Sunday, September 19, 2010
The Big Black/White Binary
I have just recently read fellow blogger Tracy's post Discrimination Against Black Women and the article attached to it. While I am inclined to agree to everything said on the blog I am somewhat disturbed by this prevailing social binary of race relationships being simplified to either black or white. The article mentions how black women are discriminated against but The "Black/White Binary"tends to exclude other races such as Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and countless others from the conversation of race and ethnicity. Now, let us be clear, I do not blame Tracy nor accuse her of enforcing this social binary because she obviously is not. I am simply pointing out how we unintentionally simplify race as a black/white issue. Instead of asking the question "why are black women discriminated against?" we should instead ourselves "why are black, hispanic, and other minority women discriminated against?"
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The White/Black binary is real, but it is not the only binary opposition to reflect race, which is why I like to use White/non-White instead.
ReplyDeleteHowever, historically, in this country the White/Black binary has often times been the most salient, which is why numerous times thoughtful analyses begin from the perspective of a White/Black binary.