Analysis Of The Documentary Whitewashed

The documentary “Whitewashed” expresses on White people and how they talk about racism and what is it like to be a “White” person. The interviewer asked questions such as “Where do “White” people come from, how did their ancestors get turned into “White” people, what does it mean to be White, what is it like to be white, etc. In my opinion, I believe that these people were caught off guard and gave responses that were socially accepted. Many descendants from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, etc. had to give up their culture to assimilate to the “White” person in order to gain jobs and higher social-economic statuses. Throughout the documentary, the word “whiteness” was tossed around a lot. There was one male who mentioned that to be White, they

“Being smarter than Black people, higher economic status or even being a better race than any other”. As we learned in class, the White people in this documentary have internalized racial oppression. These White people can be grouped into the internalized racial superiority. They have all experience the common symptoms of denial, exceptionalism, colorblindness, ethnocentrism, arrogance, etc. I can induce from this documentary that generalizations can be made to all White people about White privilege and “Whiteness”. Another person mentioned one of Malcolm X’s quotes, “Racism is like a Cadillac, a new model every year”. This is to explain the idea that racism is socially constructed. Society, many decades ago formulated an idea of racism in which the color of one’s skin determined one’s class, intellect and skill. The White people in this video assume, since they were not the actually ones who enslaved African Americans, that they have no involvement with the inequality that America serves to minorities. They are part of the problem because White people are not doing anything with the “power” they have of “whiteness”. The system is already accustomed to watching Blacks, Hispanics, Latinos fight for their rights and equality but if White people with their “whiteness” and White privilege, it would spark a red flag and hopefully make a change. The racial disparity between Whites and Blacks is huge. The majority in his country are the Whites because of their power not by number. Whites refuse to admit to the racist society we live in and just make excuses or change the topic. If White people actually made their power worthwhile, then they should project anti-racist