Customer Reviews

Breaking the Code of Good Intentions: Everyday Forms of Whiteness (Perspectives on a Multiracial America)

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This book caught my attention because I have several near and dear "Angry White Males" in my life that I just don't understand. To my way of thinking, life has given them everything - good educations, good jobs, nice homes, nice families, nice prospects - yet they invest an inordinate amount of energy being angry at and fearful of THEM. ("THEM" being pretty much anyone who is not white.) Why, I've wondered, are my near and dear so aggravated by THEM when in truth, the enemy more likely to undermine their peace and prosperity is a white CEO? Why do right-wing talk show hosts wax rabid on the topic of "welfare queens" yet turn a blind eye to (or worse, make excuses for) corporate looters?

Of course, the answer if far too complex to address here, but Melanie Bush provides interesting insights, not the least of which is the basic presumption of "white goodness." Bush spent five years collecting and documenting perspectives of white students on inequality and found their perceptions of and rationalizations about equality have little basis in reality. Simply put: despite indisputable evidence to the contrary, most white students believe that not only have other races achieved equality, they are now privileged at the expense of white people. (aka "reverse discrimination.")

The first part of the book analyses the ethnographical data collected through interviews and surveys with students at the City University of New York (CUNY) probing attitudes and perspectives about race and class. The final chapter explores "Cracks in the Wall of Whiteness" and presents some consciousness raising activities...a hopeful chapter without which the book would not be complete. The Afterword provides a post 9/11 perspective on notions of race, and had me vigorously nodding in agreement at every page.

This book is clearly written and enlightening.

This book is absolutely wonderful; it is engaging and at times difficult to swallow as we come to terms with whiteness and the issue of cultural capital. The lessons learned from this text are insurmountable. Coming to terms with individual philosophical perspective defaults is difficult, however finding the `cracks in the wall' make it worth while. This is a must read for all academic, especially educators who are working for the betterment of the student populations they serve!

Toby (NC):
White studies, what an interesting concept. Those who subscribe to White Studies are the first to tell you that there is Race is not a viable construct, except, of course-the White Race.

John L.: Toby's comments above ARE NOT TRUE.
"Whiteness" refers to a set of behaviors, beliefs, customs, and/or practices.
The term has NOTHING TO DO WITH BIOLOGY.


Toby: Hidden in this insanity is the popular trope that only white's can be racist (except the chosen white feminists.


John L.: The movie "Crash" did a great dis-service to efforts directed towards decreasing racism.
The movie displays how members of ALL groups can hold prejudices towards other people.

What "Crash" didn't show us is how White people benefit from institutional or systemic discrimination/racism....such as discrimination in employment, racial profiling, sub-prime loans aimed at "Communities of Color", the "racial" or ethnic disparity in "whom is given the death penalty, gerrymandering, low expectations for Students of Color held by White teachers, etc., etc., etc.

Unlike the individual examples shown in "Crash," the preceding examples involves policies and practices that disadvantage People of Color in large numbers.
Hence, "Crash" is whiteness at its best: projects the message that all people can harbor prejudices while concealing examples of systemic discrimination that advantages Whites over People of Color.

Toby: Though the white studies people claim that {race) is a social construct this construct appears only to white people. This can mean only one thing blacks, asians, hispanics and others are merely victims of their own biological nature.

John L.: Wrong, yet again.
"Races" of humans is indeed a social construct, and thus means only one thing: all humans are of the same species.

If ALL humans on the Earth today can....TRACE THEIR ANCESTRY BACK TO A WOMAN WHO LIVED IN AFRICA 80,000 years ago...this means that there was NOT a "multi-genesis of different races of human."
We all came from the same source.
Google California Newsreel and then search for "Race: The Power of An Illusion."

Two, "Whiteness" doesn't "appear to White people"...it is PRACTICED AND BLINDLY ACCEPTED by White people.

For example, Whites control ALL mainstream media, TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc.
Only certain types of information...that does not contradict the dominant group's view of life....is regularly paraded before viewers, readers, or listeners.

For example, why do most Whites tend to believe that "most of the people receiving welfare in America are Black?!"
That's because Blacks are far, far more likely to be depicted in the media as receiving welfare.

In reality, Whites are the largest group receiving welfare.
Of the 180 million Whites in America, about 15% or 27 million are poor.

