Whiteness

                        The color of one’s skin is sadly an indicator of their status and power within the world, or at least this is what I have always been taught within my school systems and in society. Although, in the last few years I have realized that there is in fact an exception to every rule. It is not always true that the color of your skin represents where you stand in this world, it is actually a combination of the color of your skin and how you live/how society sees you and interrupts yours actions and way of life. I have seen power in a new view since opening my eyes a little wider since learning about the Irish and about a term that McIntosh likes to call whiteness. I have also used this new knowledge and reflected it on my own life and how I myself am impacted by whiteness.

            To start let us look at what it means to be white. I always thought that when someone called you white they were doing some because of the color of your skin, now my views have changed. From my new understanding being white means having a certain kind of social power, this is not just over other white people but over everyone in the world. Being white is also the social norm in today’s society and back hundreds of years ago; it means that you have a privilege that not everybody else has. White people, especially white men make up for the majority of power houses in the world, they get the better jobs while everyone else works below them and most importantly the white males are respected. But like I previously stated being white along does not give you all of these powers, like everyone seems to think. No, to have white power you also have to look and act a certain way, you have to be what society expects you to be. You need to be clean, assertive, and smart, among many other qualities that seem compelling. Now thinking about these qualities do they sound like things that one would use to describe the stereotypical look of the Irish back in the day?

            I did not think so. Back when the Irish came to Nova Scotia they were not welcomed like other immigrants were, this is especially strange because of the fact that the Irish are white. But these Irish were not the typical whites that were overflowing with power like the rest of the white. No, these groups were grungy and animal like, they were timid and were lacking in the hygienic area, they were nothing like the typical white. Therefore they were not treated like the typical whites, they were not allowed to work at most places, they were not respected, and most of all that were hardly considered white. Looking back on pictures from these days the Irish hardly even looked human, let alone white. They were thought of as a disgrace to the white population, belittled by women and measured on the same scale as African Americans.

            Now even though the Irish are not thought of the same way today there is still this notion of whiteness and there is still racism against those who do not conform to this white ideal. In my own personal life I feel like I get judged and discriminated against every day that I go to work. While in school I work as a server and because of the job that I have, which is a legal and honest job I still feel judged and belittled by some people. Certain people like to think that you are there to serve them and play the role of their servant for the time that they are in there. Even though this is slightly along the lines of our job description people sometimes take it to the extreme and do not even acknowledge you as a human, they believe that you are lower than them, I’m sure this also goes the same for other jobs that entitle cleaning up after someone or being “the help”.

            I have begun to realize with the help of reading the article the whiteness and as being a server that being white is not just about the color of your skin, it is also about how you are looked at by society and where they place you on the social status ladder. Being white can be no different than being black or any other color, what really makes you “white” is how the world perceives you and how you hold your place in this world. Being white is no longer about what color your skin is, it is now a term used to describe the social norms of power in society.