Representations of Whiteness in the Black Imagination

This article was fascinating to read. While I am aware and acknowledge that there has been racism in this country for years, I never thought about it from the viewpoint of an African American, about how they must feel or how they view whites. Is the reason I don't really see it as overly prevalent because I would not be affected by the racism? In our INST 150 class, we have the freshman read an article titled "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" which talks about the somewhat ignorant bliss whites live in because they are never affected by their race. This article lists all the privileges whites hold and they are broad, covering issues of politics down to not worrying about bandaid colors matching our skin. The link online is here: http://mmcisaac.faculty.asu.edu/emc598ge/Unpacking.html

Hooks discusses the terror blacks have felt in response to white supremacy for years. Even though times have changed, that terror is still prevalent. "In contemporary society, white and black people alike believe that racism no longer exists. The eagerness with which contemporary society does away with racism, replacing this recognition with evocations of pluralism and diversity that further mask reality, is a response to the terror. It also has become a way to perpetuate the terror by providing a cover, a hiding place. Black people still feel the terror, still associate with whiteness, but are rarely able to articulate the varied ways we are terrorized because it is easy to silence by accusations of reverse racism or by suggesting that black folks who talk about the ways we are terrorized by whites are merely evoking victimization to demand special treatment" (176). She talks about an experience she had going to a cultural studies conference where she felt white domination within the conference itself, down to even the way the speakers were arranged on stage. Upon feeling the all too familiar terror, she overhead some white women mocking her terror and attributed that to their ignorance: "Their inability to conceive that my terror is a response to the legacy of white domination and the contemporary expressions of white supremacy is an indication of how little this culture really understands the profound impact of white racist domination" (176). Am I guilty of not understanding the terror African Americans feel because I happen to be white and therefore ignorant of this?

Hooks specifically cites the book by Toni Morrison, Beloved, talking about the impact black terror has on the individuals because it is so deeply wounding. She cites a specific incident within the book, where "the memory of terror is so deeply inscribed on the body of Sethe and in her conciousness, and the association of terror with whiteness is so intense that she kills her young so that they will never know the terror" (176). This entire concept both fascinated and embarrassed me. Have I been like those ignorant women making light of feelings some people have had? Have I just overlooked them? Since I am not in the "minority" group, does that mean I only see white ways? Definitely gave me something to think about.

Confusing Exotica

Ghosh opens this chapter talking once again about mass media being a major contender in determining and establishing stereotypes of racial groups. She also mentioned the danger if a group is not included within mass media because that only reinforces opinions about the group's values. Citing the Indian group specifically, Ghosh talks about the images that the media portrays of this group tends to be "narrow and cliche" because they point out that these minority groups are not seen within the dominant culture so its not important to overly represent them within the media. She calls the Indians "soujourners rather than immigrants and people needed for their labor, not for their lives" (275). She goes on to say that the most frequent representation of Indians in the media is their absence (276), "reinforcing their position in the power structure, establishing an us versus them concept, and code them in negative terms". Ghosh talks about the "exotic-ness" of India and their culture, especially within the fashion industry. Our culture paints India as a nation and culture so far removed from our own but one we love to imitate within fashion, but using American models. Ghosh ends the chapter saying American culture has " constructed India soley as mythological, sanskrited India" and the importance of moving from that view to one that sees India as "an identity that is continuously in flux, changing as the political and economic climate changes. They need to move away from pictures of a Hindu India to a more complex, complicated version of what India truly is" (280).

Obviously India is all over the news because of the terror attacks just a couple days ago. This nation that tends to be absent from American media is now all over every TV, website and newspaper. What kinds of images are getting conjured up in the minds of Americans about the Indian people? Will the fact that we have now been affected by a terrorist attack bring us together or just continue to enforce the us versus them distinction? I know many Americans get confused about the many religions and will they be able to sense the difference between the Islamic terrorists and Hindus of India? Ghosh mentioned that we need to begin to seeing India as the diverse nation it is, but will this major world event affect that from happening?