Racism Rides Again: Whiteness in the Age of Obama

A Nation of Cowards? by Charles M. Blow
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/opinion/21blow.html
New York Times copyright
http://community.nytimes.com/article/comments/2009/02/21/opinion/21blow.html#postComment #91
New York Times copyright
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/weekend-opinionator-a-nation-of-cowards-stimulus-wielding-chimps-and-hip-hop-republicans/
Weekend Opinionator: A Nation of Cowards, Stimulus-Wielding Chimps and Hip-Hop Republicans
By Tobin Harshaw
New York Times copyright
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A version of my post(s) on the above topic appeared earlier (see link above)
Comment #91 NYT
Racism Rides Again: Whiteness in the Age of Obama
Blow has offered new data and analysis to argue what has already long been established in 50 years of study on the subject. Racism is for real. And it is about power. New data and analysis on this topic are always welcome.

Blow is correct to chide Holder for overstepping the perimeters of constructive dialogue, by using language that impedes it. I too object to Holder's characterization. But then I also cringed when Obama described himself as "a mutt." Both the confrontational "cowards" and self-disparaging "mutt" remarks equally speak to what I call "Systemic Whiteness."

But really, what language is appropriate to counter institutionalized racism? Or sexism or worse,genocide or invasion/occupation? Shoe throwing at a foreign tyrant is a better option than blasting a bomb under children riding a bus, for sure. But the problem is still perceived INJUSTICE of the worst sort.

I'll go ahead and offer my Theory of Systemic Whiteness which I developed after long years of living and working as an immigrant woman of color in the US, and which of course can be googled. Whiteness is the SYSTEM of unequal, un-shared, dominant POWER in US society, not merely an individual's feeling or opinion or prejudice or attitude or behavior.

I am thinking that a non-judgmental, non-prescriptive Self-in-Society curriculum of open inquiry leading to personal growth, from the earliest days of schooling (in which parents are directly involved),can present an opportunity to overturn the mindset and behavior-set of Systemic Whiteness.
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The NYTimes weekend opinionator comment (see link above)
Comment #66. February 21, 2009 6:39 pm Link

Racism Rides Again: Whiteness in the Age of Obama

The White House was the Whites’ House until just last month.

Holder pushed a button. Racism is for real. Racism is alive and well. There is no such thing as being post-racial, because race is a socially constructed category and we keep constructing it. No surprise. What we call racism is primarily about dominant unequal POWER exercised by one self-selected group using its unearned privilege over everyone else. It’s so pervasive it feels ‘natural.’

Holder overstepped the perimeters of constructive dialogue, by using language that impedes it. But Holder himself is as much a part of the Whiteness System as anyone else (including you and me) who lives in US society.

I object to Holder’s characterization. But then I also cringed when Obama described himself as “a mutt.” Both the confrontational “cowards” and self-disparaging “mutt” remarks, equally speak to what I call “Systemic Whiteness.”

But really, what language is appropriate and sufficient to dismantle Whiteness — - institutionalized bias and unearned privilege by one self-selected group over all others?

Again, what language is appropriate sufficient to counter other forms of bias similarly rooted in power — sexism or worse, genocide or invasion/occupation? Shoe throwing (the Iraq example) at a foreign tyrant (a white male who embodies and exemplifies Whiteness as power), is a better option than blasting a bomb under children riding a bus, for sure. But the problem is still lived experience of INJUSTICE of the most egregious sort. To my mind, that is what Holder is really talking about.

Holder made an overstatement about race and the nation, that is nevertheless substantially accurate. So let’s not privilege style over substance, that is a diversionary tactic employed by those who hold power and commit injustice.

Another famously incendiary statement By Any Means Necessary still contains the powerful threat of menacing violence without actual violence, and that has been a powerful deterrent originating in the activist politics of the late great pacifist, yes, pacifist and liberatory internationalist, Malcolm X.

I’ll go ahead and offer my Theory of Systemic Whiteness which I developed after long years of living and working as an immigrant woman of color in the US, and which of course can be googled. Whiteness is the SYSTEM of unequal, un-shared, dominant POWER in US society, not merely an individual’s feeling or opinion or prejudice or attitude or behavior.

Finally, I am thinking that a non-judgmental, non-prescriptive, Self-in-Society curriculum of open inquiry leading to personal growth and lived pluralism, from the earliest days of schooling (in which parents are directly involved), can present an opportunity to overturn the mindset and behavior-set of Systemic Whiteness.

Chithra KarunaKaran
Ethical Democracy As Lived Practice
http://EthicalDemocracy.blogspot.com
— Chithra KarunaKaran

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