Reflection #2

Critical Whiteness Studies in Relation to “Second Skin”

            Through watching Race is a Four Letter Word, and reading both Twine & Gallagher’s (2007) “The Future of whiteness: a map of the ‘third wave’” and McIntosh’s (1989) “White Privilege, Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” I began reflecting on my own position as both a white male and a member of an aesthetically visual subculture. By “second skin,” I am referring to the clothing and other accessories that identify me as a member of a subculture, so much so that I am markedly different than many people around me. I contrasted and compared in my head the difference between my experiences and those of the people in the film, sort of filtering it through the two articles. I asked myself how my experience differs as a white man, how I could possibly empathize (as I do most definitely sympathize) with someone who is black, and finally whether or not my experiences of othering as a member of a visible subculture (a choice as it may be) could give me a glimpse into the experiences of someone who is racially othered.

           I am still left with many questions, but there were some definite conclusions I made. The first thing I had to recognize, just as McIntosh does, is that I have privilege both as a male and by being white, both working in conjunction in my favour. This is not so easy or readily apparent, as McIntosh makes clear by making the idea of the invisibility of white privilege central in the article. I thought about all the times that being white could have possibly have benefited me and conversely how being black or Arab might have hindered me and I began to see what this really meant. It is surprising to say the least. At this point I am still left in the sympathy zone, with no real empathy being easily attained. This is not for a lack of want but because I simply could not at that point understand what it was like. I could only understand that it is.

            I threw the second factor in to the mix. As a punk I have had my fair share of othering and discrimination. I understand this is not anywhere near a fact of skin colour and the meaning attached, and that it is a choice which I can choose not to embody when I need to benefit simply from being a white male, but I wanted to consider it nonetheless. I have had beer bottles thrown at me with slurs. I have been refused service. I have been forced to defend myself and been hurt by people simply and explicitly because of the way I was dressed, sometimes by Nazi skinheads. I have been followed more times than I can count by security guards and store clerks. The list can go on.

            In order to get closer to answering my questions, I decided to consider whether or not these events would have occurred had I been dressed in any way what one would describe “normal”. The answer was a definite no. These events, these people involved had an explicit, culturally determined set of assumptions, based on social norms and who is acceptable to discriminate against in contemporary Canada. I was different and it was even more acceptable to conduct themselves in such a manner specifically because it was my choice. Victim blaming is a common tactic in discrimination of many types.

            At this point I began to identify more with the people in the film. I realized that even though I choose to look the way I do that when I do it I am putting on a second skin, and although I am still a white male I am less of one as a result. (Twine & Gallagher, 2007, p.8) I still can’t come close to understanding what it is like to be black but I got a brief glimpse by reflecting on my own experiences as a result. It is a sinking feeling to know that by expressing the rights you grow up so readily accepting as more than just written in some abstract law only exist so long as those people living under those laws choose to practice them. In a somewhat similar way to how racism and structural violence are built into the system, so is the tacit devaluing of other differences as well, that although I may have the right to be a member of a visibly distinct subculture, no mater how much meaning I may attach to it or how much meaning it gives to my life, it is my choice and my freedom to do so is contingent upon me accepting that a certain portion of people will see me as an other and treat me as such. This is, I feel, a glimpse into what it might be like to be racially othered.

References

McIntosh, P. (1989). “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peace and Freedom, 49.

Sobaz, B. (2006). Race is a Four-Letter Word. NFB.

Twine, F. & Gallagher, C. (2007). “The Future of Whiteness: a map of the ‘third wave,’” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 31(1), p.4-24.