Harvard Educational Review · 1997 · 385 citations · 0 references
HumanitiesHistoryCritical TheoryRhetoricWhiteness StudiesCritical PedagogyHistory Of WhitenessRaceRace In EducationRacismWhiteness In EducationCritical Whiteness StudiesMedia Portrayals Of RacePolitical Identity ConstructionRace ConsciousnessRace DiscourseSocial Change NarrativesWhiteness ConstructionWhiteness In Schools
The article situates Whiteness studies historically, noting that while scholarship has broadened race discourse, it has yet to demonstrate how deconstructing Whiteness can liberate public understanding. The study aims to theorize Whiteness so that White students can critically recognize their agency and contribute to anti‑racist social change. The author analyzes the films *Dangerous Minds* and *Suture* to illustrate how classroom discussions of media representations can critically engage students with race and ethnicity. These discussions enable students of diverse backgrounds to reflect on their own representation and recognize Whiteness as the dominant referent.
In this article, Henry Giroux places the study of Whiteness in a historical context, recognizing the various modes in which racial identity has been used by conservative ideologues and critical scholars who seek to expand the discussion of race and power. The author also points out the limitations of the current scholarship on Whiteness. Although this scholarship has successfully expanded the study of race to include the study of Whiteness as a historical, cultural, and political construction, it has not shown the liberating potential of deconstructing Whiteness in the public sphere. With an analysis of Dangerous Minds and Suture, two movies with contrasting narratives of race, the author provides an example of the possibilities for critically discussing, in a classroom, the representation of race and ethnicity in the media. Through such a discussion, students of different races and ethnicities can reflect on the representation of themselves and others and the position of Whiteness as the dominant referent. There is a need for Whiteness to be theorized and discussed in a manner that recognizes the potential for criticism, as well as the possibility for White students to recognize their own agency and legitimate place within the struggle for social change and an anti-racist society.