Four Ways of Thinking About Whiteness
One of the biggest challenges we face when talking about race is that we don’t have a common vocabulary. For example, using the word “justice” associated with race evokes vastly different reactions. We have had different experiences, so we don’t see the same things or use the same language to describe what we see. Therefore, we misunderstand each other.
This really comes into play with how we define “racism.” What counts as racist? For many White[1]people in western countries, racism is purely a personal matter. They see everything through an individualistic lens. They can’t easily see how racism could be built into social systems. That kind of thinking sounds foreign, if not downright Marxist.
Conversely, most People of Color, who are typically more communal in culture, see racial bias as a feature embedded in every level of society, often below the level of consciousness. They don’t believe racism can be solved one person at a time. For them, any meaningful discussion of racism requires that people examine larger historical trends, social values, interpretative models, mental habits, policies, laws, and structures of society.[2]
White people and People of Color also react very differently to the language of “White Supremacy.” Most White people have a box in their mind labeled “White Supremacy” and it is filled with Skin Heads, Neo-Nazis, and other militant extremists. Since few White people fit that category, they discount any language of “White Supremacy” applied more broadly as overblown, inflammatory, and irrelevant. So, they talk past each other and rarely talk with each other.
In listening to White people talk about race for decades, both in the United States and in many other countries as well, I hear White people talk about “Whiteness” and how it interacts with race at four different levels. I’ve assigned each a label for clarity.
Level 1: White Norming
This view assumes that in countries with White majorities, it is both reasonable and unavoidable for White majority cultural norms to set the standards to which other groups should assimilate. This is justified as simply a matter of percentages. Just as left-handed people must accept living in a world designed for the overwhelming majority of right-handed people and cannot claim that anyone set out to disadvantage them on purpose, minority groups will always have to adjust to the cultural dominance of larger populations in the countries where they live. This view does not claim any genetic or cultural superiority of any people group. It is just a matter of mathematics.
From this point of view, White people should expect to assimilate in countries where they are a minority. But this perspective does not support any legally established biases, injustices, or oppression. To that degree, it has real strengths which are not easily dismissed.
However, White Norming can unknowingly take on an insulting paternalistic attitude that creates pushback it can’t easily understand. It also underestimates the value of whiteness all over the world, even in countries where White people are a small minority. Yet, it does rightly recognize that percentages do shape things and majorities set the norm whether they know it or not. When in Rome . . . .
Level 2: White Primacy
Beyond recognition of majority power, this mindset believes that the cultures that arose in Europe, especially northwestern protestant Europe, developed superior values and practices that resulted in their greater power and wealth in our world. This set of related cultures ended up dominating the world not just because they were the strongest militarily or technologically, but because their values and habits work best because they are most true and effective. While rejecting biological superiority, this view espouses cultural superiority. White or western culture (as hard to define as that is) is the world’s prime culture.
While people of this mindset will typically admit that White Primacy has at times led to abuses, these are not seen as the natural result of White culture itself. Rather, these are just expressions of the universal human tendency toward evil that crops up everywhere. But lamentable aberrations aside, they would say that the greater wealth and power of White people is rooted in their superior culture.
People who espouse this view often tie the strength of western civilization to the impact of Christianity in Europe in general, and in particular, to the honor shown the Bible in western protestant nations.
Those who accept White Primacy are generally comfortable with cultural (racial) segregation if it is freely chosen and not imposed. But they also frequently assume People of Color will be improved by adopting the practices of White culture. Of course, those who embrace this perspective downplay the injustices and atrocities of western civilization as an aberration or corruption of a fundamentally good culture. That is hard to accept for people who have been on the losing end of western dominance. Given how many and how long these injustices have been features of western culture, it is hard to explain them as mere aberrations. In addition, the conflation of Christianity and western culture creates massive problems that can’t be dealt with as long as they are intertwined.
Level 3: White Superiority
This view believes that different races are not only culturally distinct, with White culture being superior, but also claims these differences are rooted in biology. While this view would say not all White people are superior to all people of other races, it would say that on average White people are somewhat superior in many areas that contribute to their success in thought, planning, execution, and leadership. People in this mindset believe that other races are superior in other areas, but most often in things that are physical in nature. This is then reinforced by cultural values which tend to be built around strengths. This is where the big departure in performance can be found. White biology is an advantage, but White culture is significantly superior. Therefore, we should expect disparities in performance averages among the races.
If you believe this, it is no surprise to you that White countries have dominated in recent centuries. This view may agree theoretically that people of every race should have equal opportunity, but it contends that we should not expect equal outcomes of all people groups because that is just not an accurate reflection of reality.
Level 4: White Supremacy
This mindset believes that White people are not only superior in some qualities, but they are a special race that needs to remain separate and avoid mixing with the “lesser” races. White supremacists are committed to using laws and violence, even in violation of the law where necessary, to protect and preserve the pure blood and divine and/or natural superiority of White people. This is what many White people picture when they hear the expression White Supremacy. Therefore, they feel safe from any charge of White Supremacy if they reject this view.
Conclusion
I need to be quick to acknowledge that the labels I’ve attached to these four ways of thinking are arbitrary and several could be exchanged. However, if you accept there is some validity to these distinctions, it begs the question: at which stage can we say that racism (false beliefs and injustice) has set in?
For lots of White people, racism starts with the third level: White Superiority. For most People of Color, all these views are racist. Some are more toxic than others, but all four ways of thinking put People of Color in a baseless position of disadvantage. None can serve as a foundation for justice, which may not be fully achievable in this world, but should remain our objective, nevertheless.
Until we can agree on definitions of terms, it is virtually impossible for us to have a meaningful conversation. Perhaps this taxonomy may enable some of us to have more substantive conversations and take a few steps forward together.
[1] For a discussion of Whiteness in the Bible, click here. (return)