White’s Anatomy

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 attention it brings to highly …

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You Can’t Ignore Your Whiteness

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 stop. Robin DiAngelo speaks from …

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Sisterhood’s Lasting Impacts

One of the clearest impressions I have of Greek Life is the movie Sydney White, where every member of the sorority portrayed in the movie is thin, white, and blonde, except for Sydney White, who is, *gasp*, a brunette. And that impression has not been disproven. When I entered Greek Life at Muhlenberg, there were no black women who had joined or were already members in my chapter. There was one Latina woman, who graduated, and in the composite photos …

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Ever heard of Afrocentric Psychology?

Throughout the time as an undergraduate psychology major, students are taught about this idea of Psychology and all of the findings that psychologists have gathered since psychology’s start. What is hidden from these students is the fact that what they are learning is only applicable to one subset of the population of the world. In fact, they may not learn a single thing about other populations. This fact is a blaring one. There are entirely different psychologies for everyone that …

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Why is black skin viewed as a weapon?

One of the leading causes of death for young black men, is police brutality. Young black men in their mid to late 20’s have about a 1 in 1000 chance of being killed by police (source needed). For many of them they are murdered while they are unarmed and are committing no crime. However, we can see time and time again white mass shooters being taken alive in the most difficult of circumstances. Yet while police are obviously capable of …

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The Phantom Menace was Racist and Here is Why That Matters

With a title as grandiose as that, it is easy to predict reactions from those who do not want their beloved franchise besmirched. As someone who has loved the franchise since I was a toddler, it was difficult to come to terms with some of the more problematic issues that take place within the ‘first’ Star Wars movie. Opening one’s mind to see the bias or prejudice attitudes taken by a series is a hard task, mainly because one would …

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Racism in Restaurants

I have worked in the service industry doing everything from bussing to serving to bartending for years and the one thing that has followed me to every establishment I have worked in is explicit racism. In recent years more attention and media coverage has been given to the issues black people face as consumers in America. Instances such as two black men being arrested in a Starbucks or the singer SZA being followed around by a security guard while in …

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