RACE AND SOCIETY
Whiteness & Blackness
Caste v. Culture
There is no such thing as “white” (White). “White” or being white is just a category in the United States of America’s racial caste system. It confers upon those considered “white” a degree of privilege and in turn power within the institutions of the country.
White privilege = power = advantage. It is like when houses for sale get valued for more when a white family is selling it. Or, health services are better if a white person is receiving them. It is a system that should be dismantled but it is likely here for now.
One side of the politics wants to declare it over, and say we are colorblind. The other side wants the system to be dismantled. They don’t want empty declarations. The problem isn’t noticing differences; it is what happens when we do notice our differerences. We should be able to acknowledge differerences and accept them all without assigning privilege and power to one or the other.
On the other hand, there is such thing as “Black.” That is an ethnic category also known as African American. The various ethnic groups from mostly West Africa and Southern Africa, caught up in the European slave trade, have meshed into one common culture, with a common language, traditions, and faith based practices across multiple religions over time.
