https://contemporaryracism.org/3516/ethnic-as-other/ An academic blog about whiteness, implicit bias, and systemic racism Sun, 22 Apr 2018 18:07:38 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://contemporaryracism.org/3516/ethnic-as-other/comment-page-1/#comment-914 Sun, 22 Apr 2018 18:07:38 +0000 http://contemporaryracism.org/?p=3516#comment-914 This is a great post, Julia. I think your insights are so interesting, and I have recognized this same issue in beauty sections of stores. It is a subtle, less noticeable means of oppression that would not be recognized in the slightest by the untrained eye. This makes it an issue of “Us vs. Them”, as you’ve mentioned with your idea of the “other”. In my mind, these two ideas go hand in hand. By making industries such as that of beauty products so racialized, we are “othering” people who do not fall into our ideals of beauty, which equates to Whiteness in our society. By doing this, we are making it not only a racialized issue, but separating ourselves from the issue completely, making it a “them” issue. It is almost as though the beauty industry does not see the problem; by making these distinctions, they are essentially saying that one body is more beautiful than another, and this is an extremely unsettling way of regarding our standards of beauty.

]]> https://contemporaryracism.org/3516/ethnic-as-other/comment-page-1/#comment-906 Fri, 13 Apr 2018 16:13:06 +0000 http://contemporaryracism.org/?p=3516#comment-906 I really enjoyed reading this blog post because it reminded me of an article I saw in January that I found very disturbing. The headline from the Business Insider article stated, “Furious Walmart Customers Post Videos of Stores Locking Up African-American Beauty Products”. And, to go even further, the customer filed a lawsuit against Walmart for alleging racial discrimination. Being a frequent shopper at CVS, I know that the more expensive products (razors, some medications, high-end beauty products) are locked up for fear of theft. However, I have never seen “ethnic,” African American, or Black hair products behind the glass. I don’t think it’s enough for the customer in this case to just not shop at Walmart. This is a part of the system and must be changed with laws and regulations. Hair should not be represented as different- and more specifically, Black or African American hair should not be viewed as different or “ethnic”.

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