{"id":100154,"date":"2015-10-04T19:30:53","date_gmt":"2015-10-04T17:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=100154"},"modified":"2015-10-02T17:20:44","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T15:20:44","slug":"whitesplaining-what-it-is-and-how-it-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/100154\/whitesplaining-what-it-is-and-how-it-works\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Whitesplaining’ – what it is and how it works"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever had an experience where someone is explaining to you, maybe in a lot of detail, something you actually already know quite a lot about? Possibly about your own life?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s frustrating. But it\u2019s not a random occurrence, and it\u2019s often about power. There\u2019s a word for it: \u201cwhitesplaining<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a term that\u2019s been in high rotation over the past couple of weeks, thanks to Hollywood film star Matt Damon<\/a> and Australian radio and TV personality Kyle Sandilands, whose comments around issues of racial diversity and sexuality have sparked debate<\/a> around issues of white privilege and \u201ccolour-blindness\u201d.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s re-examine their comments:<\/p>\n

While appearing on Project Greenlight<\/a> two weeks ago, Matt Damon \u2013 in the midst of a discussion about forming a directorial team for a reality show \u2013 argued the decision to appoint a director should be based on merit rather than diversity.<\/p>\n

His comments suggest diversity is only an issue when casting actors, not behind-the-scenes crew such as directors.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/a>

Matt Damon is facing criticism for downplaying diversity in Hollywood. Guillaume Horcajuelo\/EPA<\/p><\/div>\n

A short while later, Damon gave an interview to The Observer where he argued gay actors should remain private about their sexuality<\/a>:<\/p>\n

But in terms of actors, I think you\u2019re a better actor the less people know about you period. And sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether you\u2019re straight or gay, people shouldn\u2019t know anything about your sexuality because that\u2019s one of the mysteries that you should be able to play.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As Nigel Smith pointed out<\/a> in The Guardian, Damon\u2019s point negated the interview he then gave, which spanned such personal topics as how he met his wife, their children and family life, his childhood and his political views.<\/p>\n

Closer to home, Kyle Sandilands last week explained to the Australia television viewing public that the lack of non-white contestants on a new season of The Bachelorette is irrelevant<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I think a lot of young people don\u2019t think like that. They don\u2019t think \u201cOh we better have a black, we better have a brown.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Being \u2018colour-blind\u2019 and why it\u2019s a problem<\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s begin by unpacking Sandilands’ comments. His perspective is one that suggests \u201cpeople are people\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Radio<\/a>

Radio personality Kyle Sandilands. Dan Peled\/AAP<\/p><\/div>\n

About 20 years ago academic Ruth Frankenberg<\/a> studied the phenomenon of white people explaining away race and difference by declaring \u201cpeople are people\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her book White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness<\/a> (1993), explores the unspoken racial hierarchies around us.<\/p>\n

In her terms, Sandilands self-identifies as \u201ccolour-blind<\/a>\u201d. It means you say you don\u2019t see racial difference.<\/p>\n

Often making reference to Dr Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s famous quote<\/a> about being judged not \u201cby the colour of their skin but by the content of their character,\u201d proponents argue that drawing any attention to race is, in fact, more racist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An extreme form of a colour-blind attitude to race can be seen in the US movement Unhyphenate America<\/a>, which argues terms such as African-American are divisive:<\/p>\n

Cultural cohesion and connectedness are more important than having a \u201cdiversity\u201d of skin colour. Anyone can choose to be a part of this culture, because the principles aren\u2019t ethnically exclusive.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sandilands made his on-air comments in response to his guest Sam Frost\u2019s defence that The Bachelorette producers didn\u2019t even think about race when casting the show.<\/p>\n

But in a \u201ccolour-blind\u201d world, they should have thought about it \u2013 because all the contestants for The Bachelorette are the same colour. In fact, Australian television in general fails to reflect<\/a> our diverse population. So what\u2019s happening here?<\/p>\n

The selection process for who ends up on our screens is not neutral because, like it or not, we do notice difference<\/a>, including race or ethnic differences<\/a>, and we act on this awareness<\/a>\u00a0in subtle ways.<\/p>\n

Ways that end up suggesting that the bachelors of Australia are white.<\/p>\n

This is where the episode of Damon \u201cwhitesplaining\u201d the world of race to an African-American woman is useful to explore. Richard Dyer<\/a>, another scholar of race and culture, describes these situations in terms of white invisibility and white privilege:<\/p>\n

White people create the dominant images of the world and don\u2019t quite see that they thus construct the world in their image.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

White people move through the world in a way that is made to suit a particular worldview. Damon, in explaining away any need for affirmative action, or awareness of race in film and TV, is only saying: I, personally, did not need it. He does not see his whiteness and all the privileges that come along with it.<\/p>\n

Whitesplaining<\/h3>\n

Whitesplaining \u2013 derived from \u201cmansplaining<\/a>\u201d \u2013 is a new, zietgeisty, word, but it\u2019s essentially an expression of privilege: the unconscious, unearned and largely un-examined benefits of prejudice.<\/p>\n

The concept of \u201cprivilege\u201d was fully articulated in its modern form by Peggy McIntosh in her 1988 essay, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In it, McIntosh lists specific and personal examples of her white privilege. Point number thirty is particularly relevant here:<\/p>\n

If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn\u2019t a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of colour will have.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sandilands and Damon are white, famous, middle-aged men. They used their platforms to make statements about the nonexistance of social issues that actively benefit them.<\/p>\n

All of this is not to say Damon or Sandilands are necessarily racist. Their comments, however, are examples of how easy it is for those with privilege to assume their experiences are universal. Because our media, our government and our cultural institutions constantly reflect whiteness back at us, it is easy act as if is the default.<\/p>\n

Privilege is insidious because benefiting generally involves little to no effort. It is often the result of other people\u2019s actions towards you, and requires simply that you look a certain way. Conversely, perpetuating privilege means acting on invisibly socialised patterns of behaviour.<\/p>\n

Calling out whitesplaining is not about saying white people can\u2019t talk about race: it means prioritising the voices of those with experience, not those with the loudest megaphone.<\/p>\n

By Catriona Elder,\u00a0Associate Professor in Sociology, University of Sydney<\/em><\/p>\n