The Lightness of Whiteness… Despite the Brightness: Thinking About Re-thinking Race

1. The Lightness of Whiteness… Despite the Brightness: Thinking About Re-thinking Race Dr. Paul R. Carr Department of Sociology Lakehead University (Orillia) prcarr@gmail.com

2. Should a White person engage in race…? • Is there a choice in the matter? • Are they not already enmeshed in the racialization of society? • So, in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m a White guy… • But…

3. Are we there yet? • Post-modern • Post-colonial • Post-racial • Post-identity • But…

4. Nationalism, patriotism and hegemony • Permanent war and democracy • Structural poverty and individualism • ibrain everything and no books • Education for employment and increasing inequalities • The salience of Snooki and the irrelevance of humanity • But…

5. US foreign policy, democracy and un-democratic activity

7. If everything changes… • Why is there still poverty, crime, war, hate…? • If education is not about peace, is it about war? • If education is not about social justice, is it about injustice? • If education is not about anti-racism, is it about racism? • But…

8. What is racism…? • The N word? • The ability to buy a home? • Knowing that your God is the right one? • Getting a job where you want? • Not seeing yourself in the media? • Invading “brown” countries? • But…

9. If we wanted to end sexism… • What would be the point of counselling women, working with them, providing them resources, supporting them… without involving MEN • If we wanted to end racism….

10. White privilege… • Not knowing that race is the architectural framework underpinning Canadian society • Blaming the “nasty” US and A for everything, and we can’t be quite that bad… • Does a non-White know that he/she is not White? • Why is there the belief that we are COLOUR-BLIND? • How did we feel when the former South African ambassador chastised Canadians who criticized Apartheid because.. “we have the same thing here?” • It’s not about guilt and shame…

12. The numbers • CEOs • Prisons • Elected officials • Principals • Bank presidents • University presidents • …

13. Black-focused schools • “We don’t want to live like the Americans” • “We’re against segregation” • “Why can’t they learn like everyone else?” • “They won’t know how to interact with other people after that experience” • Government policy, White power and neoliberal ideology

14. Complexified identity • Some make it, some don’t; Some have group issues, some don’t; Some fight it, some don’t • Gender, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, etc. change the dynamic but race remains… • Slavery, colonialism, empire hegemony, imperialism shape and contextualize racial identity everywhere • But…

15. Mainstream media • Homogenized, essentialized, “we’re all one” identities • Disenfranchisement, disconnection and fictitious “hope and change” • Is Kony a threat? • Did Americans massively engage to elect Obama? • Did the world conflate what he could, should and would do?

16. Teacher ed. and the new world experience • “That stuff is over, that was a problem for our grandparents…” • “We don’t think like that…” • Church, friendship and love… • White flight and could we “show your house to a Black family?” • Accreditation and we need to do “diversity”; “we need White kids to spend a week in Black schools…” • But…

17. There is a silver lining… • Something can be done… • People can work together… • Just because we don’t hear about it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist… • Anti-war, anti-poverty, pro-social justice, progressive community… there are many positive things going on…

18. Change involves… • Critically engaged, differentiated, contextualized, meaningful, inclusive forms of education • Critical epistemological reflection and interrogation • Action, accepting that we do not know everything, humility, conscientization, radical love and humanity… are helpful • War, violence, vilification are not good options • Education is a societal project

19. There is another way…