White Privilege Is Unfairly Opening Doors
Before writing this subject's essay on Racism and Whiteness I was completely unaware of the term 'Whiteness'. I mean now I think about it, I've always known about it and seen it and experienced it. But never coined it in quite the same way as McIntosh. That analogy of an invisible knapsack that a white person is always carrying whether they are aware or not, the "special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks" (1988, 1), absolutely blew my mind and opened my eyes.
I don't believe that I have done anything incredibly wrong in my life, I wouldn't say I now feel guilt when I see a door being opened for me, but I am aware of what is available to me and what might not be so easily available to others PURELY because of their skin colour!!
The ad campaign that you viewed above, if you didn't bother to click the link just do it already, was run by an organisation called the Unfair Campaign. This campaign is aiming to show white people the role they can play in addressing racial disparities. This is so great because there are so many people that believe they are not racist so racism isn't their problem, but racism is everyone's problem. This major anti-racism effort has been sponsored by the University of Minnesota who say they are proud to join this organisation.
Rosemary van den Berg talks of her time growing up as an Aboriginal child. When attending primary school Rosemary, like many Aboriginal Australians, was believed to be inferior to the other children, she was called names and had many issues in school. Her parents were belittled and suffered many indignities but prevailed through it so their daughter could receive a quality and equal education. Rosemary mentions learning that the best option was just to obey any white rules, orders and people and she and others learnt that from Monday to Friday they must accept white rules and regulations as decreed by the government of Western Australia. (Berg, 2011, 54).
Not only do non-white students feel the need to obey white regulations, but white privilege is also an issue because this has led to white dominance (or maybe white dominance appeared first, its really like the chicken and the egg cycle) which can be seen everywhere. Gillborn suggests that social settings such as schooling institutions regularly portray and encourage white dominance (2005, 491).
The education systems "are actively implicated in maintaining and extending the grip that white people have on the major sources of power in Western capitalist societies" (Gillborn, 2005, 491).
This might seem like a big statement, but I can see where it's coming from. Whiteness is definitely evident in Australia's education system. The MySchool website gives each school a rating on the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage scale, of course your number on the scale can become important in school choice. Right, so what is negative about this? The scale is comprised using a formula and the most heavily weighted negative variable in the formula is the proportion of Indigenous students enrolled.
Do you understand where I'm going with this? This type of formula only further excludes Indigenous students and enhances the status and reputations of elite white schools. (My School Website).
Thinking back to that ad campaign you watched right at the beginning... I'm sure you can see why I found it so relevant. If white people do not acknowledge the white privilege that surrounds and engulfs them, then the matter of racism will never be solved.
References
Gillborn, D., 2005, Education policy as an act of white supremacy: whiteness, critical race theory and education reform, Journal of Education Policy, Vol 20 No 4, pp 485-501
McIntosh, P., 1992, White Privilege and Male Privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women's studies, in M. Anderson & P.H. Collins (eds), Race, Class, and Gender: An anthology, Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Publishing
Rosemary van den Berg, 2011, The Journal of the European Association of Studies on Australia, Vol.2. No.2,
University of Minnesota sponsors Unfair Ad Campaign, 20 June 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBqWMblu_Ss&feature=youtu.be
Rosemary van den Berg talks of her time growing up as an Aboriginal child. When attending primary school Rosemary, like many Aboriginal Australians, was believed to be inferior to the other children, she was called names and had many issues in school. Her parents were belittled and suffered many indignities but prevailed through it so their daughter could receive a quality and equal education. Rosemary mentions learning that the best option was just to obey any white rules, orders and people and she and others learnt that from Monday to Friday they must accept white rules and regulations as decreed by the government of Western Australia. (Berg, 2011, 54).
Not only do non-white students feel the need to obey white regulations, but white privilege is also an issue because this has led to white dominance (or maybe white dominance appeared first, its really like the chicken and the egg cycle) which can be seen everywhere. Gillborn suggests that social settings such as schooling institutions regularly portray and encourage white dominance (2005, 491).
The education systems "are actively implicated in maintaining and extending the grip that white people have on the major sources of power in Western capitalist societies" (Gillborn, 2005, 491).
This might seem like a big statement, but I can see where it's coming from. Whiteness is definitely evident in Australia's education system. The MySchool website gives each school a rating on the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage scale, of course your number on the scale can become important in school choice. Right, so what is negative about this? The scale is comprised using a formula and the most heavily weighted negative variable in the formula is the proportion of Indigenous students enrolled.
Do you understand where I'm going with this? This type of formula only further excludes Indigenous students and enhances the status and reputations of elite white schools. (My School Website).
Thinking back to that ad campaign you watched right at the beginning... I'm sure you can see why I found it so relevant. If white people do not acknowledge the white privilege that surrounds and engulfs them, then the matter of racism will never be solved.
References
Gillborn, D., 2005, Education policy as an act of white supremacy: whiteness, critical race theory and education reform, Journal of Education Policy, Vol 20 No 4, pp 485-501
McIntosh, P., 1992, White Privilege and Male Privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women's studies, in M. Anderson & P.H. Collins (eds), Race, Class, and Gender: An anthology, Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Publishing
Rosemary van den Berg, 2011, The Journal of the European Association of Studies on Australia, Vol.2. No.2,
University of Minnesota sponsors Unfair Ad Campaign, 20 June 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBqWMblu_Ss&feature=youtu.be
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