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Essay / Analysis of the documentary Whitewashed - 700
“Being smarter than black people, having a higher economic status or even being a better race than any other”. As we learned in class, the white people in this documentary have internalized racial oppression. These white people can be lumped into internalized racial superiority. They have all experienced the common symptoms of denial, exceptionalism, color blindness, ethnocentrism, arrogance, etc. I can infer from this documentary that generalizations can be made to all white people about white privilege and “whiteness.” Another person cited a quote from Malcolm X: “Racism is like a Cadillac, a new model every year.” This explains the idea that racism is socially constructed. Decades ago, society formulated an idea of racism in which skin color determined one's social class, intellect, and skills. The white people in this video assume, since they were not actually the ones who enslaved African Americans, that they have no involvement in the inequality that America serves to minorities. They are part of the problem because white people do nothing with the “power” they have of “whiteness”. The system is already accustomed to seeing blacks, Hispanics and Latinos fighting for their rights and equality, but if white people with their "whiteness" and white privilege, it would raise a red flag and hopefully the, would bring a change. The racial disparity between whites and blacks is enormous. The majority in his country are white people because of their power, not numbers. White people refuse to acknowledge the racist society we live in and just make excuses or change the subject. If white people really valued their power, then they should plan anti-racist projects.