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My husband is German.\u00a0 Well, as of two years ago, he is also American, but he spent his childhood in Germany, came to the U.S. for grad school, and stayed.\u00a0 Which meant that he had to accustom himself to American culture \u2014 and at the same time, I had to learn that some of his quirks were really more a matter of his German culture not being entirely the same as American culture: it pains him to be late, for instance.\u00a0 In the course of living in Germany myself (for two years, over 10 years ago now), I learned more cultural differences:\u00a0 politeness is super-important, even to the point of greeting everyone with handshakes upon arriving and then leaving a gathering.\u00a0 Swabia, the region of my husband\u2019s hometown, has a particular reputation for being work-and-savings obsessed, with the phrase \u201cschaffe schaffe Hausle baue\u201d \u2014 or \u201cwork, work, build a house\u201d \u2014 denoting this.\u00a0 And it was clear to me that cultural differences were fairly deep, even though I was not fluent in German enough, or socially active enough, to really build deep enough connections with Germans to be able to articulate all the differences, and, yes, even though Germany and America are both \u201cwhite\u201d cultures.<\/p>\n
And this experience \u2014 as well as my experiences working with non-Americans for a decade, and with various reading on the topic \u2014 means I have a few things to say about the National Museum of African American History & Culture\u2019s essay \u201cWhiteness<\/a>\u201d and in particular, its graphic \u201cAspects & Assumptions of Whiteness and White Culture in the United States,\u201d which was either recently* published or recently discovered, at any rate, and shared on twitter<\/a>.\u00a0 (The graphic itself has now been removed from that site; for reference, I\u2019ve uploaded it at the end of this piece, based on the screen grabs at the linked tweet.)<\/p>\n (*OK, \u201crecently\u201d is relative; it\u2019s now been a while since I first drafted this post.)<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with their definitions:<\/p>\n Whiteness and white racialized identity refer to the way that white people, their customs, culture, and beliefs operate as the standard by which all other groups of are compared. Whiteness is also at the core of understanding race in America. Whiteness and the normalization of white racial identity throughout America\u2019s history have created a culture where nonwhite persons are seen as inferior or abnormal. . . .<\/p>\n White dominant culture describes how white people and their practices, beliefs, and culture have been normalized over time and are now considered standard in the United States. As a result, all Americans have all adopted various aspects of white culture, including people of color.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And then the graphic \u2014 originally just a list<\/a>, written in 1990, by Judith H. Katz<\/a>, of the Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group.\u00a0 Who is Katz?\u00a0 She is the Executive Vice President and Client Brand Lead<\/a> at a company which provides Diversity and Inclusion training to corporations, and promotes its \u201crapid response team<\/a>\u201d which can provide services within 24 to 48 hours if immediate action is needed for situations such as \u201cleaders losing credibility\u201d or \u201cacquisition backlash.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, the text itself does not explicitly say: \u201cwhite culture is bad.\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t tell the reader what<\/em> to think, exactly.\u00a0 Here are some \u201caspects of whiteness\u201d (quoted or paraphrased):<\/p>\n And so on \u2014<\/p>\n And if one were to label this \u201ccultural characteristics of the dominant American culture,\u201d and revise this list substantially<\/em>, you might be providing a meaningful description of normative American middle class culture \u2014 which is not necessarily \u201cwhite\u201d culture, or, at least, it\u2019s fair to say that insofar as nonwhite people share this culture they have transformed it from being \u201cwhite\u201d to being \u201cAmerican middle class norms.\u201d\u00a0 And, in fact, a 2017 (post-Trump) book<\/a> on the white working class pointed out significant cultural differences between what that author, Joan C. Williams, described as the white working class (no college degree but respectable employment) and the professional\/managerial elite (as someone of that social class, the author did not seem to consider that there were larges numbers of Americans who were white collar but neither professional nor managerial):\u00a0 for instance, working class folk are much less likely to derive a sense of identity from their jobs, are more rooted in a particular community, are much less likely to hyper-schedule their children, and the like.<\/p>\n But to look at some of these characteristics:\u00a0 yes, it seems a bit nutty to say that the dominant American culture includes male breadwinners and female homemakers, but in 1990, I suppose the era in which that was true was not so far distant as it is now.\u00a0 And, yes, it is likewise the case that in black families that was much rarer, as women were obliged to work, for instance, as maids in the South in the pre-Civil Rights era, in order for families to manage to support themselves.\u00a0 And while \u201chard work\u201d is not unique to the dominant American culture, and, in fact, the Chinese, for instance, had a centuries-long history of determined study at civil servant exams providing success, it is nonetheless true that the belief that hard work, studiousness, and diligent saving can improve one\u2019s lot in life, is not a shared characteristic across all cultures, and other cultures may believe that one\u2019s lot in life is more determined by the gods\u2019 caprice, or destined to be the same as one\u2019s fathers and their fathers before them.\u00a0 (The hosting of elaborate quinceanara celebrations by immigrant families when the money could have been saved for college tuition is sometimes explained in this manner.)\u00a0 In the latter case, \u201chard work\u201d might still be a sign of being an upstanding member of the community and might signify moral worthiness, but might not have the same connotation of \u201ckey to success.