The parameters of Whiteness

[Itis]

As activists aware of the suffering caused by racial discrimination and the historical dominance of white people institutionally and debatably the continuity of this into the near future, we often talk about white privilege. In terms of discrimination (both institutional and otherwise), who is white in your opinion? Obviously the means of identifying ethnicity necessary for racial discrimination (facial structure, skin colour hair, names, etc.) gradate geographically so it cannot be really as clear cut as Ethnic group A is always white but the ethnic group that historically resides adjacent to them is never white. Functionally this could not work since the powers that be that could potentially discriminate on grounds of whiteness are made are of many people with many slightly differing definitions of white. Some people might get white privilege in some instances but not in other instances.

Sometimes the definition of white seems to be pertaining only to Anglo-Saxons, while at the same time often it means anyone from Europe and other times still it means non Mediterranean Europeans. For such an important issue within both inside and outside of activist circles, a definition of who the whites are when we talk of white privilege is urgently needed. Do Greeks get white privilege but Turks don’t? Do Jews get white privilege?

I know at different points in history only the English considered themselves white and over time the definition was expanded to include the Irish, Italians and so on. Who are currently the recipients of white privilege where you live?

[jake williams]

It's not an absolute thing. In the economic sphere, race is just a rough correlation. People who would be considered "black" in the United States tend to be poorer than people who would be considered "white" in the United States, for historical reasons. Physical features etc. correlate with ethnic origin and historical geographical inequalities of wealth and power lead to what in some ways is sort of an institutional racism.

There's a totally different (not separate, just different) kind of racism that involves the police or discriminatory hiring policies or hate crimes or whatever. Here it totally depends on the racists' definitions of whiteness, which very hugely on the basis of a huge range of experiences that are difficult to analyze.


tl;dr: There are different types of racism, and the definitions of "race" in each vary. Talking about racism usually entails a lot of generalization and shorthand.

[Raúl Duke]

The things get blurry with hispanics...

Some hispanics are white (as white as a white person)...

I'm hispanic...but no one notices because I look white, have light eyes, etc.
I just defy the stereotype that most people in the U.S. have.

[Elect Marx]

I almost dated a girl that was Hispanic, though no one knew...

It is kind of a mindfuck. Are people accepting, or do they just not know? :blink:

[Reuben]

Well there is no definitive answer, bbecause a person's physical features have no intrinsic bearing upon their social identiy.