Monday, October 26, 2009

Wise's "Whites Swim in Racial Preference"

I really enjoyed the simple but powerful metaphor explained at the beginning of this article. The comparison to fish and water with the concept of white people to themselves was something which easily caught my attention. Sad, but true.
1. "Yet few whites have ever thought of our position as resulting from racial preferences. Indeed, we pride ourselves on our hard work and ambition, as if somehow we invented the concepts."
- This point is as clear as day. Rarely, are African American workers of any type described as "hardworking" or "ambitious", but rather lazy. While this stereotype is far from true, it is considerably used in everything from entertainment to actual hiring processes. We as white Americans believe that we are given the advantage of already being seen as hard working in the first place. When a little white boy finishes a puzzle, he is applauded for and considered a "hard worker" from an early age. When a little African American boy finishes a puzzle, he is slightly encouraged to continue and then often thought of by others as "good for something".
Rarely, if ever, are hard work and encouragement common factors in describing racial stereotypes involving non-white groups.

2. "If only I had been black, I would have gotten into my first choice college."
-I will confess to the fact that two years ago, I thought the same thing. While I endlessly ranted that I was unfairly judged for admission to my first choice school, I often quoted my anger at Affirmative Action, complaining that because I "was the 701 st white middle class qualified applicant out of 700", I was denied admission regardless of my qualifications. While this theory may continue to hold down future students, Affirmative action does need to be fixed so that it helps people of ALL backgrounds, without isolating others just because a certain quota has been met.


3. " We strike the pose of self sufficiency while ignorning the advantages we have been afforded in every realm of activity."

--This quote very much goes along with the first quote. Along with the idea of an unseen "white privledge", we ALL involuntarily take on this "pose" of self-sufficiency. We reap out all of the advantages that we can out of the fact that we were born white. Everything from crimes, to jobs, to communitve decision making is determined instantly by our "given" self-sufficiency. Whether we choose to accept it or not, however, is where the real problem and solution lie together.....Which are we, the "cure or the disease"?????

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