Whiteness, Silence, and Power

Silence Surrounding Racial Discourse

It is important to have racial discourse in society. With it, we can further progress discussions surrounding race and racism. However, there is a stagnation regarding racial discourse today. This stagnation of racial discourse is largely perpetrated by the silence around it and even the active effort of silencing such discussion. A process that I think can be equated to a form of "social policing".

What Does "Silence" Mean?

Silence refers to the normalization of "not talking about things" or "deeming certain topics taboo" through the absence of communication surrounding these topics (this includes discourse around race, for example). 

Silencing refers to the active effort of reducing discourse/communication surrounding a certain topic. The silence/silencing around racial discourse is often present in schools as a way to avoid talking about racial dynamics and power structures in society as they relate to race.

This silence contributes to the inability of students to effectively communicate ideas they have about race as their ideas are often either "unheard" or silenced by their educators. This process results in the legitimation of whiteness and the societal power structure it upholds.

Colormuteness

Colormuteness refers to the act of erasing certain words related to race in an effort to silence them. This does not result in actually "erasing" race or the talk surrounding it but instead results in making discourse around race more taboo than before.

Whiteness

Silence, silencing, and colormuteness, all contribute to upholding "whiteness" as a form of power, a form of "domination". Whiteness is reinforced through silence because when people do or say nothing regarding racism and privilege (especially if they are in the privileged social group themselves), nothing then exists to counteract whiteness and its power. People can become unaware of one's whiteness even though they themselves are white. Relating back to what Foucault said about power, whiteness is an example of a self-replicating power structure.

Whitewashed: Unmasking the World of Whiteness

This documentary captures the societal effects of what I have talked about so far. Like I have discussed in the "whiteness" section of this post, whiteness is reinforced through silence and often makes it so that the groups that are "at the top", so to say in a society that determines whiteness as dominant, are unaware of their privilege or race in a way non-white people are. White people can become uncomfortable when discussing their whiteness and privilege due to the subconscious understanding they have that they, indeed, benefit from whiteness themselves.

The only way to solve the silence around race and whiteness is to talk about it. Students should be allowed to communicate their ideas about race, This will, in turn, allow the new generation to be more open when discussing these things.

References

• Castagno, Angelina E. “‘I Don't Want to Hear That!’: Legitimating Whiteness through Silence in Schools.” Anthropology & Education Quarterly 39, no. 3 (2008): 314–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1492.2008.00024.x.

• "Whitewashed: Unmasking the World of Whiteness", 2013 Documentary