I'm actually about 99% convinced we are still the dominant culture, or at least the driving force behind the dominant American culture as it is right now. An overwhelming portion of the shareholders in the largest companies that fuel our economy and entertainment industries are white -- whose interests do you think they'll consider first? "Our" culture has become so widespread that it's nearly invisible. It has so permeated our mass media that you can't distinguish one from the other any more. White people in entertainment, news, and all other outlets are the "default"; "ethnic" female performers' beauty is gaged by how light their skin is or how Caucasoid their features are. American "White" culture, as globular and trickily-identified a mass it is for what it's worth, is still the default.
White supremacy and white privilege are not even close to being the same thing, and anybody who proposes they are is sadly mistaken. White supremacy is about dehumanizing other races, white privilege is the phenomenon of whites getting preferential treatment and consideration to the detriment of other races, whether it be conscious or not. And it's rarely about other races because, as US-centric as it is, whites are really the only group that hold widespread systematic power on such a scale that they could hypothetically -- and HAVE, historically -- used that power to hold down the progress of others for whatever reason (such as the examples of shareholders up there.) That is what privilege is. Not white supremacy.
I'm confused -- are the rest of the nurses black, or are there other races of nurses as well? Like I said, I have no idea how your hospital works and the dynamics therein. I'm mainly addressing your point about white people.
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carisma_sensei
no subject
Date: 2007-03-24 03:02 am (UTC)White supremacy and white privilege are not even close to being the same thing, and anybody who proposes they are is sadly mistaken. White supremacy is about dehumanizing other races, white privilege is the phenomenon of whites getting preferential treatment and consideration to the detriment of other races, whether it be conscious or not. And it's rarely about other races because, as US-centric as it is, whites are really the only group that hold widespread systematic power on such a scale that they could hypothetically -- and HAVE, historically -- used that power to hold down the progress of others for whatever reason (such as the examples of shareholders up there.) That is what privilege is. Not white supremacy.
I'm confused -- are the rest of the nurses black, or are there other races of nurses as well? Like I said, I have no idea how your hospital works and the dynamics therein. I'm mainly addressing your point about white people.