Tuesday, February 24, 2009

White Consciousness

Du Bois argued that oppressive culture lead to double consciousness for oppressed populations, but a number of other thinkers including James Baldwin and Thandeka who speak of white guilt. This white guilt is the result of knowledge of benefit from a racist system or in other cases the inability to stop or intervene in blatantly racist acts (typically perpetrated by family members). Is this feeling of guilt a second form of consciousness for majority populations? Why or why not?
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2 comments:

  1. Theory ProfessorFebruary 25, 2009 at 9:17 AM

    Does it depend on how guilty someone feels and how much he/she reflects on his/her guilt?

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  2. pcminerFebruary 28, 2009 at 7:08 PM

    I do not believe that white guilt is another form of double conciousness instead I believe White people know they have an inherent priviledge which they feel responsible for defending and protecting although they might not understand its origin. On the other hand, they feel invisible for being white and they might try to compensate this by accepting racist ideas.

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