Authors
FRANCE WINDDANCE TWINE, CHARLES GALLAGHER
Publication date
2011
Journal
Race in an Era of Change: A Reader
Volume
31
Pages
107
Publisher
Oxford University Press, USA
Description
People who are identified as" white" in America often think of race-if they think of race at all—as something that other people have. They will sometimes say they're" just white" dismissing race as meaningless for their own identity. A white person, when arranging a meeting over the phone with a stranger, will say something like" I'm tall with curly brown hair," or I'll be wearing a red jacket," but will rarely say" I'm white and tall, with curly brown hair." Even though white people don't think about their own place in the race distribution in America, that racial position affects their lives in big and little ways every day. One thought experiment that might help white people to see that is to include (or maybe just think it in your own head)" white and" in every descriptive thing you say for a day or even a week." She's white and majoring in Accounting," or" She's white and taking up weight lifting," or" He's white and not doing well in my history class," or" She's white and coming home late tonight." Would saying" black" change the tone of these descriptions at all?
Scholar articles
FW TWINE, C GALLAGHER - Race in an Era of Change: A Reader, 2011