In case there are any questions as to what white looks like in my case, here is a picture from when I studied abroad during my undergrad with one of my good friends. I'm the one on the left with the professionally-dyed blonde "highlights" (what was left unhighlighted, I now wonder) who is looking pensively off into the distance and wearing maroon gloves. I'm also wearing a pea coat, which I think is an important detail given my recent viewing of the College Humor "Columbusing" sketch. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it, and I'll just tell you that Columbusing is defined as "discovering things for white people" (a process definitely related to my activity here of dancing on the Charles Bridge in Prague). I don't want to give anything away, but pea coats play a significant role in College Humor's critique of this practice.
OK, so now you know that I'm white, studied abroad while I was in college, have friends, have visited Prague, wear gloves when others don't find it necessary, and dyed my already blonde hair blonder for at least long enough for someone to take a picture of it. That seems like a lot, but I'll keep going. I'm also a woman, verging on 30, married to a man, pursuing my PhD, allergic to dogs, strongly drawn towards cuddling puppies, and (as is obvious given these last two facts) not always sure what the "right" or "best" choice is in a given situation, including but not limited to those that involve puppies.
I'm including all of this information because positioning myself is one of my biggest difficulties when I write, and I figure there is no better place than a first post on a new blog to really practice owning who I am and where I write from. In my academic work (conference presentations, papers, dissertation, conversations) I question the construction of racial categories in the United States, and I often feel anxious about contributing to conversations about racial issues while being white (that is, afforded many privileges as a result of my race). A rational part of me knows that this anxiety/discomfort is an absolutely necessary part of any good cultural critique since such critiques involve questioning norms. I also know that just because I am white does not mean that I am immune from racial construction; whiteness is just as much a product of social meaning making as blackness or brownness. Irrationally, however, I feel scared to be (another) white person in the academy producing knowledge about race. Historically this has been a subject position complicit with--if not invested in--racial oppression, and I am loathe to recreate the injustices of previous scholars of "difference".
So, there it is. I am white. I write about race. I'm also a woman who writes about gender, an academic who thinks about the academy, and a poor person with a middle-class support network who takes class seriously. This blog is my attempt to raise questions about larger social structures as I encounter them in my own life, and I hope you'll keep reading.
Peace,
Allison
I'm including all of this information because positioning myself is one of my biggest difficulties when I write, and I figure there is no better place than a first post on a new blog to really practice owning who I am and where I write from. In my academic work (conference presentations, papers, dissertation, conversations) I question the construction of racial categories in the United States, and I often feel anxious about contributing to conversations about racial issues while being white (that is, afforded many privileges as a result of my race). A rational part of me knows that this anxiety/discomfort is an absolutely necessary part of any good cultural critique since such critiques involve questioning norms. I also know that just because I am white does not mean that I am immune from racial construction; whiteness is just as much a product of social meaning making as blackness or brownness. Irrationally, however, I feel scared to be (another) white person in the academy producing knowledge about race. Historically this has been a subject position complicit with--if not invested in--racial oppression, and I am loathe to recreate the injustices of previous scholars of "difference".
So, there it is. I am white. I write about race. I'm also a woman who writes about gender, an academic who thinks about the academy, and a poor person with a middle-class support network who takes class seriously. This blog is my attempt to raise questions about larger social structures as I encounter them in my own life, and I hope you'll keep reading.
Peace,
Allison