Is White the new Black?

[Jolin]

Non white people were under race issue in the past. In the past, white people are fear of other people's color. They thought people of color are dangerous and savage. However, now people of color tend to be fear of white people. There is an example from the book of "The social construction of white women, whiteness race matters". It said that "the ongoing incidence of white supremacist terrorism around the United States, which targets African and Asian Americans, Lationos, Native Americans , and Jewish Americans; and the problematic relationship with the police that leaves many communities of color with, at the very least, a sense that they lack legal and physical protection." It seems that in the modern society, white people do not present the feature which they used to announced. When people of color face white people, they may think the matter which created by white people. In this case, white people are under race issue. I do not say that White is the new black, however, it turns to be that white is nothing different from non-white people. We all just human.   

[jbird]

I did not like Dyers' reading at all, he seemed to think he was a black man writing to descriminate whites for the way blacks have been treated in the past. he seems a little confused about his own identity, but i do not think his writing would make much of an impact, except to get people disagreeing with him and whites perhaps feeling ashamed of their skin colour, is this what he intended all along? i don't believe that white is becoming the new black; i do believe that whites are slowly becoming an ethnic minority, especially in England, but i don't think we'd stand for anything like what dyer is suggesting.

[jessbeat]

i do agree that we are all just human, so why does what colour we see make any difference to what we want? Dyer presented some very interesting ideas which i do believe are still present in modern day. there may no longer be slavery but race is still affecting some people. it may not be in jobs or qualifications but it is present in relationships. for some it is still wrong for a white person to be with a black person. why is this the case? we are all just people.

[aj89]

I think the media plays a large part in the way black people are stereotyped. In 'The black and white media book' it became evident to me that, black people in films are always either criminals or 'the token black guy'. However I feel that the representation of black people in films has moved on since this book was written, take Will Smith, Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, Jada Pinkett - Smith who all have leading roles and are no longer outcast. This must prove that society has moved forward since the 'olden' and 'prejudice' days.

[07056267]

I believe that an interesting person to take into account in regards to this topic is President Obama.  Throughout the early stages of Obama's campaign, the issue of his colour arose frequently.  People were concerned on whether he was really 'black enough' to be considered the first black president of the US.  Due to his mixed raced heritage; a white american mother and a black Kenyan father, people were unsure whether or not to class him as white.  His father left at an early age, therefore, he was brought up by a white mother, thus, possessed white values.  This led to him often being viewed as a new breed of white person, a hybrid.  However, although Obama had a white upbringing, his skin colour overruled this and he was defined as black.  Race was a big issue in the elections, however, how many people questioned McCain's whiteness?  McCain was criticised for being too old, but never for being white.   

I personally believe the election of Obama further maintained white supremacy.  Obama's gradient of whiteness may seem fairly low, but his beliefs and values follow the continuing white structure of government.  What do people think about this?

[emily]

I do not think it is a matter of 'growing up' in order to recognise people as just human beings, as there is always going to be prejudice and stereotypes around. Whether it is to do with our gender, race, age, sexuality or class, there is always something to which people think we are not equal.
In terms of Dyer, I feel like he was only trying to help treat everyone equally, no matter what race they are. I agree that by seeing whiteness as something other than normal, we are more likely to acheive this.

[Silver]

I agree that Dyer does make us feel ashamed of being white, but i believe that he is also just trying to make us empathise with other races, and to be aware of how they feel in their daily lives. However, this point tends to become blurred and his words come across as accusing towards the reader. I do not in anyway consider myself a racist person, but when i had finished Dyer's article i felt like a terrible person for not being aware of my whiteness. However, i believe that as we are bought up in a white society,t his is the reason for a lack of realisation on a day to day basis, whereas if we went to a predominantly black area, we would become a lot more aware, because this is when our skin colour because a stand out feature. Thus, i do not believe that it is racist for us to not realise our whiteness, but rather that it is not made aware, due to the largely white society that we live in.

[Insurgo]

Something that hasn't come up so far (or maybe it has and I've missed it) is the fact that terms likes 'racist' and 'racism' are generally more often used to describe the actions and attitudes of certain groups of white people. Dyer and the writers in this thread do not appear to recognise that racist behaviour is ubiquitous on this planet. People from backgrounds which are not predominantly white or more accurately North Western European by origin, are just as capable of racist attitudes. All forms of tribal warfare have their routes in xenophobic/ racist views towards people from outside of an ethnic/social/cultural group.

I also want to say that I most certainly do not agree with the title of this thread. White North Western Europeans have never had to fight their way out of the disenfranchised, poverty stricken and nightmarishly oppressed states that so many other ‘races’ on this planet have been placed in. The relative luxury the white ‘race’ has enjoyed for the last 1000+years is almost directly in relation to the pain and suffering they have inflicted on the other peoples of the globe as well on their own ‘race’. No, White is most certainly not the new Black.  I do however agree that we should by now have dropped these grudges, prejudices and frankly backward labels, given the empirical scientific fact that we are all the same animal, Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

[badreligion]

I don't believe anybody should be treated differently because of there colour. But the reality is, that there is different standered of what you can say to a white or a black person, different levels that would consider you racist. And the reason is because of history. Black people have a history of racial prejudice against them whereas whites havent. Therefore whites almost don't have to be politically correct towards them, because they havent suffered in past history.

[07031351]

I believe that we do wear masks in everyday society but I believe that we do need to wear them. It only seems logical to me that we have different aspects in personality and it is not someone just being fake but when you wear a certain mask it is your personality.

[calling_stars]

I do not think it is morally correct to allow white people to be the subject of slander, simply because it's not morally correct anyway. Naturally, this should be the case of people of all races, as race should not be an issue.
Race shouldn't be an issue but it has come to view that, in some way, always will be. So instead we should be aware of our differences, we should acknowledge them and praise the positives within them.

[dell_boi]

It is not right to subject Whites to slander just to focus attention on the past. I believe that the past racial abuse on black people is terrible and unforgivable, but to do it again on a different race would also be disgusting and unforgivable. I have grown up to have known a Jamaican for 20 out of the 22 years of my life and i know for a fact that he would never wish anything upon white people. Even though he has received some racial abuse, he has always taken on the chin and known that these are the people that are ignorant and stupid. I recognise that we all human beings and we should all be treated with respect no matter what skin colour or ethnic background.