President Obama walks fine line on race, justice
11 years ago
Monday, April 26, 2010
Racially-Themed Parties and Post-racial White America
I saw this great article, and given our conversations in class about 'themed' parties, this seemed appropriate as the phenomenon appears to be a larger trend. The findings of this study (that 'color-blind' white students tend not to be offended by racially-themed parties) argue that eliminating race from people's view allows for desensitization to the offensiveness of racialized stereotypes. What do you think?
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I found this quote particularly interesting “To their friends, they would express mild approval of the party photos or just not discuss race,” Tynes said. “But in private, in a reaction that they thought their friends wouldn’t see, some students would let us know that they thought the image was racist or that it angered them. We think that it’s because whites have been socialized not to talk about race.” First of all, its interesting to see that these kids would should some sort of approval even if they were angered by the pictures. Despite their true feelings, they want to support their friends. The part that really stuck out to me was the idea that "whites have been socialized not to talk about race." I guess it is true to an extent, but why is that? Maybe it is because many white kids do not have to deal with the same racial issues that black, latino or asian kids do so they choose to avoid talking about it completely.
ReplyDeleteAs we discussed in class, I think that many whites are not angered or offended by these photos because they feel that it's not their place to be angered or offended. It also depends on the degree of racism involved. I think a LOT of whites would be angered/offended if we threw a Jim Crow South themed party, but perhaps fewer would be offended by a "gangster" party (although for me the MLK aspect from the article brings it over the edge).
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