i've previously posted about the "stuff white people like" blog. it's useful in that is lets us look at ourselves with humor. it's a great door opener for white people to talk about race.
however, it doesn't really address issues of race and the way race works in our society (and i'm talking local, national, and global society), and it certainly doesn't force us to do the dirty work of really facing our own racism and the ways in which those of us who are white benefit from institutional racism.
this blog attempts to do just that: http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Thanks for the shoutout, deluxegal!
I like the post before this one, on Portland, a lot. When someone else said on my blog, in the comment right before yours, that she now lives "in a more 'progressive' city that is also less racially diverse and more segregated," I immediately thought of Portland. Then I came to your blog and found out that you live there. Yeah, from what I know of it, it is very "progressive," but also very white, and also not very disturbed, generally, about all that whiteness. How ironic!
Now that I've been thinking and studying about whiteness, and other racial groups, I get kinda creeped out in all-white settings. I'm too aware of the active exclusion that brought that about, so I can no longer be lulled into that blithe security and "safety" that the other white folks around me seem to be feeling. Now I see them AS white people, and they often seem to be sort of wallowing in their whiteness.
So I think your post is wonderful, because as you said, it can be difficult for a white person in such an environment to remain self-conscious in a racial sense. It's great that you're trying to do that. I would try pointing out whiteness to people around you, especially those who pride themselves on being "progressive" in other ways--even if they're progressive in racial ways (usually, "racial issues" for progressive white folks are issues that people of color have, as if whites don't have a race). Some will respond well, some negatively. I ask people in largely or all-white settings why they're so white, and what it is that's keeping non-white people away. Just for starters.
I hope you keep up the good work!
Post a Comment