Whiteness theory
Whiteness theory is a field under whiteness studies, that studies what white identity means in terms of social, political, racial, economic, culture, etc.[1] Whiteness theory posits that if some Western societies make whiteness central to their respective national and cultural identities, their white populations may become blind to the privilege associated with White identity. The theory examines how that blindness may exclude, otherize and perhaps harm non-white individuals and segments of the population.[2]
Whiteness theory is an offshoot of critical race theory that sees race as a social construct. It posits that whiteness is "practiced" by employing "visible systems of whiteness" that white people use to maintain power to benefit only white people.[3][4][5] Critical whiteness theory (CWT) positions whiteness as the default of North American and European cultures. It further describes that as a result of this default, a majority of white people are not directly aware of the advantages of being white conferred upon them by various on-going social practices. Academics and others who study CWT further describe that these dominant cultural and social processes sustain whiteness itself by some manner of "performance", and that performance is a historical practice.[6][7][8] Stemming from the lack of cultural awareness, humanity, and empathy with racial others as a result of being white, whiteness theory looks at the social, power, and economic challenges that arise from disregard or denial of white privilege, and the use of strategies of whiteness to reassert white space,[9] also known as white degeneracy.[10][11]
History of whiteness[edit]
North America[edit]
Whiteness as a social identity formed in the colonial and post-colonial era. In the colonial era social class was more important than race among white people, however during the post-colonial era, social changes gave non-whites an opportunity to engage freely in the economy and those changes economically threatened lower and middle class white people. In the United States of America the term "Whiteness" is considered racist. Use of this term by people is considered an example of racism. Racism and racialization where required tools for distinguishing oneself from non-whites, and preventing non-whites from utilizing their freedom for sustainable growth.[12] The opportunism for gaining an economical advantage motivated the lower and middle class white people to reproduce what whiteness can be in order to have a privileged lifestyle, and it was augmented and legitimized by the surviving plantation bourgeoisie class through social and psychological courtesies for further protecting their own privileges.[13] White race solidarity in upholding whiteness through centuries is one of the strongest and ever growing class collaborationism seen in North America.[12]
Primary features of whiteness theory[edit]
Whiteness as default[edit]
Whiteness is a socially constructed concept, identified as the normal and centric racial identity. As whiteness is the standard to which racial minorities are compared, whiteness is understood as the default standard.[14] Whiteness theory establishes whiteness as default, through which social, political, and economic complications arise from whiteness and its creation of color blindness.[11] The ideologies, social norms, and behaviors associated with white culture are the comparative standard to which all races are objectified to.[15]
The defaulting of whiteness establishes a reality in which White people, as victims of their race as centric, do not experience the adversity of those with minority identification. An otherization of minorities can occur with whiteness as a default, where whiteness theory identifies whiteness as invisible to those who possess it, resulting in both intended and unintended otherization.[16] Whiteness as default presents socioeconomic privileges and advantages over racial minorities, which also might go unrecognized by White people that are not objectified by some other standard of adversity.[14]
Whiteness as centric[edit]
As the majority of Americans are White, whiteness is considered the default race of the United States, the existing cultural norms of whiteness are classified as the norms of American culture. Sadly, many people are of European descent and are considered by the ignorant as White. Such classifications include stereotypical expectancies of behavior, in which a binary system is created that classifies a person's culture as either "White" or "other."[17] Majority racial status plays a major role for those of white identity creating cultural "norms," as one's behaviors and expectations of how a culture should live and interact is more easily reinforced by association with the majority.[18] Lack of awareness parallels the centric nature of whiteness as majority through self-imposed color blindness, existing through the reality of White privilege.
Whiteness theory studies the way that White identity passively creates the otherization of color. Color is a construct that can be objectified, made from the existence of whiteness as majority and centric.[19] Such a perception whiteness as "normal" leads to an underrepresentation and misrepresentation of minority individuals.
White identity[edit]
The idea of whiteness as "normal" reinforces the idea of racial marginalization, through which an identity of may be created through the antithesis of subjugated "otherized" cultures.[20] Much of White identity is formulated around the absence of an identity. Because there is no association towards being objectified by social, racial, economic, or judicial systems for the middle-class White identifiers, White identity for an individual may be intentionally crafted to suit the wants and needs of the individual.[21] Such a choice of "coloring in" one's whiteness is a reflection of the privileges of whiteness and a lack of diverse community association.[22]
Critiquing whiteness[edit]
Communication research revolving around critical race theory seeks to understand the privileges and associations of whiteness. The critical aspect of research involves the realization of white enrichment, where white people have profited from the injustices done unto minorities (see European colonization of the Americas and slavery) both knowingly and unknowingly. Systems in the United States more often than not create privileged realities where white people may succeed more than those of minority identity, also allowing those of white identity to more easily change and manipulate the system to their favor.[30]
A component of critical whiteness theory seeks to understand how white people acknowledge their privileges, as well as the corresponding positive or negative behaviors through their acknowledgements. Unique qualitative research is derived from how normative whiteness is in our culture, associated with how color blindness and privilege blindness affect interracial contexts of communication, as well as the white perception of injustices done unto minorities in America.[31]
Whiteness and property[edit]
Cheryl I. Harris's concept: "Whiteness as Property"[edit]
In 1993, legal scholar Cheryl I. Harris published a paper entitled "Whiteness as Property" in the journal the Harvard Law Review. In the paper, Harris argues that the law has historically maintained racial inequality and the privileges of being white, allowing white identity to facilitate a property interest.
Harris writes that the concepts of individuals' and groups' whiteness and their property rights are deeply interrelated concepts, and that white racial identity comes with the allocation of societal advantages: