Ernesto Pujol’s journal discusses his art exhibition called Whiteness, where it revolves around the culture of whiteness and the thought process of being a white subject. The exhibition opened at the Foire Internationale d 'art moderne et contemporain in Paris in September 1999, and at Linda Kirkland Gallery in New York in October. It features an interesting assortment of objects combined together like Nazi porcelain dishes and bronzed, enameled, American baby boys ' boots on a faux Victorian shelf, wherein Pujol creates a series of photographs focusing on the notion of taste and purity (Pujol, 100). Pujol is attempting to make the viewer see whiteness from a more subjective perspective, where whiteness is an internal construct of a profound …show more content…
He mentions that American whiteness is generic, where he notices that middle-class white kids are appropriating music, slang, mannerism, food and fashion from the cultural identities of African, Latino, and Asian Americans, in order to form their own cultural identity (98). Pujol considers this to be an act with good intentions, but see this as contemporary colonialism (98). He goes on to say that white people need to make whiteness hyphenated because white people come in many-shaded colour and their origins are completely diverse (98). Consequently, whiteness can’t remain invisible in this new world and to continue to be a white person without seeking his or her own European cultural roots is to come into the twenty-first century, the Shopping Century, as an uncritical and therefore ignorant being, nonetheless the dangerously powerful, consumer, is still recklessly searching for a liberating voyage to self-discovery at the expense of people of color’s cultural self (98). Pujol acknowledges that the notion of whiteness as being pure is incorrect, where whiteness fanatically functions as a fortress under obstruction, defining everyone outside of itself as people of color, thus whiteness ceases to be a colour with various
Ruth Frankenberg’s essay “Mirage Of An Unmarked Whiteness” begins as “ . . .an examination of how, when, and why whiteness has disappeared from the racial radar screen, with whites exempt (from the views of some people) from the definition as a racial category” (86). Frankenberg dissects the generalized assumptions of whiteness and its relationship with race by analyzing the malleable structures of whiteness and racialization throughout history.Frankenberg compares the power whiteness and race through historical contexts. The claim that whiteness is invisible is false. Rather, whiteness is a changing idea that is applied to specific colonial projects to the oppressor’s advantage. Race and whiteness were both created by the historical contexts
Over the past few years the white working class has become docile in means of what Sara Palin describes as “Real America”, a thriving class of individuals who pride themselves on worth ethic. However, the article takes the more known impression of this group of Americans by providing the historical upbringing of the “white trash” as it first appeared in print in 1821; similarly, to how Outing Whiteness,
He attempts to shock his reader into believing America is falling apart by comparing the diverse cultures that are active in it today. At one point in the essay, Buchanan writes “Our population is down to 67 percent European, and falling; 14.5 percent Hispanic and rising rapidly, 13 percent black and holding, and 4.5 percent Asian and rising” (599). The usage of “Our” in the sense of talking about Americans is a viewpoint that excludes anyone who is not white from being a true American. In addition, Buchanan is segregating the population by the color of their skin and creating an ethnic hierarchy. By only including white people in the definition of an American, Buchanan is showing an ethnocentric trait that Fredrickson analysed in his own essay. Fredrickson describes this changing viewpoint in American society when he examines the acceptance of all white people and the differences between colored people growing “more striking and salient than ever” (567). In general, Buchanan does not recognize the differences between white people, focusing primarily on the differences between white and non-white people. The correlation between the statistics he presents and the color of people’s skin undoubtedly prove Buchanan’s take on skin color and their ability to be American. This trait within Buchanan’s writing, coupled with the non-acceptance of colored people, has a strong presence throughout his essay, ultimately weakening his
Claude M. Steele is the author of “ Whistling Vivaldi”, which mainly represents that the meaning of identity contingencies and stereotype threat, and how can these effect people’s ideas and behaviors. By writing this article, Steele tries to make people know exist of identity contingencies. Gina Crosley-Corcoran, who is a white woman suffered the poverty in her childhood. Through describing her miserable experiences in parallel construction to motivate readers sympathize her, moreover approving that she can as a powerful evidence for affirming the impact of identity contingencies. Crosley-Corcoran admits the white privilege really exist in some way in her article “ Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person”, and white privilege
W. E. B. Du Bois traveling widely in Europe, was delighted by the absence of color consciousness and impressed by their mellow civilization. Still, he knew that his life's work was at home, a...
Are black people that different than white people? This is both a question and concern society focuses much attention on today, is there cultural assimilation in the United States or does the country still remain segregated? Realistically, America has a long way to come before saying it fully integrates both races equally. Donnell Alexander, author of “Cool Like Me” approaches the topic of the prejudices whites have of blacks, arguing that there exists no cultural integration and the United States is still separated. With many lucid examples using expressive tones and personal examples, he compares the coolness of himself to the coolness of other blacks and other cultures in order to get the reader to identify “cool” and relate it as a black quality and observe it in American culture as a style and a way of thinking.
