Essay on The Passive Racism of Whites - 773 Words

The Passive Racism of Whites In Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, Professor Beverly Daniel Tatum defines racism as â€Å"prejudice plus power.† This means that a person can only be racist if they benefit from a racist system. Therefore, the only people that would systematically benefit from racism are Whites. Tatum calls this â€Å"White privilege.†. Everyone can be prejudice, but only the dominant race can be racist. Although this is hard to hear, being a White college student I have always prided myself on a subsistence that is free from bigotry, I realize that Tatum is right. Not only is racism restricted to Whites, but it is an integral part of the lives of most Whites. Tatum argues that â€Å"many Whites are†¦show more content†¦I have such a strong desire to say the â€Å"right† thing and justify myself as someone who does not agree with most of our country’s institutions. Tatum argues that â€Å"it is difficult to talk about what is essentially a flawed and problematic social construct without using language that is in itself problematic.†. The â€Å"language that is†¦problematic† comes in the form of euphemisms. The more words used to describe a certain social construct, the more likely there is an underlying problem that needs to be solved. The underlying problem is the tension between past actions, present guilt, and future expectations. White privilege is a truth, but along with being on the VIP list of most institutions in this country, Whites are also burdened with guilt. There needs to be some way that the problem of racism can be addressed without pointing fingers. I think a way to circumvent the guilt is to speak of grander renovations, such as legislative or educational reforms. Perhaps then, the finger, which must be pointed in order for change to occur, will land on a larger problem with society, our institutions. Even though Tatum is blunt about Whites being the proprietors of racism, she does not exclude us from the fight for change, banishing us to sulk in our nostalgic guilt. In fact, we, the people with an â€Å"in† to our country’s many institutions, have a very large responsibility to become active in the fight against racism. Tatum argues that the reason that WhitesShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Poem Sister Outsider 1709 Words   |  7 Pagesoverall American system that promotes systems of oppression that correspond with racism. Lorde explores many themes within her writings, but this paper will concentrate on the underlining themes from â€Å"The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism† (Audre Lorde), themes such as the need and use of anger without guilt, oppression vs. oppressed relationship, and the need for a different feminist movement. 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There are two prominent writer/scholars who have taken the issue of white privilege to heart and have shared their expert analysis on the subject; these authors/writer-scholars are Peggy McIntosh, a white feminist, and Beverly Tatum, an African American Psychologist. McIntosh, in her article Coming to See Correspondences, makes excellent observations about the privilege that she has experienced just by being a white female in America. The two mostRead MoreThe Message of the Black Ball Essay820 Words   |  4 Pageslike it’s just a straight forward story but if you take a real close look at it you can see that there is a message within the story. Through Metaphors and allegories and other literary terms like characterization, you can see the negative of how racism and discrimination affects people in a big way of there thinking. The theme of the story would have to do with Persistence and doing hard work through the tough times. 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