Barack Obama’s success…far from disproving white power and privilege, confirms it with a vengeance.
~Lipmagazine.org
…Whiteness is not seen as negative, as something to be conquered or transcended. Indeed, whereas blacks are being asked to rise above their racial identity, for whites, the burden is exactly the opposite: the worst thing for a white person is to fail to live up to the ostensibly high standards set by whiteness…
The NYT rehashes the Democrat’s “southern problem”
~TPMCafe
The problem is not that Barack Obama is an African-American…The problem is that many older voters (not all, of course) in the South are racist. They are the problem. So rather than pointing at Barack Obama, or Northern Democrats, or the “issue of race,” let’s point at racism and racists.
The NYT rehashes the Democrat’s “southern problem”
~TPMCafe
The problem is not that Barack Obama is an African-American…The problem is that many older voters (not all, of course) in the South are racist. They are the problem. So rather than pointing at Barack Obama, or Northern Democrats, or the “issue of race,” let’s point at racism and racists.
What’s in a Name: Is It Hispanic or Latino?
~Diversity Inc
Have you ever wondered what term to use when describing someone whose ancestry links to a Spanish-speaking country? Is it Hispanic? Latino? Latin? Spanish? What’s the difference?
What’s in a Name: Who Is an African American?
~Diversity Inc
Any discussions about the terms used to describe African Americans as a group must begin by understanding the historical context within the United States in which these terms were used…
Why Whites Can’t ‘Get Over’ Color
Diversity Inc’s ”Ask a White Guy” Column has a wonderful response to people who are still lost in the fog of white privilege. Below is an excerpt of the letter that trigerred a journey down the United States’s legacy of white supremacy and racism. Click on the link for the full exchange.
Anonymous writes:
I am a white female and I can tell you that I don’t talk about blacks for fear I will be called a racist or be called to the table, especially in the workplace, for discrimination. We (whites), at my company, are not allowed to talk about blacks or any other ethnic group because we would get fired. I will say that whites are very sensitive now because we are discriminated against. Blacks can have the NAACP, BET (Black Entertainment Television), Black History Month, United Negro College Fund, etc. If white people were to start something like the before mentioned there would be a huge uproar…
The “White Guy” responds:
Your demand that we “Get over the color!” is an expression of white privilege. It’s only possible to “get over” it if you are in the majority culture. Assuming you’re white, YOU can “get over the color!” but it’s simply not possible for people of color to get over who they are, what that means and the damage our society has purposefully done over the centuries by color.
~Entertainment Weekly
“…After nearly 10 years of working with diversity reps and outreach programs, the networks still primarily solve the problem by sprinkling nonwhite actors into white-led shows — often as a comedic sidekick or in guy-who-helps-the-main-guy-solve-a-crime roles…”
RACE Are We So Different? - A Project of the American Anthropoligical Association
About the Project:
“We expect people to look different. And why not? Like a fingerprint, each person is unique. Every person represents a one-of-a-kind, combination of their parents’, grandparents’ and family’s ancestry. And every person experiences life somewhat differently than others.
Differences… they’re a cause for joy and sorrow. We celebrate differences in personal identity, family background, country and language. At the same time, differences among people have been the basis for discrimination and oppression.
Yet, are we so different? Current science tells us we share a common ancestry and the differences among people we see are natural variations, results of migration, marriage and adaptation to different environments. How does this fit with the idea of race?Looking through the eyes of history, science and lived experience, the RACE Project explains differences among people and reveals the reality – and unreality – of race. The story of race is complex and may challenge how we think about race and human variation, about the differences and similarities among people.”
~The Root
We met Malcolm through the prism of popular culture, and we embraced him as a commodity, to signal our own disbelief in the American dream.
On Malcolm X’s birthday, those of us who embraced him as a pop icon need to encounter him again. We need to revisit Malcolm…
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