(no subject)

[novapsyche]

What this means is that a racist may not know if and when he's being racist, which isn't really very surprising.

'What I said was racist - but I am not a racist. I am an idiot'

Comments

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

This is such a truism, I can't believe you want to drag me into a debate about it.

Why do you think it was such a big deal for Bush to have two members of his cabinet to be black? If it weren't an unusual thing, why would there have been so much made of it?

Race is a social construct; it is the social perception of race that gives it power. It is a plain fact that the social perception of race during the 20th century in America was overwhelming skewed to portray whiteness as the norm. Yes, this perception started to change in the '70s, but old beliefs die hard. Ideas about race, holdovers from the civil rights era and before, still run deep in this country. Change in such ideas is a glacial process. Even though minorities as a whole are gaining numbers in terms of population, the majority is still seen as being white. It will probably be a long time before that idea changes.

[j-brannan.livejournal.com]

truism? :P that's a hoot. kind of like being honestish.

i'm not trying to "drag" you into anything. you seem to be leading the way all by yourself.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

I don't have my notes from my college courses on the matter; they're currently in storage. One book I read for my Anthropology of American Culture class was White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness by Ruth Frankenberg. It was revolutionary to me (and to several scholars in American Studies) that "whiteness" was being studied. American Studies has been around since before the 1950s, but it wasn't until the 1990s that race in America was studied where the subject focused on whiteness in itself. The book is a dry read, but an important one.

I'm not just spouting off a personal opinion when I say that whiteness is a norm. Many other sociologists have said the same thing.

[j-brannan.livejournal.com]

personally, i don't like being labelled "white". my skin is more a light peach color. yeah i need a tan and shit, but whatchagonnado?

i don't really care much for books anymore. but i do find you quite interesting. ;)

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Well, I understand the dislike of labels. I don't like being labelled "black", because I don't really think of race, especially when I think of myself. I've identified with mainstream cultural values for as long as I can remember. Whatever "blackness" is, I have less of that and more "whiteness" on the whole. I just don't have the skin color or features to match. (It's specifically for this reason that I recognize that race is a social construct; otherwise I should be "black" through and through, with no question of being able to be a "race traitor".)

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Speaking of blackness, here's an article at AlterNet about it. How timely.