What “Whiteness” Means

There has been much controversy recently at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign over a group called the “Illini White Students Union”.

The Washington Post quoted the group’s Facebook post in which it claimed its purpose was “for white students of University of Illinois to be able to form a community… and organize against the terrorism [they] have been facing from Black Lives Matter activists on campus.”

According to TheCollegeFix.com, more than 30 “White Student Union Pages” were created on Facebook in the past week.

But to understand why this is problematic, there has to be some reflective questions asked that makes us examine ourselves as a society. It goes deeper than asking, “What’s wrong with a white student union?” or “Why is a white student union seen as racist?”.

More importantly, we need to ask the question:”What does is really mean to be white“? I mean, think about it, who and what really is a white person?

 

Is it all based on skin color?

That’s questionable, seeing how there are many self-identified white people who are darker skinned than some light-skinned black people.

I’ve seen Chinese and Japanese people who are lighter skinned than some white people, why aren’t they considered white too?

 

Is it based on European ancestry?

That can’t be right, seeing how people of Irish and Italian descent weren’t seen as being white (and were heavily discriminated against) up until the early 20th century.

 

Well what is “white”?

We know that race itself is a social construct, so the truth is that “whiteness” is not a clear identity rooted in a certain place, ancestry or culture. The concept of whiteness is an ideology specifically created to be exclusionary.

It was created as a means to differentiate from those who were seen as fully human and those who were not.

To put it simply, the concept of whiteness was pretty much created to send this message:

“We’re not one of you, and you’re not one of us.”

This is the reason why Italian and Irish pride is associated with a festivals and parades, and white pride is associated with a Klan rally.

It’s why loving your “Polish culture” is seen as fun and loving your “white culture” is seen as hateful.

That’s because “white culture” doesn’t exist.

Some might say, “well, couldn’t the same be said about Blackness?” But, the truth is that “Blackness” was created by the same racial caste system which created white people. When my ancestors came to America, they didn’t self-identify as “Black” or “African American”, they identified by their tribes, such as “Mandika” “Wolof”, “Akan” or “Mbundu”.

The reason why many of us today identify as “Black” and “African American” is because we don’t know what specific tribes we originate from because that history was erased… but I digress.

Overall, I believe that “Blackness” encompasses those who are from the African diaspora, whether they live in Jamaica, The Dominican Republic,  the US, Europe, Africa, etc.

But, to get back to the point of whiteness, I’m not saying that there is anything inherently wrong with being a white person. I’m saying that we should question why the concept of whiteness was created in the first place and look at how it still effects us today.

One of the effects is that culture of exclusion has existed whereas people who were not considered “white” were relegated to second-class citizenship. That culture of racialized exclusion through segregation extended to American institutions and organizations.

This is why Black Student Unions,  Black Greek Organizations, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities were created. Not to practice racial exclusion, but to provide opportunities for people who would otherwise be shut out of the American dream.

 

One of the reasons why explicitly White-centered or White-exclusive organizations are frowned upon is because historically, White-centered organizations are born out of prejudice and racialized fears, triggered by solidarity within non-white racial groups.

So it’s no coincidence that we are seeing White Student Unions rise up. These are people who are afraid of non-white people challenging the concept of white supremacy.

Why? Because white supremacy is unconsciously the base of many people’s understanding of not only America, but of the world.

But, it doesn’t have to be this way. Another important question for us to ask is what can we do about it?

First off, we need to be honest about the problems at hand. We have to teach about what whiteness in America means, we can learn about it, we can create understanding which allows people to grow.

Because to not understand the history of whiteness in America is to not understand a large part of the history of America itself.