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Doctrine Of International Copyright Law:
_http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html_
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_http://www.startribune.com/462/story/667886.html_
(http://www.startribune.com/462/story/667886.html)
Do white people consider their race important? Are they aware of how their
racial status gives them advantages in America? In unusual study, most whites
said "yes'' to both questions.
_Jean Hopfensperger_ (mailto:[email protected]) , Star Tribune
Last update: September 10, 2006 – 11:31 PM
White people consider their race to be an important part of who they are,
and most are aware that being white gives them advantages in America, according
to an unusual survey released last week by the University of Minnesota.
The findings emerged from what the university billed as the first national
telephone survey of white people discussing their concept of racial identity.
It's part of a growing -- and controversial -- field of scholarly research
called "Critical Whiteness Studies," which focuses the lens of race relations on
the white majority.
The survey found that 74 percent of white Americans interviewed said their
racial identity was important -- a number that surprised researchers, who
believed that Caucasians simply took their race for granted.
Likewise, the white Americans said they understood they benefit from their
race.
While more than 80 percent said access to schools and social connections were
important in explaining "white advantage" over racial minorities, 62 percent
said prejudice and discrimination against non-whites also explained those
advantages.
"The assumption has been that for many white Americans, race is something
other people have," said Doug Hartmann, a sociology professor at the University
of Minnesota and co-author of the study. "Experts in the field and diversity
trainers assumed that whites overlooked their own race."But you can't deal
with the problems of race and inequality by just looking at the people who are
disadvantaged," Hartmann said.
Research has critics
The study is part of a growing body of research on the attitudes and beliefs
of white people, in particular in the context of race relations. The field of
Whiteness Studies has its own conferences, university classes and even
"Whiteness Scholars."
But critics say much of the work has focused too much on white people in the
context of oppressing of minorities. One of them is Mitch Pearlstein,
president of the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank based
in Minneapolis.
"The perspective is almost always built on the assumption this is inherently
a racist society, that white people have loads and loads of privileges, and
that virtually everything in American society is skewed against people of
color," Pearlstein said. "It discounts how complicated race is."
Hartmann said he is "neither pro-Whiteness studies or anti-Whiteness
studies." The survey was simply an attempt to test preconceptions about whites' lack
of awareness of their own race.
In 2003, Hartmann and the study's co-authors commissioned a telephone survey
that reached 2,000 people -- 1,000 white, 500 black, 400 Hispanic and 100
other members of racial minorities. The survey results were presented at the
annual meeting of the American Sociology Association in Montreal last month.
The study showed Caucasians were indeed aware of their race and the
advantages it brings to them, said Hartmann. But it also found that both Caucasians
and racial minorities strongly valued individualistic ideals such as freedom
and hard work.
The study found similarities and differences between the two groups.
• Three-fourths of the whites, and 91 percent of the racial minorities, said
their cultures must be preserved. But only a small minority in each group
belonged to organizations dedicated to that goal.
• Only 17 percent of whites, and 23 percent of racial minorities, said racial
"favoritism" helped them get ahead.
• Fewer than 50 percent of whites thought U.S. laws and institutions
contributed to disadvantages for blacks. But 81 percent of minority groups believed
they did.
Minnesotans such as John Lund, CEO of the Sons of Norway, says he's not
convinced that most white people think of themselves primarily in terms of the
color of their skin. It's ethnic identity that shapes many of them, he said.
"I don't think of myself as white," said Lund, whose Minneapolis-based
organization works to promote and preserve Norwegian heritage. "I think of myself
as an American of Norwegian ancestry."
Lund says he feels even "less white" than 20 years ago, as he has watched a
world of new immigrants and African Americans make Minnesota home. His
son-in-law is black, he said. His grandchildren will be mixed race. He feels at
home in that spectrum of color.
"I don't know if considering ourselves by color really promotes anything," he
said.
Jean Hopfensperger • 612-673-4511 • [email protected]_
(mailto:[email protected])
This Message Is Reprinted Under The FAIR USE
Doctrine Of International Copyright Law:
_http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html_
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html)
************************************************** ******************
_http://www.startribune.com/462/story/667886.html_
(http://www.startribune.com/462/story/667886.html)
Do white people consider their race important? Are they aware of how their
racial status gives them advantages in America? In unusual study, most whites
said "yes'' to both questions.
