INSIDE THE BOX

We have widely talked about how African Americans, Hispanic, Asians and other minorities have been segregated and discriminated in the past and also in the present time. Color-blind racism is the concept that has helped me the most to understand why racial inequality still persists today. In our society, calling someone a racist is a serious insult; however, a racial ideology that upholds the superiority of whites and ensures that whites have access to the best resources persists. White privilege is a term that was unknown for me before this class; now I understand why most people make distinction between a white and a non-white person. I did not understand why I was followed sometimes when I walked into a store and why white people were not. After learning the concept of white privilege and all the ideologies embedded in our society, I am able to understand, but I still think that it is unfair.

I found the "Whiteness Project" very interesting. It gave a narrower understanding of how white people feel about being white and the privileges it involves. The participants were asked to describe their understanding of what it means for them to be a white American. Although not all the interviewed people feel privileged, most of them recognized the advantages of being white. One of them even mentions that she feels guilty due the white-privilege advantages they have. I believe that most of them are completely aware of the privileges they have just of being white. 

After watching the videos of the Whiteness project I was able to better understand how Americans identify themselves, and how they understand their whiteness. I was actually surprised by some of the answers. Some people declared that they have experienced discrimination. For example, an old man states that he has felt cheated sometimes; he feels like presently, white people are the most discriminated race. He has experienced discrimination in job search because of the minority requirements. They showed that 60% of working-class white Americans believe discrimination against whites is a big problem as discrimination against minorities. 

In todays society, most people do not consider themselves racist; in fact, many people do not believe that there is  a race problem going on in the present time in the United States. The concept of Color-blind racism helped me understand why such people really think they are not racist but in deed their behavior proves the opposite. An interview conducted by CBS News to Whitney Dow, the producer and director of the documentary, explains that after their research they concluded that there is a clear division of how both, white and black people perceive themselves and their relationships with the opposite race. 

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