Honestly, like all other readings I didn’t quite understand it however, I feel that Chap 42 is basically saying that “if you’re White, you’re Alright.” What I believe Frankenberg is talking about in chapter 42 is that “whiteness” is seen as invisible because history and even present day wants there t be a race that is like a role model for other races to follow.
Now granted we all know that white people in history has been known to be the oppressors to every race in United states, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian, etc however no one really remembers that unless in a history class but people can remember the typical stereotypes placed on each of these races. I think that whiteness is seen as a normative, the way in which people should try to be like. Look at the Native Americans, they (white people) took their children and put them in boarding schools and completely transformed them into something that was considered civilized. She points out that the only attention to whiteness is correlated with movements led by communities of color for the enhancement of civil, economic, and political rights across lines.
She starts the chapter off by giving eight-point definitions of whiteness, which I personally think is true and she then goes into the invisibility of whiteness and how it is unmarked or seen as a problem/threat to society like other races. My only critique of Frankenberg is that she is vague and leaves one thinking “what or who is she exactly talking about.” However it is clear that her aim is to expose this notion that “whiteness” is the American way, and any other race is taboo.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
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“Unmarked whiteness” refers to the fact that it is considered “normal” to be white, and all other races are acknowledged as different. It is accepted that Americans are white, and everyone else is historically foreign. I love the quote by Helen Standish that says, “The way I was brought up was to think that everyone who was the same as me were Americans and the other people were of such-and-such descent” (417).
Along with the sense of normalcy that comes with whiteness, is also the sense of privilege or entitlement. Phrases such as “I can do what I want—I’m young, white and twenty-one” show that many whites have historically felt power through their color. Frankenberg notes that there is a new consciousness of being white in the twenty-first century and how it brings privileges, but the awareness doesn’t translate into in antiracism.
In fact, many people don’t even acknowledge that racism still exists in our culture. They believe the playing field has been leveled for Blacks and Latinos; yet every time someone from these races succeeds, it is because they have received handouts from whites. It is also common today for whites to feel like they are the ones being discriminated against.
It really doesn’t seem shocking that the US is still struggling with racism long after slavery ended and discrimination was made illegal. This country was founded on racism and it is hard to forget your roots.
I found this essay, The Mirage of an Unmarked Whiteness, by Ruth Frankenberg, to be quite interesting. The first read through the essay was challenging however, I did grasp some of what Fankenberg was saying. One quote in the essay that I thought was important was, “It is safe to suggest that whiteness remains quite visible to men and women of color even when ‘cultural micro-climates’ make it possible for the concept to disappear into false universality from the purview of some white people” (Frankenberg). I think what Frankenberg is trying to say is that people who are white do not think twice about what color they are, it is basically already programmed in their heads. However, whiteness becomes visible when men and women of color view them. Prof. Rudy made a good point in class on the different views of whiteness in society. When white people interact in society, they do not have to think twice about their actions and if they are acting on their whiteness. When people of color interact in society, they are always constantly reminding themselves what race they are and also noticing the whiteness around. There have been attempts the break the ideology surrounding the power of whiteness. As stated by Frankenberg, “White critics of whiteness are speaking forcefully, even as other white people are trying to ‘hold the line’ and refuse any criticism of, encroachments on, or challenges to white turf of territory, whether cultural, economic, or political” (Frankenberg). I believe that ZPhiB1920 brought up a good example in his reaction to this essay about Native Americans being forced to become white Americans. At the begging of the essay, Frankenberg makes a list defining what whiteness is made up of. One of the more important points listed is number 7. Number 7 states, “Whiteness is a product of history, and is a relational category. Like other racial locations, it has no inherent but only socially constructed meanings” (Frankenberg). I find this to be very interesting because Frankenberg’s thought is that whiteness was constructed and is only recognized by the people within the society.
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