whiteness

The Disturbing Phenomenon of Missing White Woman Syndrome

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On the news, think about the last time you saw media coverage about a missing young, attractive white woman. Now, what about a woman of color? Do you often see extensive media coverage about a missing person of color? I didn’t think so. This phenomenon has been called “missing white woman syndrome” – the term used to describe when missing upper-class white women make up a majority of the media coverage surrounding disappearances as opposed …

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So What About Your Babies: A Conversation About “Good Genes”

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Starting with around the age of 10, I recall family members asking me what type of men I liked. Hispanic? White? Often these were the only two options presented to me, later followed by “you shouldn’t date black men, you have to better the race”.  Thinking back on it now, my options were so limited so early on, it was engrained in me that marrying someone of a darker skin tone than my own would …

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White’s Anatomy

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The invisibility of whiteness has never been an issue for me until I took this class. And when I became aware of the invisibility of my race, I began to notice it explicitly in other places, specifically when it came to the media. Grey’s Anatomy is a television show that is often highly praised for its racially diverse cast of characters, and more often than not in its recent episodes, it is praised for the …

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You Can’t Ignore Your Whiteness

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We have to discuss white fragility.  Psychologist Robin DiAngelo defines white fragility as: “a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation.” Whiteness is something that we continue to allow people and especially white people to avoid and it must …

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White “Suffering”

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The Dangerous Belief that White People are Under Attack (2017), by Dr. Clara Wilkins, reminds me of a conversation that I had with my extended family a few years ago. My aunt, (and old, white, wealthy, surprisingly liberal woman) was talking about how her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania was using affirmative action when looking at applications. My aunt was expressing her frustration about how white students are now being “discriminated against” because students …

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White Fragility Gives White People Another Tool to Avoid Race

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It isn’t a secret that white people often actively avoid the topics of race and racism.  One of the biggest tools at white people’s disposal is their privilege (which ironically they rarely recognize they have).  Another powerful tool that white people use is called white fragility.  White fragility is a product of the white dominated environments that whites live in.  These environments give white people the assumption that they should always be “racially comfortable.”  A …

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Psychology is for one, but not for all

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Dr. Jonathan Lassiter, a professor at Muhlenberg College, expresses in one of his works “Whiteness in the Psychological Imagination” how the psychological narratives of people of color is left out of most studies, but particularly in psychological research. He addresses how whiteness is so ingrained in society that even when one is asked to imagine a “person”, a white person is what first appears in their mind. He explains how white is synonymous for person …

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The Whitewashing of Psychology

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We all have been exposed and influenced to the whitewashing of psychology, whether we’re a part of the professional academic discourse or not. Psychology theories and practices often times inform political policies to educational interventions that impact everyone in their daily lives. Here at Muhlenberg, psychology students learn about these theories and methods but we also are aware of the current field’s limitations. A significant flaw in the field is lack or representation of people …

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The White Center

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Nearly everything in the United States is centered around white people and being white.  White people being at the center means that white norms are most commonly accepted while other norms such as African American norms are frowned upon.  Everything is measured against whiteness because it is at the very center of racism and American society as a whole. White people have established that being white is good while being black is not, both consciously …

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Whiteness as Social Capital

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Recently I was listening to an episode of the podcast About Race, a podcast where 3 hosts discuss current race issues in an open way. One of the hosts mentioned that black assimilation to white culture as a solution to race disparity is problematic.  They looked at a specific study that showed that black people who moved to white middle-class neighborhoods before they were twelve had a “compound interest of awesomeness” where they were more …

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Supremacy and Privilege: The Insidious Consequences of Language

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The social constructs that define our reality seem so natural and organic it is as if they were created along with the four elements. But we know that things like race and gender were built by people in order to create a hierarchal society, so how do we begin to deconstruct the categories we both rely on and often cannot see? I suggest that the first step to deconstruction is changing how we describe our …

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