Whiteness Theory

White Americans or being seen as White in general is not only a racial identity, but also is associated with a certain privilege. As mentioned previously, whites certainly hold a position of power in the social world. Whites work in positions of privilege and power, and therefore are seen or visible in society. While, people of colour are invisible and with that invisibility privilege and power is lost along the way. Richard Dyer believes that white people create dominant image of the world, and construct the world in their own image. He then goes on to says that White power nonetheless reproduces itself because it is not seen as Whiteness, but as normal (Seidman, 2013, 237). It is obvious throughout history that white rules and interests rise above the interests of any other racial group, and being able to associate yourself with the title of being white automatically brings a sense of privilege or some sort of benefit to ones life. The idea of Whites having higher privilege than any other race is seen not only throughout time, but also through most if not all race theorists.

Historically, race has been taught or understood by particularly focusing on people of colour, or more specifically Blacks. The theory of Whiteness however, only arose around the 1980s and 1990s (Seidman, 2013, 234). Brought forth by this theory are similar ideas and theories seen throughout history, however with Whiteness Studies it is seen in a different approach. The aim of Whiteness studies is to expose the social origin of Whiteness and to challenge its privileged status, and the approach is structured by not only the lives of Whites, but also non-Whites (Seidman, 2013, 237). When observing the different arguments and approaches by both Dyer and Roediger and comparing it to other Critical Race Theories, it is clear that there are many similarities, however there are also some