_Jean Hopfensperger_ (mailto:[email protected]) , Star Tribune
Last update: September 10, 2006 – 11:31 PM
White people consider their race to be an important part of who they are,
and most are aware that being white gives them advantages in America, according
to an unusual survey released last week by the University of Minnesota.
The findings emerged from what the university billed as the first national
telephone survey of white people discussing their concept of racial identity.
It's part of a growing -- and controversial -- field of scholarly research
called "Critical Whiteness Studies," which focuses the lens of race relations on
the white majority.
The survey found that 74 percent of white Americans interviewed said their
racial identity was important -- a number that surprised researchers, who
believed that Caucasians simply took their race for granted.
Likewise, the white Americans said they understood they benefit from their
race.
While more than 80 percent said access to schools and social connections were
important in explaining "white advantage" over racial minorities, 62 percent
said prejudice and discrimination against non-whites also explained those
advantages.
"The assumption has been that for many white Americans, race is something
other people have," said Doug Hartmann, a sociology professor at the University
of Minnesota and co-author of the study. "Experts in the field and diversity
trainers assumed that whites overlooked their own race."But you can't deal
with the problems of race and inequality by just looking at the people who are
disadvantaged," Hartmann said.
Research has critics
The study is part of a growing body of research on the attitudes and beliefs
of white people, in particular in the context of race relations. The field of
Whiteness Studies has its own conferences, university classes and even
"Whiteness Scholars."
But critics say much of the work has focused too much on white people in the
context of oppressing of minorities. One of them is Mitch Pearlstein,
president of the Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank based
in Minneapolis.
"The perspective is almost always built on the assumption this is inherently
a racist society, that white people have loads and loads of privileges, and
that virtually everything in American society is skewed against people of
color," Pearlstein said. "It discounts how complicated race is."
Hartmann said he is "neither pro-Whiteness studies or anti-Whiteness
studies." The survey was simply an attempt to test preconceptions about whites' lack
of awareness of their own race.
In 2003, Hartmann and the study's co-authors commissioned a telephone survey
that reached 2,000 people -- 1,000 white, 500 black, 400 Hispanic and 100
other members of racial minorities. The survey results were presented at the
annual meeting of the American Sociology Association in Montreal last month.
The study showed Caucasians were indeed aware of their race and the
advantages it brings to them, said Hartmann. But it also found that both Caucasians
and racial minorities strongly valued individualistic ideals such as freedom
and hard work.
The study found similarities and differences between the two groups.
• Three-fourths of the whites, and 91 percent of the racial minorities, said
their cultures must be preserved. But only a small minority in each group
belonged to organizations dedicated to that goal.
• Only 17 percent of whites, and 23 percent of racial minorities, said racial
"favoritism" helped them get ahead.
• Fewer than 50 percent of whites thought U.S. laws and institutions
contributed to disadvantages for blacks. But 81 percent of minority groups believed
they did.
Minnesotans such as John Lund, CEO of the Sons of Norway, says he's not
convinced that most white people think of themselves primarily in terms of the
color of their skin. It's ethnic identity that shapes many of them, he said.
"I don't think of myself as white," said Lund, whose Minneapolis-based
organization works to promote and preserve Norwegian heritage. "I think of myself
as an American of Norwegian ancestry."
Lund says he feels even "less white" than 20 years ago, as he has watched a
world of new immigrants and African Americans make Minnesota home. His
son-in-law is black, he said. His grandchildren will be mixed race. He feels at
home in that spectrum of color.
"I don't know if considering ourselves by color really promotes anything," he
said.
Jean Hopfensperger • 612-673-4511 • [email protected]_
(mailto:[email protected])
) It is also certainly ironic that a nation founded on people seeking a new life away from tyranny and injustice inflicted, in turn project that same treatment on the Native people of this continent. But anywayz, there is something deep down inside of me that makes me think that some, not all, but some white people wake up everday, drink their coffee, watch the news, see the world around them, and think 'thank God I woke up a white person today!'. 
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