Whiteness: The Meaning of a Racial, Social and Legal Construct

Emory University
Emory University
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Publicado 2017-11-27
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election and bestselling books like "Hillbilly Elegy" and "White Trash," there is a growing realization that whiteness is as much a social racial and political identity as being African, Latin, Asian or Native American. In partnership with the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, JWJI is pleased to host a panel on the evolution of whiteness in American society. Our esteemed panel brings their interdisciplinary perspective to the panel to explain why race—including whiteness—still matters in America. (November 16, 2017)

Panelists:

Richard Delgado, John J. Sparkman Chair of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law, author of Critical Race Theory

David Ikard, Professor of Africana Studies, Vanderbilt University, author of Blinded by the Whites: Why Race Still Matters in the 21st Century

Nancy Isenberg, T. Harry Williams Professor of History, Louisiana State University, author of White Trash

Jane Junn, Professor of Political Science, University of Southern California, author of The Politics of Belonging: Race, Immigration, and Public Politics

David Roediger, Foundation Professor of American Studies and History, University of Kansas, author of The Wages of Whiteness

The James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference supports research, teaching, and public dialogue that examine race and intersecting dimensions of human difference including but not limited to class, gender, religion, and sexuality.

jamesweldonjohnson.emory.edu/
Todos los comentarios (21)
  • @mrcasivan
    Religion also played a big roll in all of this.
  • @normabrien8331
    This is the dark side of the country. Ignorance is so prevalent and only a sound educational system based on true history can with time remedy this part of society.
  • @russellwashington6588
    The feminist on the panel actually had the audacity to assert that lynchings done to "protect” white women represent one of the ways white women have been oppressed! That’s the stupidest victimhood grab I’ve even heard.
  • @333angeleyes
    I honestly... I honestly don't know what to make of this. I felt like everyone was painting ALL whites as having power and privileges and Nancy Isenberg alone was trying to say, hey not all whites have power; not all whites have privileges. I am an African-American so of course I understood where the other speakers were coming from; especially the black male speaker. It's just that Nancy's approach leads to more understanding and hopefully a better future. But again I agree with the other speakers that you can't give racist an inch or it will spread because the majority of racist people honestly are ignorant to the fact that they are racist.
  • @habibahas13
    COLORBLINDNESS is utilized as a CONVENIENCE when it's convenient to cover certain nonsense!!!
  • @kashmoney7421
    "Nobody holds onto power forever" If you are looking for hope there you go.
  • @gerardst.hilaire6140
    It's coming up on five years and we need to have a follow-up discussion with this same panel. Emory University, please try and create space for this profound discussion to happen again with these same individuals. I'm sure that the lives that were impacted by this first dialogue will be greater in the second
  • @zuazhar1630
    Armenians were categorized as Asian. A second of two judges recategorize them as white in 1909. Then, Assyrians and Jews were included as white and eligible for naturalization.
  • @ProkofNY
    The perceived link between tanned skin and the working class is not limited to white Europeans. The association of pale skin with high status is still quite prevalent in Chinese culture. Predating the transatlantic slave trade, this has been an issue of class and distinguishing the ruling elites from the working masses (peasants).
  • @beingheardmedia6339
    Another note: the comment about the "lonely Asian bachelor" was interesting. My great-grandfather was Fililpino and he wasn't lonely. He married a Black woman and had my grandfather (who looked Latino and had a Latino name) who married my Black grandmother and here we are. I've always been amazed that my grandparents actually managed to get together in the era they did (1940s).
  • @mp.music.2823
    Giving blacks what they are do Will be a fast start to change things for blacks!!!
  • @stacyMighty
    Race in the United States was highlighted for my copper brown skin in 2018- 19 when I saw America from a personal experience as a textile designer.
  • @Lmr6973
    Why do these "smart" people can't understand the 3/5 of a person? If they would have been counted like everyone else do they not know what this would have meant?
  • @anthonygantt7292
    My question to the panel: how microeconomics and macroeconomic freely used by White's and white power corporation effects the continuation racism?
  • @analogee6858
    Did the first speaker really not know that the census was in the constitution? She genuinely seemed taken aback and that’s a bit worrisome for a person studying the historical construction of race.
  • @jesi3930
    Jane and David were a bit muted because they are navigating themselves in a country that aesthetically identifies them and treats them based on those values. As educators, they have the real life experience and historic context that differently fuels their consciousness. Thus, they are unable to really dissect this topic to give us the sustenance that is needed.