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From: Dani Moore <dani@unc.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:1168] Re: "those now described as white"
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I, too, appreciated the conference's opening panel and learned a lot
during discussions, workshops and other panels at the conference. Thanks
to Daphne and others whose hard work and commitment made the conference
possible. I'm interested in discussing more about the conference than
the whiteness question, so I encourage others to suggest more topics.
However, I wanted to offer my two cents on whiteness. I'm most persuaded
by arguments that frame the question differently-- not more names for
white or better defining who white people are. I know about some of my
ancestors from Ireland, England and Scotland, and I know it's possible
there are more racial and cultural influences in my family background. I
seek to undermine white supremacy, but it's difficult, and I also have
trouble with naming people who look somewhat like me and benefit from
white privilege in the U.S. Authors like Noel Ignatiev ("How the Irish
Became White") and David Roediger (ed., "Black on White: Black Writers
on What it Means to Be White") have informed my views and I think their
contributions to the dialogue on race compelling, provocative and
useful.
As James Baldwin wrote in 1985, "As long as you think you are white,
there's no hope for you." Ignatiev argues that the white race is neither
a biological nor a cultural formation; it is a strategy for securing to
some an advantage in a competitive society. Roediger maintains that
whiteness is not merely oppressive and false, it is nothing but
oppressive and false.
And I don't think we'll be getting rid of the word "race" anytime soon.
What would be our reasons for doing so?
Some of these ideas are outlined at
http://www.postfun.com/racetraitor/features/thepoint.html
What do others think?
Best to all,
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Dani Moore dani@unc.edu 919.962.1542
Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator
Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education (SCALE)
http://www.readwriteact.org/
Daphne Greenberg wrote:
>
> A few years ago, 3 women and I worked on a proposal to study the additional difficulties women who have low literacy skills have when they are abused and are trying to navigate the beaurocratic system to get help (whether it is a shelter, restraining order, etc). Because we felt that women from differnt cultures have different experiences (and of course a lot of similar experiences), we decided to look at 3 groups-Latina women, African American women, and White women. We struggled with the labels we used, because Latina and African American described origins and not just skin color, while White only described color. We were not able to come up with a label that we could all feel comfortable with.
> By the way, Laura brought up this issue during the question and answer period after the panel, and it met with dead silence. It might be because her question was the first one, it also might be that people found it too loaded?
> Daphne
> >>> hauserl@mail.dekalb.public.lib.ga.us 01/29/01 19:51 PM >>>
> One thing that struck me listening to the very good, opening panel
> presentation was the inadequacy of the word white to describe a race. I
> think it is as inadequate as black for denoting skin or culture. I'd
> appreciate a discussion about other words we might consider using to
> designate the amazingly diverse appearance, attitudes, and experience of
> those now described as white.
>
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