Understanding whiteness

ByMar GlobalTraining for Organizational Transformatio

nDr. Marquita Byrd

[email protected]: 408-573-1234

Where is Your Voice in the National

Dialogue on Race

2Copyright ByMar Global

Why Dr. Byrd?

Teach Diversity Courses

Whiteness is one of the basic areas of study

Developed techniques that allow us to examine the topic without bruising each other.

Copyright ByMar Global 3

Safe Climate


� Respect Each other� No blaming� Laugh with each other, not at each other� Respect Confidences Shared� Frustration accepted, hostility not welcome� Treat each other as equals� No shaming� No name calling

Workshop Objectives


I. Understand the nature of WhitenessII. Become aware of how whiteness works in

our everyday livesIII.Learn about “race” and “ethnicity”IV.Contemplate the role of “race” in our own

livesV. Facilitate Dialogue on the topic of raceVI.Discover the impact of racism on White

PeopleVII.Create ways to remove the baggage of race

in our lives

We cannot move forward “unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.

Senator Obama Speaks on Race March 8, 2008


Race is an Ambiguous Means of

Categorizing People

Social construct: a way of talking about something that we experience or know. Race doesn’t exist in that we all have DNA from the same woman.

Race: a way of talking about a group of people based on biologically transmitted characteristics such as skin colour, hair, facial structure, etc.

Ethnicity: a way of talking about a group of people based on their learned characteristics such as language, traditions, values, and history


Who Are We?


Africa Sub-Saharan

Asian-Pacific IslanderFar East, South EastSouthern Asian (India)

European: Britain, France, German, Poland, Italy, etc.

Spanish First LanguageSpanish SurnameIndigenous in New World conquered by Spain

Indigenous People of US, maintaining identity through tribal affiliation

Racio-Ethnic Groups in the US


African 12% Asian

6%

European68%

Hispanic13%

Native1%

The Taboo Topic


The Dialogue is

Skewed

Some groups consider themselves “muted” in this great discussion.

They find themselves in a “spiral of silence” because they do not feel comfortable entering into the conversation.

That group would be white people.


Whiteness: The

elephant in the

room

The elephant in the room that many whites don’t want to talk about or don’t know how to talk about it.

People of colour talk about it

frequently.


Why are most

whites not talking

about it?Unconscious: don’t know that it exists

See whiteness as devoid of culture

Shame over group actions in the past (history)

Tired of being blamed?

Fearful that people will misunderstand or be angry

Don’t want to accept that there is a position of privilege based on race

Whiteness is the “white noise” in our culture.


To Learn More About Ourselves



Studying whiteness means studying institutional racism, especially practices that create “white privilege.” This approach can combat the tendency to get stuck in the “white guilt” syndrome (which involves both confessions and denials).

Teaching about whiteness helps move classes beyond the "celebrate diversity" model of multiculturalism.

Silence about whiteness lets everyone continue to harbor prejudices and misconceptions, beginning with the notion that “white” equals normal. Whiteness oppresses when it operates as the invisible regime of normality, and thus making whiteness visible is a principal goal of anti-racist pedagogy.

1. Topic examined in the philosophy, literature and discussions of People of Colour

2. Expounded on by those who wished to validate the oppression of people of Colour

3. Academic Disciplines of Law, Feminists Studies and Performance Studies

Critical Race Theory

Critical White Studies


Whiteness is More than a Skin Colour

� Group and individual identity

� Ideology: set of ideas about the nature of the world

� Ownership

� Dominance

� Privileged Group

� Attitude of superiority

� The standard by which all others are judged


Who Invented Whiteness and Why?� Europeans of means who encountered various cultures

around the world during exploration.

� To create solidarity among Europeans in the colonies

� Justify oppression

� Divide and conquer disadvantaged

whites and people of colour


Impacts of Racism on White Americans (2nd ed.)

Bowser and Hunt (1996), Sage Publications


Promotes1. Lack of cultural knowledge of self and others2. Isolates or sets apart from the rest of the world (3/4 people of colour)3. Lives susceptible to social and political ills first appearing in communities

of colour and the poor.4. Aversion to coalitions among poor, working poor and middle class whites

and people of colour.5. The invisibility of poor whites 6. Distorted views of reality (Ex. Numerically the majority of poor people

are white).7. Hinders development of potential.8. Dehumanization of self and others.9. Moral and social confusion. 10. Increase and aggravation of psychiatric disturbances.

Activity: Where are You in the

Stages of Racial identity

Development


Unaware Conscious Foreclosed

Moratorium Achieved

We all interact from the “standpoint” of

who we are without even thinking about it.

Whiteness College Professor

� Speak in a tone of superiority

� Don’t think to take into account the culture of others

� May not understand the impact of your race on interactions with others

� Unaware of self as an ethnic group

� See yourself as the standard

� Preachy

� People developer

� Dominate conversation with information, rather than listening

� Because I am right (correct information) I have to be right

� Privileged


What Marquita Brings to the

Table


FemaleSenior CitizenAfrican American

Educated College Professor

MidwesternerMinister

Middle Class [according to the federal government] (But this is what my house looks like!!!)

Effective communicators must always

take into account who they are.

Aware of how my:� Race� Gender� Education� Occupation� Physical Characteristics� Style of communication� Worldview� Past Experiences� Future Expectations

Influence the way people see me, how I see myself, and how that shapes my relationships with other people, personally and professionally.


I think the athletic

system in higher

education is unfair to

the rest of the

student population

Have to be aware of my bias against college athletics and guard against that interfering with my scholar-athletes in my classes.


All of Us have BiasesBiases Parent Tapes

� Racial stereotypes

� Myths about other races

� Discriminatory behaviors against others

� Negative attitudes about the poor

� Misunderstanding of the immigrant experience

� Who is good

� Who is bad

� Who I should love

� Who I should avoid

� Why I should wear good underwear

� How I should be in the world

� How the world relates to me


My Parent Tapes About Race� Blacks are better than

whites

� Blacks don’t do all the bad things that white people do

� Whites will always have the advantage in every situation

� White people don’t have to struggle



Parent tapes

must be

examined

Some of the messages have to be erased, sometimes the playback equipment must be turned off.


Racial groups

Ethnic groups

The poor

Disabled

Women

Men

Which Ones Do You Need to Purge?


Biases are a Part of the Human

Experience

Biases Awareness of Biases

� Don’t make you a bad person

� Makes you normal

� Unrevealed biases

cause harm and

discrimination

� Being aware of your biases

� Managing your biases

� Makes you more effective in your work


Home Work� Think about what your race might mean to the clients

you serve.� List the biases you might have about the clients you

serve.� How do those biases manifest themselves?� What can you do to keep those biases from harming

your clients.� Develop a vision of your work and how it would be with

these biases under control.


Become Aware of Your Race

Learn more about it.

Become part of the national dialogue

Let your voice be heard!
