White is the color of the canvas on which we paint diversity.... [View All]

[Skidmore]

so some Americans think. Being white is somehow construed as a passive condition, when it has been historically an excuse for active and agressive political and social oppression of other groups within and outside of the nation. White culture has historically been viewed as the norm...an absence of color...a neutral backdrop on which all other human experience can be projected in sharp relief. It has not been viewed as a distinct color with an accompanying culture all its own. Throughout much of US history, whiteness has been associated with power and privilege, and there are white people who make assumptions about other groups from the perspective of a white culture they do not recognize as even existing. Stepping outside of that culture to recognize the value and contributions of the "others" in our nation can becomes a threat to a well ensconced worldview in some circles. Whiteness is not the backdrop on which the universe is painted. It is one color among hundred of other hues and values. Until we recognize the beauty of the pallette, the sharp lines of divisiveness will not soften or blend.