Date Published: 7/25/2016
Author(s): Hua Hsu
Resource Link: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/the-new-meaning-of-whiteness
Summary: This article offers a historical context for the creation of "whiteness" and then looks towards the future using examples from the Obama administration. The article predicts that elections will become more divisive as poor white people struggle to maintain privilege as society advances. The author gives reasons why disadvantaged white folks might feel resentment and want to maintain the privileges their whiteness has historically given them.
Take Action!
Reflect via a journal entry or discussion with a friend - What is your reaction to the quote at the end of the article: "Whiteness was once described as invisible, a conspiracy that could never be brought into focus. But we can now at least contemplate the possibility that white might become a color like all the rest." ? How does your reaction show up in your body when you read it? (sour feeling in the stomach, tightness in the chest) Explore why this might be.