Whiteness and Citizenship - 971 Words

Captain Ahab’s eulogy of whiteness shows that the word â€Å"white† implies more than a chromatic description. â€Å"White† is an untenable perfection that has haunted the American psyche since colonial times. The idea of â€Å"white spiritual superiority† can only be enforce by a terrorist politico-legal system, based on brutalizing the non-whites and creating a national fantasy. A national fantasy defined by Lauren Berlant as the means â€Å"to designate how national culture becomes local through the images, narratives, monuments, and sites that circulate through personal/collective consciousness.† As Captain Ahab disregards all his craft’s safety rules on his mad search of the white whale, the American politico-legal system disregarded its basic†¦show more content†¦Whites were usually better off than the non-whites, but some groups outside whiteness were better than poor whites. At this point it is very important to make clear t he psychological association between white and empowered present in much of the whiteness field, an assumption that Sugrue argues can be very deceiving. The concept of whiteness has father a strong flow of academic work to explore whiteness, a problem to be explained and addressed. Theodore W. Allen argues that the idea of whiteness was born in the need for social control. In the introduction of the book, Allen claims that whiteness did not exist before 1705, and he pinpoints the 1705 Virginia Law codifying race as the beginning of whiteness in America. This same anti-racist trend was present in Roediger’s Towards the Abolition of Whiteness. Roedigers focus upon whites and their racial identity and â€Å"making whiteness, rather than simply white racism, the focus of study †¦ [showing] the impact that the dominant racial identity in the US has had †¦ on the ways that whites think of themselves, of power, of pleasure, and of gender.† Here Roediger argues how white Irish workers had class-conscious stake in whiteness as means of escape from the worst jobs associated with non-white workers. Irish assimilation into American society was facilitated by their stress upon whiteness, and how they accepted white consciousness and ideology in a process of becoming white. The process placed greaterShow MoreRelatedThe Naturalization Process During The Late 19th And Early 20th Century1486 Words   |  6 PagesIn the late 19th and early 20th century, immigrants began seeking citizenship through naturalization. With a massive influx of immigrants that were not clearly White or Black, the government needed to establish racial definitions. There was a notion of superiority that was associated with being â€Å"white†. When immigrants soon realized the value and importance of â€Å"whiteness† in America’s society, they quickly applied for citizenship. In response to their movement, the government created racial and non-racialRead MoreAsian Immigrants During The Nineteenth Century1590 Words   |  7 Pageslegal citizenship. For instance, the Naturalization Act of 1790 excluded both free blacks and Asian Americans from U.S. citizenship, while the 1870 revision expanded the white racial qualification to include â€Å"aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent,† keeping aliens of Asian origin excluded. Even under harsh conditions, Asian immigrants did not give up attempting to be naturalized after 1870. However, it is remarkable that no Asian immigrants sought naturalized citizenship by claimingRead MoreThe Facade Of Universal Inclusion1539 Words   |  7 Pagesinclusion of all. Drawing from Hanna Pitkin, a larger more inclusive image of liberalism would also include obligation. This paper will argue that a fuller image of liberalism is not a prescription to end white citizenship, because universal inclusion will not address the root issue that white citizenship is inherently etched indelibly into the fabric of American politics. Opponents may argue that liberalism gives everyone with property the same rights through universal inclusion. People enter social contractsRead MoreDiversity Is An Important Element Of The United States1430 Words   |  6 Pagesarrival of immigrants in the United States in the 19th and early 20th century created many problems with how to deal with new cultures and naturalization of citizens of different races. These immigrants faced much adversity in the process of gaining citizenship due to racial qualifications for naturalization and fitting into separate race categories. Since white was the superior race in the United States, immigrants fought to prove their qualifications to fit into the â€Å"white† category in many ways. ThroughoutRead MoreWhiteness Of A Different Color1363 Words   |  6 PagesMatthew Frye Jacobson’s Whiteness of a Different Color offers innovative insight into the concept of â€Å"race† and the evolution of â€Å"whiteness† thro ughout American history. Jacobson focuses his analysis on the instability of racial identification over time and how race has been created and perceived throughout different stages of history. He states in his introduction that â€Å"one of the tasks before the historian is to discover which racial categories are useful to whom at a given moment, and why† (pRead MoreThe Naturalization Act Of 19061140 Words   |  5 PagesIn 1904, Theodore Roosevelt appointed the President’s Commission on Naturalization to gather opinions from members of the court system and immigration experts regarding ways to reform naturalization. Citizenship through naturalization, since it had previously been administered at the locale level, had been used by local groups to garner support for their political party. For instance, if a judge suspected that the person applying for naturalization would vote in favour of the party he supported inRead MoreThe Social Construction of Whiteness and Rac e in America1700 Words   |  7 PagesThe Social Construction of Whiteness and Race in America A comment was made in a blog post early on in the year about whiteness in American that bugged me. It’s a topic that came up a few times throughout the semester in and outside of class. Granted, this topic is based on a single blog post but a collection of comment and statements that were made on specific blogs and during class sessions. This topic I fin extremely important mainly because I felt as though there was some confusion around theRead MoreReflection Paper On The White Privilege848 Words   |  4 Pagestopic meanly discuss about the white privilege, which some American people may not even considered about before. Before I took course on week, I never think about white privilege, and how does the whiteness operating as a social system in our society today. And how does whiteness relate to the citizenship. As Richard Wright said: â€Å"There isn’t any Negro problem; there is only a white problem.† Lots of people keep thinking that â€Å"Americans† means white. After I read the reading assignment and watch theRead MoreThe White Scourge, By Neil Foley1104 Words   |  5 PagesTexas Cotton Culture In The White Scourge, Neil Foley gives detailed facts about the construction and reconstruction of whiteness and the connection of this whiteness to power, mainly on cotton culture in central Texas. Foley s book analyzes â€Å"whiteness† through detailed analysis of race, class, and gender. What was most intriguing about this book is its comparison of whiteness on various racial groups and classes, for and how each struggled in comparison to the other in order to thrive and existRead MoreCitizenship : The Identity Of The United States1454 Words   |  6 PagesA dictionary definition of citizenship states it as a position of being a citizen in a particular country/ region. Nakano Glenns definition is much more concentrated, focused on the details, and combines this status of citizenship along with gender and race. Glenn shows how the definition of citizenship changes when including race as well as gender and how this meant that white men were mainly seen as rightful citizens while minorities were effectively left out of this definition. Glenn writes in