no particular meaning", why does it need a article that explains its meaning?
muriel_volestrangler
May 2018
#143
I think from those participating, most agree it is a race based pejorative.
Bok_Tukalo
May 2018
#128
"Not all white people are wypipo." Yes, but we really need more things to divide us
elocs
May 2018
#180
I can't help but notice that most of the people expressing the most offense about the term "wypipo"
EffieBlack
May 2018
#185
Though my name and post count do not show it, I have been here since 2001. This wypipo thing is the
wasupaloopa
May 2018
#258