1. CHAPTER SIX: WHITE PRIVILEGE AND THE CHANGING U.S. RACIAL HIERARCHY By Tanya Maria Golash-Boza 1

2. White Privilege  “It is important to think about white privilege for several reasons. First of all, if we want to understand racial oppression, it is crucial to understand how it looks from the other side. Second, white privilege often remains invisible, and by bringing it to light we can develop a better understanding of how racism works in our society. Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that all whites do not experience white privilege in the same way.” (p. 152) 2

3. Some Examples of White Privilege from “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh  “I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.”  “Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.”  “I can swear, or dress in secondhand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.” (p. 151) 3

4. What comes to mind when you see these two images of neighborhoods? Who do you think is more likely to live in these neighborhoods? p. 154 (top): Thomas Northcut/Getty Images p. 154 (bottom): Denis Jr. Tangney/Getty Images 4

5. White Privilege as Unearned Privilege  An image that presents this idea has been developed by an artist who portrayed what looks like an American Express card, that includes a certain message: “White Privilege Rewards” and the name on the card is “B. E. Aware.”(The Wejr Board, 2011, April 4)  The idea behind the card is that there is already a resource-loaded and pre- loaded card that a white person simply has to use. 5

6. Retailers often racially profile and treat white customers better than non-white customers. p. 151: Joos Mind/Getty Images 6

7. Rewards are Not Equal Across the Board  “Does white privilege benefit all whites equally? White privilege certainly benefits some whites, yet these benefits are not spread equally among them. When an employer gives a white applicant the benefit of the doubt because he is white, the applicant experiences white privilege, whether or not he is aware of it. However, whiteness is not experienced in the same ways by all whites. A poor lesbian white woman in rural South Carolina, for example, will experience her whiteness— her white privilege—in different ways than a wealthy white heterosexual male stockbroker in New York.” (pp. 152-153) 7

8. Differential Privilege  Social class—Poverty versus Middle Class privilege  Sexual Orientation—Lesbian or gay oppression versus straight privilege  Gender—Women experience patriarchy and differential societal expectations exist for women classified in different racial groups  Place of Residence—Segregated neighborhoods contain unequal resources. 8

9. What’s the Opposite of ‘underprivileged?’ 9

10. Louis C.K. Loves Being White 10

11. Definitions of White  U.S. Census categories may define who is white and have shifted over time as representative of “social constructions of difference.” (p. 167) 11

12. Whiteness in Contemporary Times  “Some groups have moved closer to whiteness, whereas others have moved further away.” (p. 156)  Racial hierarchies shift. Examples:  Latinos  Arab Americans, North Africans, Middle Easterners 12

13. Multiracial Identity  Much variability in how different people identify themselves  Does a child who has one white parent identify as white? Or biracial? Or Multiracial? Or favor the non-white parent?  Does the identity shift with the situation and people one is around?  Physical appearance, socioeconomic status, and social networks influence this self-identification. (p. 161) 13

14. According to the definitions used in U.S. census, both people in these pictures should check “white.” p. 158 (top): Mark Daffey/Getty Images p. 158 (bottom): AP Photo/Detroit News, Max Ortiz 14

15. Brandon Stanford identifies with his African American roots. p. 160: © 2014 BlackStar Creative. Photo by Noelle Théard. How do we know what ‘race’ we are? 15

16. Figure 6-4. (a) The U.S. Census and the Race Question (a) Race question used in the 2010 U.S. census; Source: (a) 2010 U.S. Census Figure 6-4a: U.S. Census Bureau 16

17. Figure 6-4. (b) The U.S. Census and the Race Question (b) one of the alternatives proposed for the 2020 census. Source: (b) Alternative Questionnaire Experiment. U.S. Census Bureau (2012). Figure 6-4b: U.S. Census Bureau 17

18. White Fragility  What hinders discussions of race and racial privileges?  White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and insulates them from race-based stress.  This insulated environment of racial protection builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress, leading to what is referred to as White Fragility.  White Fragility is 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.  These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium. 18

19. What Does “Black” and “White” Look Like Anyway?  What race is this man?  What marks him as Black?  A 2009 Pew Research Center poll showed that 52 percent of Americans said Barack Obama was of "mixed race," while 27 percent called him "black.” 19

20. What Does “Black” and “White” Look Like Anyway? Obama and his Grandfather 20

21. 21  Sociologists see race and ethnicity as social constructions because they are not rooted in biological differences, they change over time, and they never have firm boundaries. Ex: white

22. “BLACK AND WHITE TWINS” AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF RACE  The children in the images below — Kian and Remee Hodgson – are fraternal twins born to two bi-racial parents. What race are they? 22

23. Percentage of Multiracial Children Identified as White by Parents 23 There is considerable variation in how children with parents of distinct racial backgrounds are identified racially by their parents. Source: Roth (2005).

24. Three Models Explaining Future of White Majority  The White/Nonwhite Divide—Whiteness will continue to be an exclusive category in which Asians and Latinos will be excluded through socioeconomic exclusions.  The Black/Nonblack Divide—Whites will expand to include everyone but Blacks.  The Tri-racial Order: Latin-Americanization— This creates a system of whites at the pinnacle, those considered “honorary whites” in the middle, and blacks at the bottom. 24

25. Ending Thoughts  White privilege is an important dynamic to understand and identify  Groups may change in racial identification or be simultaneously an ethnic and a racial group  Multiracial identity helps both challenge and reinforce current racial hierarchies  The racial hierarchy could flex in different ways with population change according to scholars. 25

26. Racial Categories: Is Latino a Racial or Ethnic Group?  Latino can both be considered a race, as some Latinos answer with this label when asked what their race is. This is an example of racial assimilation.  Latino can also be an ethnicity in that specific practices although with much in-group diversity characterize the groups included in the label. 26

27. Figure 6-1. Latino Racial Identifications in the 2010 U.S. Census Over half of all Latinos self- identified as “white” in the 2010 census. Source: U.S. Census (2010). Figure 6-1: U.S. Census 27

28. What do Latinas Look Like? 28 (a) Celia Cruz, Cuban salsa singer (b) Cameron Diaz, actress of Cuban descent (c) America Ferrera, actress of Honduran descent. How useful is it to identify these women as Latina? What do they share? How do they differ?

29. Figure 6-2. Racial Self- Identification Among Latinos by Skin Color, 1989 Skin color and racial self identification do not correlate for Latinos. Nevertheless, light skinned Latinos almost never self-identify as “black.” Figure 6-2: LNPS 1989 29

30. Racial Identification in 2002 National Survey of Latinos 30 Figure 6-5. When given the option to identify racially as “Latino,” a plurality of Latinos identified as such. Source: Golash-Boza and Darity (2008).

31. Conclusion “…[I]t is far from obvious who is white and who is not. We have also seen there are benefits related to being classified as white, yet that these benefits are not spread evenly across the white population.” (p. 172) 31