Some thoughts on race, racism, whiteness, and identity

[thederrick]

"It's clear, reading Wray's elaborate argument for the cultural significance of "white trash," that the white-culture business has a big problem: no one has provided a satisfying definition of what white culture is. And even some of its self-appointed describers have serious doubts about the whole enterprise -- namely, in an academic world that

Comments

[molly_grrl]

Really good thoughts from someone I haven't heard from in *for-evar*

I'm currently at a retreat for the teachers at my school in Oakland and this exact topic came up for us. One thing to keep in mind is that whiteness as a category is very invisible and heterogenous, but there is still an element of privilege that white people need to accept, regardless of background. The privilege to drive and not get harrassed by cops, the privilege of being culturally invisible (can you really tell where white people come from?), and so on.

I think in many ways this is one of the most important dialogues for people to be having right now in this moment. Because it's the elephant in the room.

That said, I was very happy to see your thoughts.

[thederrick]

what I'm trying to come to grasp with is the clash between queer-positive "white" counter-cultures that I'm involved with and the hetero-normative non-white cultures that I'm trying, really really trying, to not be judgmental of in an ethnocentric way.

Or, why is the Goth scene so white and queer? Does the queerness preclude the non-whiteness? Does the homophobia of most hip-hop deter the inclusion of my queer-positive peers, or does the queerness of my friends preclude them from entering the "non-white" world? Sadly, I think it really does work both ways.