Notes

I am white. My neighborhood and town growing up was (pretty much) all white.Therefore race wasn't discussed much or wasn't that much of an issue growing upbecause there really wasn't any diversity. (ASR)I mostly lived in all-white neighborhoods. We are all equal, regardless of what welook like, because at the end of the day we are all human. Until we can learn to seeour differences as unique characteristics and not defining qualities, it will continueto be an issue. Honestly, I cannot see specifically how my race has shaped my life. Ipersonally see myself as an individual, not a white female in her early 20s. My raceexists, but it does not define who I am, it merely adds to the description. (ASR)The vast majority of whites cannot answer the question "How has race shapedyour life?" beyond the most superficial of platitudes. So what makes racism sodifficult for whites to see?The Racist = Bad/Not Racist = Good BinaryIn Chapter 2, 1 introduced the concept of the racist = bad not racist = good binary(see Figure 2) and how it sets whites up to feel personally accused and defensiveabout the suggestion of any association with racism; we hear these suggestions asunfair accusations that we are fundamentally bad or immoral people.
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