Whiteness Studies

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Here's something I'm sure will bring out the beast in some A2Kers.

Several Universities are teaching a Course in "White Studies", about how race was a construct of white people, and how they are the unthinking beneficiaries of privilege. Whoo-boy! Baton down the hatches!

http://www.msnbc.com/news/928992.asp?vts=062020031055

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I heard on NPR yesterday that any one could be Hispanic as this "race" is undefined. Seems they have become the largest minority in America. If a Hispanic and a Black marry - what is the race? How about Japanese and white - Indian and white, etc. Now throw in more combinations -

The one thing you're not is white! Look at the projection over the next 100 - 150 years, white will be a minority everywhere.

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C'mon snood, we honkeys just representin'....just doin' the best a wigger can....

www.blackpeopleloveus.com
www.alllooksame.com (take the test....let us know how you do)

Very Happy

Cool article....'White Studies", heh heh....

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From the article -- which may be misleading or which I may be misreading -- it seems as though the class is really about the manufacture of race as a politically divisive force in American politics; not really a new idea, not really surprising at all, but maybe that's because I come down from a couple of very poor white southern families and it always seemed painfully obvious to me that many of them had been taught to distrust the "colored people" that shared many of the same economic problems that they did.

I mean, it's just "divide and conquer," ain't it?

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IMO, these whiteness studies as they are, constitute nothing beyond concerted efforts to undermine the American society. I would not wonder if some day some Islamic sources of such studies' financing will be revealed by the FBI.
I am White, I do not experience any pride about this, since it is not my personal achievement (my name is not Michael Jackson), but I do not feel any reason to be ashamed of my color of skin.

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It has been a product of the Republican Party in the last two elections (that I am immediately aware of) to go into the south and bolster the poor white to get out and vote by:

Quote:

"There is this constant message hammered at poor white people," Horton said. "You may be poor, you may have miserable lives right now, but . . . the thing we want you to focus on is the fact that you are white."

While at the same time suppressing the black vote by any means possible - then they say they are the party of inclusion!

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Yes, Patiodog - certainly in part, anyway.

And cav- I got 4 out of 18 right - "hopeless" "might as well flip a coin".

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steissd - that is a very white answer. If brief, "They are using the truth to undermine the misconceptions of what the government is trying to achieve."

Interesting take -------------

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Yeah, that test really makes one think about how we define 'race' these days...

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Quote:

But opponents say whiteness studies has already done that. David Horowitz, a conservative social critic who is white, said whiteness studies is leftist philosophy spiraling out of control. "Black studies celebrates blackness, Chicano studies celebrates Chicanos, women's studies celebrates women, and white studies attacks white people as evil," Horowitz said.

I think that Horowitz has a valid point.

You don't achieve equality by engendering guilt, and focusing on differences.

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Why is it that the people who promote these classes always fall back to the idea that somehow Jefferson created race? Haven't any of them heard of Dr. William Petty or Charles Linnaeus?

These classes seem to have merit but that seems to get wiped out by the political nature of the material.

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BillW wrote:

steissd - that is a very white answer. If brief, "They are using the truth to undermine the misconceptions of what the government is trying to achieve."

Interesting take -------------

On the contrary, they use biased selection of facts (the positive facts are omitted, the negative ones enhanced) in order to support mutual animosity of different ethnic groups. It will be excessive to prove how detrimental can it be for the multiethnic country like the USA.
I think, both White, Black and Hispanic studies should pursue another goal: to bring the mutual historic offenses to oblivion and to find ways to work together for sake of better future of all the people regardless of race.
By the way, what is wrong with my answer being "white": I am White, and this is not yet a criminal offense.

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It kind of smacks to me of, "Well, as an institution we don't have the guts to include these ideas in our actual history curriculum, so we will make an indpendent discipline of it, one that we can use to recruit certain people and make jokes about to certain of our major supporters." Just a gut reaction, though, and I really don't have any problem with what I glean of the curriculum. Probably a pretty easy class, though; I took a couple of classes on feminism in the theatre, and I really felt like just by showing up and being male I'd won some points in the eyes of the instructor. Sad, but that's the way it worked.

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That's the way I see it pd, this stuff should be in all main stream education - not in a class. Only through this approach can:

Quote:

to bring the mutual historic offenses to oblivion and to find ways to work together for sake of better future of all the people regardless of race.

I see this class as an awareness study, and if it hurts - then awareness has been achieved!!!!!!!!

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everyone, please check out this link:

http://racerelations.about.com/library/weekly/blwhiteprivilege.htm?PM=ss13_racerelations

Cav Embarrassed

I took the test and, same as Snood, got 4 correct . . . feel badly enough, but then note that 7 is average? Embarrassed

really good, provocative thread!

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If that test had equal numbers of each nationality, you could guess the same for every picture and get a 6. Got a 9 myself, though I'm not sure what the point was. (And was a little bothered that another "patiodog" had already taken the test.)

But enough of me. Too many words coming out today.

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BillW wrote:

I see this class as an awareness study, and if it hurts - then awareness has been achieved!!!!!!!!

This awareness is unnecessary, it keeps the old wounds fresh not permitting them to heal. The ancestors of some American Whites were slaveowners, the ancestors of some of American Blacks were cannibals, while in Africa; so what? None of the Americans is either a slaveowner or a cannibal (except psychos of any race) any more.
It is necessary to leave bygones to professional historians, and to proceed toward society of universal prosperity and justice for all.

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Quote:

Here's something I'm sure will bring out the beast in some A2Kers.

Snood- That is a curious way to begin a thread. Is it meant to be provocative? A self fulfilling prophecy? Or is it that YOU have a PREJUDICIAL concept about white people?

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Speaking of history.....
...It has been pretty firmly established now, that mankind originated in Africa. then they started to migrate to different parts of the earth. Cliimatic conditions caused a change in features, such as lightning of the skin, and narrowing of the nose. I have known about this for over forty years, and yet periodically, I see an aricle in the paper about a "new" discovery in Africa proving this. the last time I sw such an article was a few weeks ago. So even though this news is never given a lot of publicity, for some reason, I think it's pretty clear, to anyone paying attention, that we are all truly Family.

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In an indirect way snood was just proven right. Phoenix, that was really funny. You just, in a nice way, asked him if he was racist.

Maybe that kind of reaction was what he had in mind.

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