“What is the purest color in the world?” — Undoubtedly, many people will answer: “White.” Truly, there is no color purer than white. White is an angel with the purest soul. Oppositely, people may think of black, the color that is considered to be evil, terrified and hopeless. However, there is another meaning of black and white. Obviously, some wars with weapons are destroying so many lives in some parts of the world while the racism is killing uncountable souls in everywhere in the world at any time. Crueler than a war with weapons, it is racism. Does the color of the skin really matter? Both of the poems “Blood White Woman” by Patricia Smith and the poem “Brain on Ice” by Michael Warr answer in a same way: “Yes, it does.” Both of them are
Generally speaking, “color blindness” is understood to be the best way to engage racial problem. This concept is revealed and discussed in Paul Beatty’s novel, "The White Boy Shuffle". The novel portrays a young African American Gunnar’s life story that mainly focuses on his experiences and identities in different places. In the part of Gunnar’s childhood life in Santa Monica when mostly surrounded by white individuals, he is continuously indoctrinated with the idea of “color blindness” which is widely advocated by people in this community in order to alleviate racism. However, with massive exposure of “color blindness” ideology and application in Mestizo Mulatto Mongrel Elementary, the novel addresses color blindness is not a practical method for dealing with racism by exhibiting awkward contradictions it creates between “color” ignorance methodology and color detectable eyesight of human nature. Based on the encounters from Gunnar in the novel, massively using the concept of “color blindness” will not change people and society’s perspective toward colored races. The superficial and ineffectiveness from this idea stress the difference between races. Implicitly, it is a new mode of racism. The only way to eliminate color-oriented issues is by acknowledging the difference between races and all amalgamate into one homogenous group.
One way to distinguish a person from the billions of other people in the world is by looking into their ethnicity. Ethnicity may be simplified as just a person’s origin, but arguments have been made that there is more to the world. Joane Nagel, author of “Constructing Ethnicity”, writes about what makes up the word ethnicity along with its uses in social and political spectrums. Nicholosa Mohr also writes about the different perspective of ethnicity and the way people embrace them in her writing “The English Lesson”. From reading both texts, it is possible to make the argument that Mohr’s text supports Nagel’s ideas on the fluidity and situational nature of ethnic identity in the United States. Mohr finds themes from different scenarios in the classroom that can perhaps correspond to many of Nagel’s ideas and theories about ethnicity.
Whiteness is a term that has been discussed throughout history and through scholarly authors. Whiteness is defined in many ways, according to Kress “pervasive non- presence, its invisibility. Whiteness seems at times to be everywhere and nowhere, even present throughout U.S history, and yest having no definable history of its own. Whiteness as a historically rooted cultural practice is then enacted on the unconscious level. Knowledge the is created from the vantage point of Whiteness thus transforms into “common sense,” while practices or behaviors that are enacted based on the unspoken norms of Whiteness become the only acceptable way of being” (Kress, 2008, pg 43). This definition for example, whiteness has become into hegemony. I define it as racial ideologies that have been established throughout history. Which has formed racial segregation between white and non-whites, and has led to discrimination and injustice. White privilege has also been a factor in whiteness; it’s the privilege that white color people get better benefits
In the novel, the author proposes that the African American female slave’s need to overcome three obstacles was what unavoidably separated her from the rest of society; she was black, female, and a slave, in a white male dominating society. The novel “locates black women at the intersection of racial and sexual ideologies and politics (12).” White begins by illustrating the Europeans’ two major stereotypes o...
Brown (2003) argues how whiteness is a dominant race (pg.37). The dominant race was white while excluding non-whites from certain class privileges such as the right to have better health care similar to someone of a white ethnic background. It led to emergence of racial formation aim at dividing the white from the black’s base on their racial identity .A person of non-white racial identity is sometimes referred to as “others” meaning he or she does not belong, but of a different racial category {grouping of people base on racial identity and ethnicity}. The grouping of people into different racial categories is reinforcing racism in relation to keeping the white race dominant and powerful over
Qualities of ‘Whiteness’ are deemed as ‘right’ and ‘ideal’ and it is what measures a person’s potential and capabilities. Johnson addresses that she is not seen as an average black girl because she ‘talks white’ and is superior to the girls of her race who are “ popping their gums and shaking their necks. Because those girls get like no respect.”(Johnson, E. 2014, 1:58) She informs that society does not deem her as the average black girl because of her lighter pigmented skin, but because she is well mannered, speaks with class and is educated. It is seen here that whiteness is not just about “bodies and skin colour”, it is, in fact, a superior characteristic that has elevated her ‘blackness’ by adopting white practices (Moreton-Robinson, A.
Contemporary art is about questioning what you have been taught and what you know to be true or real. This is why Serrano’s work is a pivotal moment in photographic and art history. Andres Serrano is an artist that is not afraid to tap into the universal truths in life to illicit reactions. He focuses on religion, sexuality, gender, and race- all of which can define a person’s identity. Serrano then makes his viewer question these pre-conceived concepts of identity and their function in society with his art. He attempts to figure out what is accepted, and more than that, what is the taboo. Andres Serrano is an artist that has continued to push the boundaries
Through her search for her identity, Irie fears that she does not fit the traditional white beauty standards of England. Across cultures, the desire for light skin and a westernized appearance seems to be universal (Ramsey and Harcourt 205). Irie, as well as most people, views beauty through the lens of her ethnic features. Being biracial and living in England, her Jamaican physical characteristics stand out. Although Irie is a mix of both black and white; her shapely figure, skin color, and curly afro make her more visibly recognizable as a person of the black heritage. When a person is biracial “There is a sense of being ‘both yet neither’. At this stage…ambivalence usually takes the form of white preference and black rejection…” (Harris, Howard, and Ezra 80). As one might imagine, it seems like a difficult task to embrace half of a person’s racial background while rejecting t...