This could be more useful than all those white studies courses
“In mainstream American society and culture, whiteness remains an ever-present and unexamined state of mind and body, a powerful norm so pervasive that it is rarely acknowledged or even named,” says guest curator Maurice Berger. “By refusing to mark whiteness—to assign it meaning—we are also refusing to see a vital part of the interpersonal and social relations of race. In the end, any discussion of race that does not include an analysis of whiteness will be, at best, incomplete. ”
Photo Exhibit Examines Race and Racism
Dec 10, 2004 2:57 pm US/Eastern
It's the part of the conversation on race that doesn't usually get talked about -- what it means to be white.
But whiteness as a racial category is a crucial part of the discussion, said the curator of a new exhibition that focuses on the topic.
"It's assumed on the part of many white Americans that it's the job of people of color to deal with the issue of racism," said Maurice Berger, curator of "White: Whiteness and Race in Contemporary Art," which opened Friday at the International Center of Photography.
"What I'm arguing is that since white people are part of the structure of race and racism…that white people and whiteness itself must come into the dialogue fully, openly, in order for us to have hope that certain kinds of prevailing attitudes and ideas are going to change."
The show, featuring 10 pieces ranging from photo essays to sculpture and video, will be shown at the ICP through Feb. 27.
