The Idea of Whiteness as an Evolving Historic Construct - Case Study Example

The Idea of Whiteness as an Evolving Historic Construct in the Works of Richard Dyer. The world is multiracial and multicultural today. Though we might get an inkling into the historical roots of the forces that shaped the present human societies, we may not be able undo the present reality and replace it with a new order of things. However, mankind has to grapple with the problems of living in a multicultural society and an enquiry into the development of images centered on race might help us to live more peacefully in a milieu of racial diversity. Since race is an entrenched reality of our living today, mankind has grappled to deal with it even celebrate it as powerful tool for progress. At the same time the celebration has its own pit falls as it might retrogress into violence and killing at the slightest trigger. "This is a delicate situation, and “race” remains fissile material." (Gilroy, 2004, p. 14). There have been many studies centered on most races of the world. But the images of whiteness have not been placed under the microscope as much as other images of race especially that of blackness. The purpose of this study is to make a cursory glance of the images of whiteness that evolved over the years. Representation and study of racial images or stereotypes are having many sensitive issues. The visual representation of racial stereotypes might force people to re-live and freshen old memories, which might jeopardize inter-racial relation. However, academic pursuits cannot be neglected for the sensitivity of a few. In fact the study might throw light on the subliminal foundations for the formation of stereotypes and provide us the escape routes for the mounting racial and ethnic tensions that has resulted in the loss of many human lives. The idea of race itself is questionable, as Appiah has put it: There is nothing in the world that can do all we ask race to do for us…. Talk of race is particularly distressing for those of us who take culture seriously. For, when race works-in places where “gross differences” of morphology are correlated with “subtle differences” of temperament, belief, and intention-it works as an attempt at metonym for culture, and it does so only at the price of biologizing what is culture, ideology. (Appiah 1992:45) The central thesis of this paper is the essential nature of the image of whiteness as a historical construct developed over many years similar to its foil blackness. This study focuses on the works of Richard Dyer. What is whiteness? Whiteness is essentially a body of knowledge, ideologies, behavioral norms, and many practices constructed over the history of colonization of the US. It has its roots in European history. Orwell debunked the idea of the superiority of the white man and opined that it is a product of conditioning by the colonists of the natives: This wretched boy, who is a French citizen and has therefore been dragged from the forest to scrub floors and catch syphilis in garrison towns, actually has feelings of reverence before a white skin. He has been taught that the white race is his masters, and he still believes it. (Orwell, 2000, p. 393) Whiteness affects how people think about race, what they see when they look at certain physical characteristics, how people feel about their racial identities. The idea of whiteness is formed and nurtured by a number of social structures. The idea of whiteness affects individuals and groups and influences the social institutions. However whiteness is not a static idea. It was historically constructed in the American colonies .The early history of Virginia Colony provides the foundational example, showing through laws passed by the assemblies in the colonies, the whites made structures for the benefit of their race. Stuart Hall (1977) calls them structures of dominance. The study of whiteness will reveal the dynamism of racism. If racism is a subliminal force it will be the background to our thinking and will affect the objectivity of thinking. Political organizations represent various identities in a society and only if the identities are sufficiently and not wrongly represented participative governance will be possible. Democracy is based on participation and in a good democracy there should be provision for the representation even of the smallest number of an ethnicity. The analysis of whiteness helps us understand the mechanics it uses in formulating the appearances of distinctions. The appearance of racial stereotypes in the cultural expressions of society has something to do in the political projects of a society. Race related stereotypes could empower or incapacitate people. The Aryan superiority theory empowered some people and resulted in the extermination of large sections of another society in Europe. Even before the white colonization of India the Indian society was stratified in the name of caste and to this day the scheduled castes, which make up the bulk of the population have not come up in the Indian society compared to their more privileged classes. The backwardness of the of the African-Americans is largely due to the years of branding that plays havoc on the assertive capabilities of the people. So stereotyping of the races results either in empowering or debilitating sections of the society. Race, Racial representations and its Complexities. The idea of whiteness has created lots of problems in the globalized context. With globalization most European and American companies have started a policy of out sourcing. The emerging Asian economies can provide service to the corporate giants in US and Europe at unbelievable competitive rates. This has resulted in reduction of available jobs in Europe and the US. Earlier whiteness was the passport for many privileged white men and women into the job market. Since there are no jobs going round the whites are forced to choose less paid jobs in the absence of alternatives. The immediate target of their ire in such situation is the presence of the people of other ethnicities. There have been a large number of attacks in American and European streets on people of other ethnicities recently because of this. Instead of initiating new policies to combat unemployment the immigrants are targeted. The whites do not realize that their favored economic standing in the world today is the result of the exploitation of distant people by the process of colonization and dumping of industry produced goods on economies that had no access to technology. The whites think that the immigrants are there to enjoy the bite of the