Looking Ahead & Lecture Notes

LOOKING AHEAD: As I noted yesterday (Tues. 11/3) in class, we are behind where I'd like to be in Dr. Tatum's book, so I am going to use this blog post to cover a couple chapters in her book in lieu of doing this in class lecture. In your reading you should be farther along in the book -- as far as Chapter 8, which is where I plan to pick up in class tomorrow. We will spend at least another two weeks wrapping up her book and transitioning to Shirley Better's "Institutional Racism" sometime before Thanksgiving break. Also, don't forget about the Interview Paper, the description of which I handed out a few weeks ago. You still have plenty of time to do it, since it will not be due until after Thanksgiving break.
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LECTURE NOTES (Be sure to incorporate the following in your class notes. Anything I present in these lecture notes will be fair game for making up questions for the final exam.)

A couple final points about Chapter 5:

1. Middle-aged people may have a difficult time with racial identity -- having to survive in a predominantly white work environment where you have to contend with stereotypes and prejudice. Encounters with racism may give rise to strong emotions, As Dr. Tatum observes: "Those adults who have adopted a strategy of racelessness may experience racial encounters in middle adulthood with particular emotional intensity. Because of the increased family responsibilities and financial obligations associated with this stage of life, the stakes are higher and the frustration particularly intense when a promotion is denied, a dream house is unattainable, or a child is racially harassed at school." (p. 85) she then goes on to mention some recent books which focus on such problems.

2. There appears to be a continuing need for Black adults in the workplace to be able to get together and commiserate with fellow Black workers, which even extends to the corporate cafeteria. In this context, I appreciate what she says about this in response to a question from a White employee who was troubled by fellow Black employees announcing their get together. (See last paragraph, p. 90.)


Part III: Understanding Whiteness in a White Context

Chapter 6: The Development of White Identity
"I'm not ethnic, I'm just normal."

A. Dr. Tatum opens with an observation we made at the very beginning of this class -- that in contrast to people of color, whites don't recognize themselves as a racial group, which led that one white woman to say, "I'm not ethnic, I'm normal." (as if being ethnic is abnormal).

1. As Dr. Tatum observes, "Like many White people, this young woman had never really considered her own racial and ethnic group membership. For her, Whiteness was simply the unexamined norm. Because they represent the societal norm, Whites can easily reach adulthood without thinking much about their racial group." (p. 93) There tends to be a lot of silence about race in White communities (or "whitopias").

B. Dr. Tatum then cites the work of psychologist Janet Helms who defined six stages of how Whites can achieve a healthy sense of white identity. I appreciate what she says about what both people of color and Whites need to learn to foster positive interaction. (See middle paragraph, p. 94)

1. We'll loosely run through these six stages. I am less concerned about you memorizing these six stages (YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO IT), than learning some of the insightful observations she makes about the process.

C. The initial or CONTACT stage is when white folks begin to wake up to the many ways they have benefitted from being white and how they have consciously and unconsciously breathed in the smog of prevailing stereotypes of people of color. Whites typically start out believeing they are free of prejudice, colorblind, and only think of racism as the prejudiced behaviors of individuals.

D. The next level, DISINTEGRATION, "is marked by a growing awareness of racism and White privilege as a result of personal encounters in which the social significance of race is made visible."

1. first-hand encounters -- eg., a close friend of color who is the target of racism.
2. racist incidents such as the beating of Rodney King.
3. or, the classroom (such as our own where I hope you all have been exposed through reading and videos to the existence of racism)
4. Dr. Tatum mentions a powerful video, "Ethnic Notions," which I have not seen, but I would say "Race: the power of an illusion" would be a similar example.
5. This new awareness is often accompanied by discomfort, feelings of guilt, shame, anger.
6. In realizing the impact of racism in creating social inequalities, it challenges our belief in American MERITOCRACY.
7. Often leads people to want to act on this new-found awareness by educating others about their prejudices.

E. Then comes REINTEGRATION where "...previous feelings of guilt or denial may be transformed into fear and anger directed toward people of color. The logic is: 'If there is a problem with racism, then you people of color must have done something to cause it.'" --i.e., blame the victim.

1. Don't necessarily have to go through this, but it occurs due to the strength of the system of advantage and socially sanctioned stereotypes.

F. Another big hurdle for Whites to overcome is to see themselves as a GROUP member, rather than as an INDIVIDUAL. People of color deal with this all the time -- being seen by others, first and foremost, as a member of a group. "For Whites, thinking of oneself only as an individual is a legacy of White privilege." (p. 102)

1. Gets a bit complicated when you are both a member of a dominant and subordinate group -- eg., White, Jewish.

2. She makes a good comment about a poorly organized anti-racism workshop which left participants stuck in this reintegration stage -- stuck in anger, and not given ways toward construction action. (p. 105)

G. Deepening your understanding of racism further to recognize institutional racism and dropping the "blame-the-victim" view, leads to a commitment to unlearn one's racism -- the PSEUDO-INDEPENDENT stage, which is epitomized by the "guilty White liberal" who has an intellectual understanding of it but doesn't quite know what to do about it. Also, she notes, "We all must be able to embrace who we are in terms of our racial and cultural heritage, not in terms of assumed superiority or inferiority, but as an integral part of our daily experience in which we can take pride. But, as we see in these examples, for many White people who at this stage have come to understand the everyday reality of racism, Whiteness is still experienced as a source of shame rather than a source of pride." (p. 107)

H. Recognizing the need to find a more positive self-definition is the hallmark of the next stage -- IMMERSION/EMERSION.

1. Need to learn about positive role models -- whites who fought racism who,unfortunately, are generally less well-known than white racists and segregationists who defended it. She mentions: Morris Dees, Virginia Durr, etc.

