Historically, race has been constructed as a social divider. This was true at the foundation of whiteness and it is true today. These can be seen in historical examples throughout history, as wealthy whites, at the start of slavery, sought a solution that would separate the interests of poor whites and blacks, and this strategy was employed once more when unionization first began as working class whites were once again pitted against blacks. Race has been constructed as a difference that stands between what would normally be a more united working/middle class, but instead they are divided by a trivial difference such as race. (I say trivial in the sense that it is trivial in theory not in reality.) Considering that the greatest benefits of this racial state go to a small portion of wealthy whites I believe the argument to deconstruct whiteness would have significant benefits for many working class whites.
In this sense, the deconstruction of whiteness among working class whites would prove to remove race a social divider among most of white America. Not only this, but without such a stark division by race and a more united working class, societal changes could be made not on race but instead on class.
I think Obama is a good example of this as much of white America moved beyond an issue of race and voted for their personal interest. This same example can be applied to structures of power all over the country.
Of course this surrender of white privilege does come at its cost. There is no longer that racial underclass that working class whites would always be above. But what will happen, as a result of societal changes that are sure to come from a more united working class, is an increased possibility for social mobility, for both whites and non-whites.
The sell for upper-class whites is much harder. They will face increased competition from less class stratified society that would result from a more socially mobile middle/lower class. But they still will be upper class, which means they will still have money and as much a chance as anyone. It is capitalism after all so just compete.
I think this does make a lot of sense and would benefit many Americans if they started acting on their personal interests, instead of race. However, I think there could be a few problems. The fear of a socialist state would terrify many people (no matter how invalid this argument is). Americans are unusually afraid of communism, and that would detract many of them from supporting this. Also, as it stands, white privilege means more to a lot of whites than economic interests.
ReplyDeleteTwo main points I want to make from the origional post.
ReplyDeleteFirst is that giving up white privilege does need to be a personal choice. Let's say a white man decides to give up a job promotion out of guilt beause he knows that there is a black man more qualified than he is, and his boss is just being racist. This needs to be a personal choice because the white man is not only giving up a probably pay increase, but if he makes his intentions known, he will probably be picked on for liking blacks or being less white. Also, this man has to be prepared for the fact that if his boss just truly is a racist, him turning down the promotion will not lead to the hiring of the black man, but a probably even less than qualified white canadite than he was.
Secondly, white Americans did not move past racism and vote for their better interests. If the election came down to just white vote, McCain would have won. Minorities elected Obama into office; therefore, nothing has really changed in that aspect. And having a black man president will equate to nothing when the people who hold the real power behind him is still the same old, white money men. Obama may be the black face of a 'new' government, but he will only be allowed to accomplish what the behind the scenes white men of the 'old' government will allow him to.
im a little confused nick, did you say that if people were willing to give up their white priviledge it would bring more upward mobility possibilities for whites? i don't really see that. as you say it is capitialism to compete and with more competition those people are going to have less possibility to progress.
ReplyDeletecould you clarify?
Also to Taylor, yea the moajority of white people voted for McCain, but not by much so that is still a pretty large amount of white people that went for Obama. I'm curious how many of those poeple that voted for McCain were democrats, that's how you can really tell how many people were willing or unwilling to change their mind becuase at least for me as a democrat, it would take a sarah palin of democratic candidates to convince me to vote republican, and i think that i lot of people are not going to jump to the opposite side of what they identify with.
But isn't that the whole point? We need to vote on interest? True, the majority of white people voted for McCain, but just as I'm sure that there were some who voted for McCain because he's white, I'm sure a substantial amount of those people did vote based on issues. Not all whites are so shallow, I would like to hope. However, I agree with Andrea, it would be interesting to see how many of the whites who voted for McCain were Democrats. This might help clear up the picture somewhat.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if people didn't vote interest based this election, then it is something that Americans need to work towards for the next election. Just because people didn't do it this election doesn't mean it can't be changed.
I think that the working class would benefit from becoming racially united. People of different racial backgrounds seem to be quick to point out their differences; however, people living in the same social class share many aspects of their lifestyles. If you were to go out and talk to a white working class family and a black working class family about how the economy is affecting their life, I'm sure the answers would be fairly similar. They face many of the same problems on a day to day basis, and a united front would be ideal for societal progress.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Whiteness is privilege. It is hard for people to willingly relinquish power. Perhaps the hopes of class mobility aren't as important as carrying on the ideas and culture that has been passed down for generations?
I dont really ever see lower class whites banding together to help deconstruct whiteness, for one most of them still live under the delusion of the invisibitlity of whiteness and arnt even aware of thier priviliges...that being said they do understand the social hiearchy and thier place in it. There would be no good reason to deconsruct a hiearchy that gives them power when in the traditional maesuring stick of socioeconomic power they are far lower
ReplyDeleteDeconstructing whiteness doesn't have to be this crazy academic process, and, for practical purposes can be done without really understanding white privilege.
ReplyDeleteSadly, yes, maybe we do have to rely on peoples' self interest. That depresses me, but moving forward: Bacon's Rebellion. Poor whites put aside their 'privilege' for class interest. And it worked. I'm not (necessarily) saying there should be class wars, but personal interest can definitely lead to powerful change.