Of the 40 million Blacks in America, about 25% or 10 million live in poverty.
We can state based on the stats above that Blacks are disproportionately represented among people who receive welfare.

We also can just as accurately state that...numerically, Whites are the largest group receiving welfare.
The former statement (disproportionate) is more likely to be used by media outlets...than the numerical statement.

Another myth motivated by the practitioners of whiteness...is the belief that "a large percentage of Whites have lost jobs to Blacks because of affirmative action."

How can so many "Blacks be on welfare" (from research polls/surveys of Whites)...yet simultaneously be taking so many jobs away from Whites?!"
Just doesn't make statistical sense, does it?! Yet, many Whites hold these dueling beliefs simultaneously.
Where do these beliefs come from?

They come from the distorted ways White-controlled media broadcast or publish info about affirmative action.

Two, Blacks are NOT even the largest group benefiting from affirmative action. White women are the largest group. (e-mail me at jclind2@msn.com for more info)

The overwhelming majority of people opposed to affirmative action have...NEVER even read the legislation....but instead rely on people like Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, etc. to interpret it for them.

The legislation very clearly conveys that "this legislation was enacted to counter problems of discrimination targeting women and minorities."

Three, in psychology there is a term known as "internalization of racism."
This refers to people that "accept the negative images they see of their group in the media, i.e. textbooks, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, etc.

How is this definition reflective of whiteness?
Well, there are 2 issues.
One, if people can internalize negative images and begin to believe that "they are inferior to others"....what is the opposite of that?!

Those who receive only positive images of themselves...tend to believe that "they are superior to other people."

Two, the definition puts the burden for change...on those who internalize the images rather than on those who PRODUCE the images.
Every time I raise this issue in psychology classes, traditional psychology professors always answer in the same way: "I never thought about that."

Of course they haven't...because you cannot start out with whiteness and arrive at such an analysis.
As Audre Lorde once said, "The master's tools...will never dismantle the master's house.


I wonder if whiteness will play a role in whether my review gets posted to this page.
I'll be glad to be proven wrong on this one. :>)

As if white people are not bombarded with enough hate yourself propaganda already as it is they now have "whiteness studies" at many Universities. You could actually laugh at something like this if this ideology wasn't being pushed at some of the most respected Universities in America. While the rank and file people that champion "whiteness studies" are certainly insane and/or brainwashed I would have a hard time believing that this doesn't originate from one of those globalist big business/banker funded think tanks.

The content of this book is more or less the author uses selective quotes from interviews with white Brooklyn College students, who are all middle class liberal types and uses them to point out how racist, insensitive and privileged they are no matter how logical in pointing out double standards or even out and out anti-racist what they say is. Just one example is a white female talks about having a crush on a "light skinned" black and its strongly implied that this is a sign of the girl being racist because he was "light skinned". So unless your mind is not properly washed you must believe that it does not matter if you have non-white friends, date interracially, or how much of a liberal race mixer you are. Its still not enough. Your still an insensitive racist that has no idea how much of a life of privilege you lead at the expense of "people of color". People of colors lives are utter hell and its because middle class white people exist. No matter what you cannot prostate yourself enough. Enjoy your new world order!

White studies, what an interesting concept. Those who subscribe to White Studies are the first to tell you that there is Race is not a viable construct, except, of course-the White Race. Hidden in this insanity is the popular trope that only white's can be racist (except the chosen white feminists.
This may remind those who have studied the rise of Nazi Germany of the melding of the hated Oost-Juden and the Jewish citizens of early 20th century Germany. To the Nazi's and other Europeans a Jew was a Jew no matter where he lived or what he did. The Jew must be erradicated since they were considered a detriment to society.
Depending on which white studies author you read their premise is not that much different than that of the Nazis. White (the non-race) people are apperently guilty of a multitude of sins from colonialism to genocide from lookism to homophobia. Whiteness is a problem that must be erradicated so that the perfect peace of equality can reign supreme. But, before this can happen the "idea of a white race must be destroyed, or so says, Harvard's Prof.Ignatiev.
Though the white studies people claim that {race) is a social construct this construct appears only to white people. This can mean only one thing blacks, asians, hispanics and others are merely victims of their own biological nature.