Once, not too long ago, I heard someone (polite stand-in word for "white guy") at my workplace say something to a hispanic worker that I felt was notable for some further thought and criticism.
"I don't see you as Hispanic, really. You're pretty white (laughs). I just see you as a person".
This was said due to the person in question being clearly educated, well-spoken (in "standard" English, that is), and seemingly bright. The white person saying this did not see anything wrong with their statement, and to the contrary must have felt it was some kind of compliment. The compliment being, "You're smart, therefore you're white (and therefore, more human in my eyes)".
Doesn't this mean that the norm is of white people being seen or thought of smart and eloquent? What if a White person isn't? Are they less white somehow and a part of some other racial group? Nah, typically they're just "an idiot" - read that: an exception to the rule of Whiteness meaning humanity, smartness, etc. And for those White people that act so outside of designated Whiteness that it calls into question their Whiteness? Oh yeah, that's right, we already have done that historically. When whites act like what we conceive black people to act, we call them 'wiggers' to insult them (invoking the merging of White with an offensive slur against Black person, perhaps telling us how we may see Blackness in a way that we're not ready to face up to).
When Whites stand up for non-Whites, we say they're "probably hanging out with a lot of non-Whites, dating a non-White, too racially sensitive". There's always some individual instance or consideration of deviation when Whites break from the typical rank of behavior.
So just to get the connotations right at this point: white=good, non-white=bad. When you act a way that I see as racial, you're not White to me. You're not normal to me. You're a race. When you act a way that I designate as smart or educated or like me (white), you're normal.
Everytime I hear something like that, these are some of that sentiments that I gather from it:
"You're better than those OTHER [read: bad] people that are [racial group here], in fact, you're kinda like ME [read: good]."
"Seeing as race isn't important to my life [HAHA!] and you're in it, I'm going to have to ignore that you're [racial group] so that I don't have to think about such unimportant things as race and racism, and therefore move on to correcting my preconceived notions about other racial groups. Whew."
"Wow, you are an actual human being...therefore, it's simply not possible for you to be [racial group]!"
This is not the only way I've witnessed a habitual instance of White people invoking an engrained evasive tactic to facing up to their own racial preconceptions they may or may not be aware of. The same Hispanic worker in question was once asked by a White female patron if he spoke Spanish. When he replied "no", her expression was full of shock and a maternalistic sense to tell him, "Well, you really ought to learn! I mean, even I'm learning!" See, even though it's her faulty preconception that all dark-skinned people that may or may not be of Hispanic descent "must" speak Spanish, she has told herself that instead of facing up to this and changing it through work and self-criticism, it's on the "other" person to change their reality to suit her psychological constructions of people.
This White privilege in practice. This is White centrism in practice.
If you're frequently guilty of such behavior or attitudes, please, utilize some tact the next time you run into a person of color whose personality has "gone above and beyond" some preconceived notion you have of their 'racial group'. Then, do yourself (and all of us) one further and find ways to challenge this conception you have of people so that we might actually get to a point where we are "just people".
Excellent piece. This is what I was talking to you about last time we met, the idea of being expected to behave in a certain manner because of one's race. It is not only a white vs minority issue but also a minority vs minority issue, which is tragic. One sees this within Black and Latino communities in which you're considered white if you exhibit the sort of behavior that is associated with white Americans ( academic excellence, being articulate, etc.) All within the same framework you mentioned of the notion that white=good, minority=bad.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely something I have struggled with because in a sense it denies your individuality and you are perceived as part of a race and expected to behave accordingly. I was lucky enough to have lived in Mexico for 12 years before moving here and discovering this aspect of what it meant to be a minority in America. In Mexico I am an individual and there are no expectations as to what my behavior and my interests should be.
It goes both ways as well, some people actively try to resist being incorporated into the American culture when they move here, in fear of losing their identity/heritage. But there are also some people who try to leave all of this behind and make great efforts to assimilate into the American culture because they realize that their Ethnic group is looked down upon. Here, we go back to the same formula of white=good, minority=bad. For example, that Hispanic who didn't speak spanish, I've met many people who know Spanish but they REFUSE to because they fear being looked down upon, again within the same framework of that racial formula. So, it goes both ways, I believe. It really is an identity crisis and a really complicated matter as well. But, like you said, we must make an effort to get to a point where we are "just people."
Miguel, I agree. You've given a spot on analysis.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important to have a point of view like yours in the mix, because an outsiders view of what it means to be Hispanic from another context compared to the institutionalized idea here vs the reactionary one here.
The notion that "smart = white" is a power ploy that, in my opinion, helps keep oppressed groups divided. Those disenfranchised in the U.S. and born here as Hispanic, for instance, may see a Hispanic person doing well academically as an affront to what they have perceived as racial identity. This often may lead to the academic person who is Hispanic moving away from that group and either siding with the "White" end of the argument or with leaving the tension unattended. Both of these help the White power structure, it would seem, because it keeps both groups from seeing their position as oppressed and uniting to overcome that goal as well as mutually understand each others unique spot in said oppressed state.
I think that while working towards mutual understanding between groups that are socially oppressed in this country is vital, it is necessary to simultaneously get white people out of these habits that perpetuate ideas amongst themselves and towards others than "White=good", "White=smart", "White=industrious", "White history=important or relevant"...these two situations interplay in complicated ways, as you've mentioned.