Default American

In the Devos and Benaji reading, it was surprising that they found it was easier to pair European Americans celebrities with American symbols than with Asian American celebrities. Why is this the case? In study 1, they found that things like patriotism and being born in America was what made someone American, yet people still implicitly associate European Americans with American. Does this mean whiteness defines American and not the values that the participants rated as American? Does this apply to people outside the United States? Is it universal to think that whiteness is the default American or is it an American thing?

Something I read about that is kind of related to the discussion of default whiteness is anime characters. The creators of Anime do not put Asian stereotypical features on their characters which doesn't make it obvious that they are Japanese to the Americans (nothing marks it as the other). The reading said that Americans are often thought of as white even though they are suppose to be Japanese. They are however, seen as Japanese by the Japanese. The default human being to the Japanese is probably not whiteness, but Japanese.

Portrayals of whiteness

For my discussion topic I touch on whiteness and a depiction of a "culture of wealth." Here are a couple of examples of that. The first is a blog called "White Whine." I linked to the "best of" page of the site, which takes screenshots from facebook and twitter of people complaining about "white problems". While I totally agree that the things these people are complaining about are petty and insignificant, especially in comparison to actual issues like oppression, I take issue with these middle-class and upper-class qualms being classified as "white problems." I think that Reddit (an online community) approaches the same issue much better, with it's subreddit "First World Problems." Here, the same sort of petty complaints are laughed at, but they leave race out of it. The top post today is: "I gave a homeless a dollar, but I felt that he did not thank me sincerely."

Along the same lines, here is a video from a few years back called "white people problems." While it totally made me lol in meyer today (to the point where people were looking at me funny) I still had to question why these problems are seen as "white" and not just "upper class." (Sidebar - what's up with the black video girl?)

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I'm also posting a classic clip from the Chappelle Show called "white people dancing." Chappelle explores whether the stereotype that white people can't dance is true - or whether they just respond to different instruments. Also, watch Chappelle's reaction to the Black police officer at the end. "...I'm from the suburbs, man. I can't help it."

Chappelle Show: Dancing for Different Cultures - watch more funny videos

Sorry to post so many things this week, but I just have one last one! http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/ is a site that has sparked some controversy amongst my friends. I think it is a funny satire about a very oblivious white couple who believes they are well liked in the black community. Other friends of mine have argued for the "Chappelle effect" here, and worry that people laugh at it for the wrong reasons. Other friends have taken offense due to the fact that they believe white people wrote the blog.

Who's going to call the play?

In the 2005 New Jersey vs New York Annual High School Football All-Star Game, my best friend and Stanford teammate Nick Macaluso discovers race in America...

Nick was the only white athlete on an entire all-star team of black athletes. He admitted feeling a little intimidated by all the talent and athleticism around him. With little time or preparation, the coach still needed to select the starting Middle Linebacker (the Quarterback of the defense) before the game. The coach approached the group of athletes and said: "Ok well I gotta pick someone to call the plays". The coach scanned a room filled with amazing black high school players but saw Nick and was instantly convinced. "Hey you!" he said to Nick and smiled heavily. Nick was selected as the starting Middle Linebacker and given the honor/responsibility or calling the plays in the huddle.

Along the same line as Devos & Banaji, people may explicitly say or expect one result but nearly always implicitly return to a stereotype/norm/default. In the case of Nick and in the eyes of his coach, the Black players may have all been deemed worthy of the same opportunity but only a White MLB from Middleton, New Jersey could be "smart and responsible enough" to call the plays ... Interesting. Aside from "American", White and Blacks fall into defaults across several fields of athletics, education systems and professions. (sorry for the classic dichotomy)

White Girl Problems

Time Magazine listed White Girl Problems as one of the top 140 Twitter Feeds, and described the account by saying this: "Obnoxious, condescending and frivolous, @whitegrlproblem is the epitome of the urban socialite you love to hate. Her "problems" usually center around nothing more than boyfriends, yoga and diets — which, admittedly, doesn't sound all that interesting, until you remember that those topics drove both Sex and the City and The Hills for six seasons. But unlike those other "white girls," this Twitter feed is in on the joke of just how silly these problems are."

Visit the Twitter page to read more:

http://twitter.com/#!/whitegrlproblem

"Stuff White People Like"

Also, had to add a link to this blog. Maybe some of you have seen it already but I find it absolutely hilarious. Is there a consensus that the things on this website describe the typical White American?

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

Can a white rapper only be compared to other white rappers?

I was thinking about circumstances where being white is the exception and immediately thought about the rap industry. It is undeniable that the rap industry is predominantly black or simply not white, so it is not surprising when in an interview, Asher Roth is asked to compare himself to Eminem and Vanilla Ice. Rather than asking Asher what other rap artists he compares himself to, the interviewer assumes he can only be compared to other well known white rappers. I think Asher's response is pretty awesome and it definitely makes you think about why it is so difficult to gain respect as a white rapper.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwseTgszzDk

Jersey Shore not Italian?

I think the Jersey Shore phenomenon is a really interesting twist on the whole 'white = default' or 'white = lack of culture' idea. It's interesting how different groups are sometimes included in the category of white and sometimes not. So I was looking for a clip about that, but instead I found this video, of two anchors on MSNBC talking about how Snooki and JWOW aren't Italian and how that makes their show a 'fraud'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SechaL_VnU4

I don't even know what to make of this, but there's definitely a lot to discuss!