The WHITENESS PAPERS
The WHITENESS PAPERS is a series of occasional papers looking at whiteness and white culture in the United States and throughout the world. Papers published in the series may be used in classroom and organizational settings to promote discussion of whiteness.
The WHITENESS PAPERS offer a balance of perspectives, a focus on whiteness as a social, cultural and political phenomenon, a concern for the personal experience of people and how they are racialized in society, and an avenue for writers, scholars and practitioners to offer new thinking about how whiteness may be transformed.
Permit to make 30 copies:
With purchase of a copy of a paper from The WHITENESS PAPERS series you are entitled to make 30 photocopies for distribution to classes, training groups, or people in an organization. You may not resell the article or include it in any published work without express permission of the copyright holder.
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WHITENESS PAPER No. 4
November 2000
White Antiracist Activism: A Personal Roadmap
by Jennifer R. Holladay, M.S.
ABSTRACT
The author examines the impact of white privilege on white antiracist activism. Racism operates on beliefs, behaviors, language and policies at the individual and institutional levels. White privilege saturates our society, providing whites with "perks," real advantages, and a worldview. Activists must ask with whom to work, what information is needed, what must be done, and how to convey that message. White activists must "do their homework" in order to understand how white privilege can shape answers to these questions. One role for white people in the antiracist struggle is educating other white people and unmasking tactics that 1) blame people of color, 2) falsely claim all have equal opportunity, 3) compare "isms," and 4) play different groups of color against each other. A second role for whites is supporting leadership of color by working with white people, by supporting initiatives begun by people of color, by recognizing when and how to use our privilege, and by providing feedback not based in that privilege. Finally, whites must adopt appropriate approaches when leadership of color is not available. Furthermore, whites need to attend to "danger signs" that tell when one is not working effectively. The paper includes several examples of tools and techniques, illustrated with anecdotes from the author's personal experience.
WHITENESS PAPER No. 3
December 1999
White Culture and Racism: Working for Organizational Change in the United States
by Judith H. Katz, Ed.D.
ABSTRACT
White culture is the dominant culture in the United States. Although racism exists on institutional, cultural and individual levels, recent attention has focused on the institutional level, neglecting the other two. Seeing white culture is difficult for white people to do, but necessary to gain perspective, to understand choices, and to work to eliminate racism. The author offers her personal experiences in developing an awareness of whiteness, then provides a detailed list of aspects and assumptions of white culture. White people must come to own their power, their identity and their stories. This task is complicated by associations of white identity with white supremacy, but nonetheless necessary. For white people interested in working on racism at the individual level, the author lists and describes eleven "new competencies." Finally, the author describes her experiences as an organization change consultant in United States corporations. Accountability is key. Measuring results, looking at attrition, providing positive and negative incentives, setting the right goals, and demanding results are each important for organizations seeking to change from a predominantly white cultural mode of operating to one amenable to a multiracial work force. In a large corporation, these changes can add millions in cost savings. Developing white awareness is key to organizational preparedness for the next century.
WHITENESS PAPER No. 2
October 1997
White Men and the Denial of Racism
by Cooper Thompson
ABSTRACT
Drawing upon personal experience and contemporary experiences described in print, the author looks at the mindset of white men. He suggests that there is a continuum that he names "denial of racism" that ranges from "angry white men" to liberal and progressive white males. Himself a white man, the author proceeds to describe eleven common issues raised by white men. Then issue by issue he debunks some of the mythical and fanciful thinking underlying each. Issues include "Why do we have to keep talking about racism?", "What privilege?", and "What happened to 'the best man wins?'" The counter-arguments raised by the author supply material for discussion of each issue. Several of the issues and rebuttals concern the role of Affirmative Action. The author illustrates new ways in which the role of Affirmative Action can be discussed in a thoughtful and informed manner. He ends by calling for more white men to speak out on racism, and offers examples, with commendations, of white men who have done so.
WHITENESS PAPER No. 1
February 1997
Decentering Whiteness
by Jeff Hitchcock, MS, MBA and Charley Flint, Ph.D.
ABSTRACT
The authors believe that whiteness and white culture form the center of society in the United States. This circumstance is unfair and inequitable. The center, which includes power and resources, should be accessible to people from all racial backgrounds. Whiteness therefore needs to be removed from the center. The center cannot be left to a vacuum. Instead, the center should be multiracial. Decentering whiteness and centering a multiracial culture are interdependent goals. Whiteness can not be decentered unless something else takes its central place. A multiracial center can not exist so long as whiteness is central. Decentering whiteness is a process that can be done by individuals and organizations, from small scale changes to large. The authors include a list of features of whiteness as central, with suggestions of strategies, guidelines and goals for changing each feature.
Queries and manuscripts for review may be sent to: The WHITENESS PAPERS, Center for Study, 245 West 4th Avenue, Roselle, NJ 07203, or by email to contact@euroamerican.org.
Author(s) should include identifying information with their request for review. Printed articles should be on 8.5 x 11 bond paper. Electronic submissions should be in MS Word or ASCII format.
Series Editor: Dr. Charley Flint
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