cake, which is the sole result of white hard work. They are too myopic to realize that their present affluence is also the product of hard work of the people whom they subjugated in the past. Another complex side of whiteness is that there are many white people who do not have the privileges of whites. But there hardships are hardly noticed as they are also considered as the white class enjoying the benefits of whiteness. Richard Dyer and Study of Whiteness Though blackness has been found the interest of many scholars, whiteness captured the attention of the academia only recently. Richard Dyer’s White (1977) is a seminal study of representation of whiteness in western imagery with special stress on cinematography. Though a cultural study, his work attracted the attention of the academia, which resulted in the production of a number of studies on the subject. Dyer’s white gave the theoretical framework for questioning whiteness in other realms of cultural inquiry. Though he argues that whiteness can be understood only in the background of the colored the understanding offers a critique of whiteness as the standard of power, reason and beauty within the western visual images. In fact he deconstructs white hegemony through his work. He finds it paradoxical that whites do not see themselves having any ethnicity. This attitude is a way of insulating itself from others and building a unique identify. Other races that are colored have the added burden of revealing his separate identity as an Indian or Sri Lankan. The whites on the other hand represent only a single white race. Dyer sees the amalgam of colors that contributed to whiteness and feels the absolute impossibility of pure whiteness as the color of any body’s skin. “…To be absolutely white is to be nothing”(78,White) White Imagery in the Context of Christianity, "race" and Colonialism According to Dyer white imagery is the result of the emphasis that Christianity placed on the spirit at the expense of the body. The lack of plausibility of a pure white body makes it also mythical as in many religions. He argues that The European construction of whiteness is the result of overwhelming importance that Christianity gave to the spirit and the peripheral significance allotted to the body. However this argument of Dyer is not tenable because the Christian attitude to body is that of great reverence to it as the dwelling place of God. This attitude resulted in authentic Christian thinking of the importance to God’s image in all human races and the need to respect it in all colors and hues. It may be fair to call the white man’s understanding of Christianity as a mere membership in a religious community without inherent obligations to fellow men. Though Dyer sees Christ as great struggler against the urges of the body and ultimately triumphant in spirit and Mary as model of absence of carnality, Dyer’ understanding of these models is peripheral. The outcome of Christ’s struggle with body is the launching of ideal system in which man loved his fellowmen. The Mary the mother Christ is the woman who is noted for her other centeredness and a bold woman who watched her son dying on the cross like a criminal. Dyer’s insight into these models that shaped the mind set of the colonists and the slave driver is inaccurate. Dyer’s examination of the emerging image of whiteness in painting, photography and cinematography is as white man’s construct is revealing. He finds a bias towards the white color in art. In religious art in spite of the Asian origin of Christianity, the representation is usually European in complexion. Christian art is dominated by Itallian influence not the influence of any Asian or African countries. Two thousand years of Christianity has not changed this image of whiteness in Christian art representation. However Dyer’s views on technology having been constructed purposely to represent whiteness is questionable. Technology has always been neutral. Man might have used technology to perpetuate his prejudices. White Man in Celluloid Dyer has made certain observation on the aspects of the body as built by white body builders. Dyer sees the root of the celebration of built human body in the Greco-Roman tradition of whiteness of human body. White man’s trained body displays the victory of spirit over flesh, for the built body is not the body that white man was born with. The trained body of the white is the body with which the whites will conquer and rule the less disciplined peoples of the world. He calls the bodies of the other races as “ enfeebled or raw “ bodies of the distant colonial lands. (165). The Tarzan films and action thrillers like the Rambo series are in the mind of Dyer in reaching this conclusion. White Women in Celluloid Dyer’s study of white women in celluloid is the exact opposite of the image of men in celluloid. While men are represented as agents of great power and strength in films, women seem to be agents of the liquidation of the empire. He uses the image women in The Passage to Indian and The Jewel on the Crown to illustrate his point of view. The works blame the empire’s decline on the presence female. In the face of historical change white women are totally helpless according to him. The centrality of women in the decline of the empire is not mainstream thesis in the decline of Raj. However, Dyer’s playing that idea is somewhat questionable from the perspective of history and from the reality of the status of white women across the globe in multicultural settings. Conclusion. Whiteness and its reality are reflected also in death, horror and dystopian films. Dyer’s work is a provocative and penetrating study of whiteness. But his desire to dethrone whiteness and its image of superiority and power is a pipe dream. Just as darkness is understood only when we have experienced light colored condition also will be understood only with the experience of whiteness. The real danger is not the presence of whiteness and colouredness in society, but the symbolic meaning that we ascribe to them. Works cited Appiah, Kwame Anthony. In My Fathers House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Richard Dyer, White. London and New York: Routledge, 1997. Orwell George: An Age: David R. Godine.: Boston, Mass..: 2000. Page Number: 392. Gilroy, P. (1992). There aint no Black in the union jack: The cultural politics of race and nation. London: Routledge Gilroy Paul. Between Camps: Nations, Cultures and the Allure of Race. Author. Routledge. London. 2004.: 14. Hall, S. (1997) Representation: cultural Representations and Signifying Practices,London:sage ========= Read More