The faces of whiteness: pitfalls and the critical democrat

Public Sociology or Partisan Sociology? The Curious Case of Whiteness Studies

“…To paraphrase a common question, how was I, as a white instructor, prepared to acknowledge the privileges that whiteness affords me? Pedagogues who are versed in whiteness studies claim that the answer is not found through intellectual inquiry; rather, the answer lies in a developmental leap sparked by a deep call to the soul (Blum 1998;Denevi 2004;Johnson et al 2000;Ryan 2002;Smith 1998;Thompson and Disch 1992;Warren and Hytten 2004). For true racial reconciliation to occur, white students must admit that they are necessarily racist as a consequence of their epistemological standing.…”

Antiracist Education in Theory and Practice: A Critical Assessment

“…Upon recognition of their sin, whites are to express shame and regret for being both ignorant and privileged by "a priori social capital, unearned and arbitrarily bestowed" (Pramuk 2006:362-3). Emotional pain and guilt should be expected as part of the reconstructive process that will eliminate racism from the body and soul as whites experience a "necessary and painful awakening" (Moulder 1997:12), grasp the oppressive basis of their being, immerse themselves in the trauma of others, share their affective responses, hold themselves accountable for the injustices that they have perpetuated, apologize profusely, relinquish claims to authority, and then witness to others (Berlak 1999;Denevi 2004;Kobayashi 1998;Manglitz 2003;McIntyre 1997;Nile and Straton 2003;Pierce 2003;Rodriguez 1999;Schacht 2001;Srivastava 2005;Srivastava and Francis 2006;Thompson and Disch 1992;Tsang 1992;Warren and Hytten 2004).…”

“…Believing that they have answers and that the community as a whole will benefit from their work (Faver 2000;Rothenberg 2002), antiracist educators assume the burden of helping others to see the light (Warren and Hytten 2004). They become missionaries who spread their vision of how the world should be:…”

“…Antiracist educators are attempting to create a more just world through appropriate standards of behavior and a commitment to activism. They have a more or less coherent program for social change, involving the transformation of how the public understands race relations (Applebaum 1997;Bonnett 1996;Eichstedt 2001;McMahon 2003;Scott 2000;Srivastava 2005;Srivastava and Francis 2006;Wald et al 1989;Warren and Hytten 2004;Zajicek 2002). In order to do so, antiracist educators have 1) constructed an ontological foundation on which the problem racism is grounded, aided by an epistemic culture that is expressed as an estrangement from dominant values; 2) spread a moral panic in which the threat posed by whites to minorities has been amplified; 3) offered a diagnosis of the problem and its causes; and 4) advocated for particular actions that they assert would alleviate the problem.…”

“…In antiracist education, whiteness has multiple meanings as well (Denevi 2004;Garner 2006;Griffin 1998;Grillo and Wildman 1991;Harris 1993;Hartigan 1997;Hunter and Nettles 1999;Keating 1995;King 2005;Lipsitz 1995;Lund 2006;Mayo 2004;McCorkel and Myers 2003;McDermott and Samson 2005;McIntosh 1990;McIntyre 1997;Pearce 2003;Roediger 2001;Sleeter 2001;Warren and Hytten 2004). It is (1) a state of being that is constituted by a historical denial of the harm that whites have inflicted upon minorities; (2) a property, marker, or position within a social hierarchy to which power and privilege are attached and from which they are wielded; (3) a standpoint from which whites evaluate, then denigrate, other identities and discourses; (4) a set of cultural practices that is unnamed-that is, regarded as universal, neutral, or normative; (5) both a structural location and a strategy that allow whites to monopolize material and cultural resources; and (6) a form of capital from which advantages accrue regardless of social standing or place in life.…”