being White just makes us is no more powerful position than that of human. “There being just human. The claim to power is the claim to speak for the commonality of humanity. Raced people do that—they can only speak for their can’t race” (Dyer, 2012, p. 10). To limit whiteness simply to concepts of race and racism would not recognize the complexity that exists in defining White. Whiteness is a lived experience. It is an ideology, a system of beliefs, policies, and practices that enable White people to maintain social power and (Suchet, 2007, p. 868). There is a distinctive silence that exists control” in defining whiteness (Suchet, 2007; Nakayama & Krizek, 1995; Lane, 1998). is that which is not seen and not named. It is present everywhere but absent “Whiteness from discussion. It is the silent (Suchet, 2007, p. 868). norm” Whiteness is the center from which social definitions of are defined and “normal” the center from which power has been established in American society. Wander, Martin, and refers to a historical systemic structural Nakayama (2012) suggested, “Whiteness race-based (p. 34). According to Suchet (2007), dominates superiority” “Whiteness through normalizing itself and constantly mutates while always maintaining supremacy. There are enormous variations of power among White people related to class, gender, sexuality, and other factors, and many ways to be White. Nonetheless, White power reproduces itself and can never be separated from (p. 869). Kobayashi and privilege” Peake (2000) said, of the reasons that Whiteness is so powerful is that it promotes a “One re-articulation of racisms of the past. It incorporates some lessons from the civil rights movement, erases racial differences, and pretends that its values apply to (p. everyone” 394).
being White just makes us human. “There is no more powerful position than that of being just human. The claim to power is the claim to speak for the commonality of humanity. Raced people can’t do that—they can only speak for their race” (Dyer, 2012, p. 10). To limit whiteness simply to concepts of race and racism would not recognize the complexity that exists in defining White. Whiteness is a lived experience. It is an ideology, a system of beliefs, policies, and practices that enable White people to maintain social power and control” (Suchet, 2007, p. 868). There is a distinctive silence that exists in defining whiteness (Suchet, 2007; Nakayama & Krizek, 1995; Lane, 1998). “Whiteness is that which is not seen and not named. It is present everywhere but absent from discussion. It is the silent norm” (Suchet, 2007, p. 868). Whiteness is the center from which social definitions of “normal” are defined and the center from which power has been established in American society. Wander, Martin, and Nakayama (2012) suggested, “Whiteness refers to a historical systemic structural race-based superiority” (p. 34). According to Suchet (2007), “Whiteness dominates through normalizing itself and constantly mutates while always maintaining supremacy. There are enormous variations of power among White people related to class, gender, sexuality, and other factors, and many ways to be White. Nonetheless, White power reproduces itself and can never be separated from privilege” (p. 869). Kobayashi and Peake (2000) said, “One of the reasons that Whiteness is so powerful is that it promotes a re-articulation of racisms of the past. It incorporates some lessons from the civil rights movement, erases racial differences, and pretends that its values apply to everyone” (p. 394).
Pollom_Dissertation_Final.docx