Week 6 Discussion

Andrea Soppi Ngando posted Sep 23, 2023 11:56 AM

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In the introduction to their book
 Seeing White: An Introduction to White Privilege and Race, Halley, Eshleman & Vijaya (2010) argue that “Often whites simply perceive themselves as ‘normal’ or ‘just human’ and fail to notice their own race” (p. 4). What do you interpret this statement? How does this relate to the idea that race is socially and culturally constructed?

To me this statement highlights the invisible privileges that comes as a result of being white. This is because society has been structured to empower the majority group (White) over other minority groups. For example, a study by Fürsich (2010) examined the role played in the post-colonial era by the media and entertainment in defining non- white and minorities as “others”. The study outlined the fact that this “othering” of unfamiliar people groups and the labelling of these groups as “minority” was done to unify the country’s “majority” (White) at the time (2010). As whiteness was therefore set to be the norm and resulted to privilege and advantages. Subsequently, being non-white resulted to many limitations and inequalities. This is what authors Halley, et.al. (2010, para. 5) point out when stating that racial privilege does not exist without whiteness, and without whiteness, racial privilege does not exist (Halley et.al. 2010, pg. 11, para.5). Therefore, understanding the genesis of the “othering” process as outlined by Fürsich, (2010) and why it was established will pave the way to understanding why White privilege exists and how it plays out.

Review the Pew Research Center’s (2020) report 


Amid National Reckoning, Americans Divided on Whether Increased Focus on Race Will Lead to Major Policy Change


. Why do you think the different groups discussed in the article have different views of the progress that has been made on equality?

I think that different groups have different views of the progress that has been made on equality based on their ethnicities and how they each experience the world daily as a result of belonging to that particular ethnic group. For example, when it comes to the topic of how much progress has been made on equality, Black people will have a different opinion on the topic compared to Whites, Hispanics, or Asians. This is because as they move and live in the world, each group encounters different experiences. For example, the Pew research study states that more than half of Black adults report that the country still has a long way to go when it comes to achieving racial equality. However, 74% of White adults and 56% of Hispanics who say the country hasn’t made enough progress in this area believe that Black people will eventually have equal rights with White people (Horowitz, et.al. 2020, para. 17).

Which group do you most closely agree with? Why?

As someone who has followed the George Floyd story develop through the news, I agree that there is still a lot of work to be done before all groups can reach equality, especially Black people. I also believe that stories that I have seen on the news such as that of Goerge Floyd or Trevor Martin have affected my views on whether enough progress has been made. Even though I know some policies and reforms have been made, these stories have nonetheless affected how I measure and consider these changes to be considerable or not.

References

Fürsich, E. (2010). Media and the representation of Others. 
International Social Science Journal, 61(199), 113-130. 

http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umgc.edu/10.1111/j.1468-2451.2010.01751.x

Halley, J., Eshleman, A. & R.M. Vijaya. (2010). Ch. 1: The Invisibility of Whiteness. 
Seeing White: An Introduction to White Privilege and Race. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Pg.11, para.5. Retrieved from 

https://eds-p-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.umgc.edu/eds/ebookviewer/ebook?sid=e8bb3131-5cbc-4b43-9959-bf084b01d766%40redis&ppid=pp_1&vid=0&format=EB

Horowitz, J. M., Parker. K., Brown, A., & Cox, K. (October 2020). 
Amid National Reckoning, Americans Divided on Whether Increased Focus on Race Will Lead to Major Policy Change. Pew Research.org. para. 17. 

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/10/06/amid-national-reckoning-americans-divided-on-whether-increased-focus-on-race-will-lead-to-major-policy-change/