"White" doesn't refer to skin color. Caucasians are, more or less, pink-ish. Physical differences which make people non-white include facial features, hair shapes, eye shape, and so forth -- while lightness of skin IS a factor, as it turns out, it's nowhere near as simple as "white/nonwhite skin" -- see, for instance, the "paper bag parties" that existed in the South, in places with historical racial mixing, but still racist -- sometimes, people would hang a paper bag outside the door -- you must be this light or lighter to come in. Our President is almost light enough to pass that test. . .
To me, this ties into a whole mess of things which end up meaning that "whiteness" is a moving target which may have little to do with skin color. A person who gives off the cultural signals for gayness lacks white privilege -- whether or not said person is white (or, for that matter, gay).
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Date: 2010-08-24 02:59 pm (UTC)To me, this ties into a whole mess of things which end up meaning that "whiteness" is a moving target which may have little to do with skin color. A person who gives off the cultural signals for gayness lacks white privilege -- whether or not said person is white (or, for that matter, gay).