2. In this context, Dr. Tatum also likes to expose her students to real, living, breathing anti-racist activists.

3. She even recommends forming White consciousness-raising groups -- makes some good points about the need for such groups. (See, bottom p. 110-111.)

I. Finally, the last stage, AUTONOMY, in which "a person incoporates the newly defined view of Whiteness as a part of 'personal identity.'" Energized to confront racism and oppression, Whites (just as Blacks and others) with a healthy sense of self-respect can participate more meaningfully in interracial dialogue. (Reminds me of Malcolm X who welcomed plain-talking Whites, just as he regarded himself as a plain-talking Black man.)


Chapter 7: White Identity and Affirmative Action
"I'm in favor of affirmative action except when it comes to my jobs."

A. Dr. Tatum opens with a very astute observation about how the workplace has become one of the few places where Whites interact with Blacks and other minorities because of persistent residential and school segregation.

1. It is in this context that many Whites have become aware of their Whiteness because of affirmative action policies and the sense that they (especially White males) are the targets of "reverse discrimination" (which I critically examined earlier and Dr. Tatum does not do directly). And -- "Though there is almost no empirical evidence for this 'imaginary white disadvantage,' the idea has achieved widespread popular credence." (p. 114)

2. She notes that invariably in her workshops when the issue of affirmative action comes up, someone has an example of a friend or relative who was not admitted to a school or lost a promotion to a "less-qualified" person of color.

a. less qualified is always the person of color, usually Black (never a White woman). And she also wonders how these individuals know so much about this person's resume.

B. She feels it is important that before discussing affirmative action, people need to have a basic understanding of racism as a system of advantage based on race and be aware of the concept of White privilege -- that is, basically, we need some historical perspective which she goes on to provide a little of.

1. She talks about an exercise she had students do to write an essay on whether they think affirmative action is good. She quotes and analyzes what one White woman wrote. (See last 2 paragraphs p. 115 - 116)

C. What Is Affirmative Action?

1. Dr. Tatum is particularly good in this section, sorting out the difference between GOALS and QUOTAS and GOAL-ORIENTED and PROCESS-ORIENTED programs. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY ALL OF P. 116 AND P. 117, where she clearly explains these distinctions and provides some historial background.

a. On p. 117 mid., she arrives at her own definition of affirmative action: "...affirmative action can be defined as attempts to make progress toward actual, rather than hypothetical, equality of opportunity for those groups which are currently underrepresented in significant positions in society by explicitly taking into account the defining characteristics -- sex or race, for example -- that have been the basis for discrimination."

b. Dr. Tatum then goes on to talk about PROCESS-ORIENTED vs GOAL-ORIENTED programs and she raises some important critical questions about the PROCESS-ORIENTED type, which is considered the weaker of the two. (See bottom p. 117-118)

D. She then goes on to discuss some interesting research which clearly indicates that even the most well-intentioned programs, especially the process-oriented ones, may still favor Whites over people of color because of what is called "AVERSIVE RACISM."

1. They studied how White and Black applicants were rated based on different levels of qualifications. Somewhat surprisingly, bias crept in with regard to the highest qualified Blacks, as Dr. Tatum explains. (see top p. 120) Also, check out what this study's author said, top half p. 121.

a. In short, this research strongly questions whether we can trust a process-oriented program to be operated objectively.

E. Dr. Tatum talks about her own experience on a college search committee and how easily highly qualified Black candidates can be overlooked or an excuse can be made such as: he or she is too good; he or she would never stay here; or they just would not fit in here, which she believes is a problem.

F. GOAL-ORIENTED affirmative action is preferable, but it is important that administrators clearly articulate the organization's diversity goals -- "keep your eyes on the prize".

1. Again, she cites a common complaint but responds by saying that this is more a matter of a poorly administered program. (See middle paragraphs, p. 124)

G. She closes by stressing again how an understanding of what affirmative action is and is not, coupled with an understanding of White privilege, can help eliminate feelings of White disadvantage.

H. We should keep our eyes focused not so much on ourselves but on what is right in terms of society. Affirmative action is only one strategy, we need to discuss others and consider other groups which have been discriminated against. "Racism is not just a Black-White thing," which sets the stage for Part IV.

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That's it for now. Be sure to copy these notes and pay attention to page references throughout.