Whiteness

I found the article on Teaching Tolerance, Why Talk About Whiteness? very eye opening. As a white women myself, I truly have never thought about my race that much and I definitely do not talk about it either. I do believe that I am self-aware and I acknowledge my white privilege and feel comfortable talking about it to an extent. I love what Molly Tansley says, "naming whiteness and its privileges among white friends, family and colleagues is where the real work needs to be done." Talking about white privilege with people of color is not what is going to help as they are already aware. This topic needs to be addressed with other white people who perhaps are not so aware of their white privilege. 



The Tools of Whiteness was also something that resonated with me. I was taken back a bit when reading some of the transcripts from actual educators especially Diane. Reading this was very eye opening in that I have heard people say things I was reading like "I don't see color", "I get along with everyone no matter their race", etc. Now I know blanket statements such as these are part of the many tools of whiteness. The tool: 'now that things are equal' is one I have sadly heard before. Growing up in a town that is 85% white, many around me are unaware of their white privilege and do not understand how their 'tools' being used is supporting and maintaining the dominant ideologies of race.


I decided to Google Whiteness to see what came up. After I read a few interesting articles that got more into the historical aspect of the social construct of the term white. I came across a website called the Whiteness Project. I seriously recommend you visit this site to learn more. It provides a quote and picture of a person and you click on their picture and it gives you a short excerpt from them about their opinions and feelings  on the matter of whiteness. Some discuss how they are aware that their white privilege has aided them in life like getting a job easily. However, there are some who spew ignorance such as, "I didn't do anything personal to 'you people' so step off...." or "It's not like I am specifically hurting black people". This is a prime example of why other white people need to educate other whites on the topic of white privilege and the tools of whiteness.

Lastly, I wanted to add that the transcripts of what the educators said was interesting to read but, I enjoyed the analysis and break down of what they said from the authors. Taking these statements and breaking it down to show how what they are saying is a tool of whiteness was insightful.