\u201d\u00a0 Other defining characteristics of dominant American culture include the notion that, yes, \u201cintent matters\u201d in the justice system \u2014 we believe that self-defense is an appropriate defense, and a death as the result of a genuine accident is no homicide at all, but that\u2019s not the case elsewhere; here\u2019s what I wrote in 2017<\/a>, as a description of Korean culture based on a recent book on the topic:<\/p>\n One of the examples that the author provides about the differences between American and Korean culture is that there was a great deal of uproar over the unintentional death of Korean civilians due to an accident in which a U.S. military vehicle was on a public road. The people recognized that the driver was not at fault and did not personally bear guilt, but still wanted the soldier(s) to be tried (even if ultimately freed from prison) to assuage the anger and grief that the people felt over these deaths. Their sense of justice meant that the soldier\u2019s imprisonment would serve to make things right. Our belief in justice says that people should only be imprisoned as appropriate punishment for criminal acts that they have been found guilty of by a jury assessing the facts of the case.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Similarly, while we consider some individuals to have more status than others \u2014 as evidenced, for example, by the fact that doctors are addressed with the title \u201cdoctor\u201d \u2014 the importance of status in day-to-day life is quite a bit greater in places like Korea<\/a>.<\/p>\n All this being said \u2014 once we recognize that there are cultural characteristics of the dominant American culture which may or may not be shared by cultures in other parts of the world, or subcultures (\u201cBlack\u201d culture, insofar as it describes a distinct community, or \u201cHillbilly\u201d culture, or the like) within America, what next?\u00a0 Where do you go with that?<\/p>\n In the business world, a certain amount of \u201ccultural competency\u201d training is essential for those who would do business out of the country.\u00a0 It is reasonably well-known that someone wishing to do business in Japan, for instance, will be expected to spend substantial amounts of time drinking (and trust-building) before any agreement is made.\u00a0 Carly Fiorina describes a similar experience (more eating than drinking) in Italy in her memoir<\/a>.\u00a0 One presumes that when someone from outside arrives in America, they will have been briefed to expect that Americans will want to get down to business right away.<\/p>\n Similarly, it\u2019s well-known that cultures vary in terms of their approach to time, and timeliness.\u00a0 In Germany, prompt arrival is demanded, even more so than in the U.S.\u00a0 In Latin America, that\u2019s not the case.\u00a0 How do individuals from those cultures do business with each other?\u00a0 One of the parties must be aware enough of the differences and willing to accommodate the other\u2019s alternate expectations.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s all well and good when it\u2019s a matter of two geographically distinct cultures, in which the interaction occurs at discrete points in time.\u00a0 But as far as I can tell, what is implicit in the project of calling out these cultural characteristics as \u201cwhiteness,\u201d is the claim that people of non-white \u201ccultures\u201d should be able to live in the United States without any adaptation to \u201cwhite\u201d (dominant American middle-class) culture<\/em>, without any discomfort at being a minority, and with equal outcomes in terms of income, health, and the like despite potentially significant differences in cultural norms<\/em> \u2014 though, of course, we\u2019re left to guess at what differences the author and other promoters of the concept of \u201cwhiteness\u201d have in mind.<\/p>\n And some of this is, or should be, trivial.<\/p>\n Do they \u201cmerely\u201d want to make distinctions that in this or that nonwhite culture, the role of the extended family is more important, or that jobs are only a small part of one\u2019s identity?\u00a0 Funny, many white people also depend on extended families and reject job-based identity.<\/p>\n Or do they believe that differences are deeper?\u00a0 For instances, in some countries, it\u2019s perfectly normal to hire based on neoptism\/cronyism because \u201cwhere you\u2019re from\u201d establishes your character; in the U.S., it\u2019s not acceptable (but head over to the county clerk\u2019s office and you\u2019ll see that so many of the employees are of the same ethnicity, and clearly recent immigrants, that it can\u2019t be a coincidence).\u00a0 Or how can a society manage when some of its people believe what\u2019s important is individual achievement and others believe\u00a0 your loyalties like with your group, whatever it might be, and what\u2019s most important is to help your group get ahead?\u00a0 Or if a minority reject \u201csaving for tomorrow\u201d?\u00a0 And, of course, if two parties have differing expectations about what \u201con time\u201d means.\u00a0 The notion that it is at all possible for another culture with wholly different beliefs to operate parallel to the dominant culture, with the assumptions of each culture both simultaneously in operation<\/em> when it comes to the education system, the business world, and politics and the legal system, simply doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n And here\u2019s another example:\u00a0 an open letter<\/a> that was shared on twitter, written by a black woman who had recently resigned from a position at the Union of Concerned Scientists.\u00a0 (The letter is undated but an apology-reply<\/a> posted at their site was dated June 5, 2020.) Much of the letter is the sort of radicalism that is perhaps worth pointing out in some other context but not particularly relevant to this issue (she objects to the concept of \u201cjobs\u201d because of a Marxist notion that we should not be obliged to work at jobs but should obtain food and shelter as a matter of justice, for instance) but of relevance are her laments about the work environment:<\/p>\n I resented the office culture. Feeling like I was being surveilled in a sterile, factory-like environment. I asked my supervisor if I could work from home because my role was intended to work primarily with partners who were never in the office. I was told I couldn\u2019t work from home because \u201cit was against company policy\u201d (which wasn\u2019t actually written anywhere in the personnel policy at the time). Or because I wasn\u2019t senior enough\u2026 hadn\u2019t been there long enough\u2026 hadn\u2019t proven myself\u2026 because if I did it, everyone else would do it. This resistance to change from a supposedly science-based organization ignoring the scientifically proven benefits of workers being more productive when able to choose when and how they work was an act of paternalism and power hoarding. I saw how in making hiring decisions, staff questioned whether candidates would be able to \u201cadjust\u201d to the office culture, instead of whether UCS should do some adjusting to be more inclusive.<\/p>\n I tried to bring the storytelling, song, and laughter that my ancestors gifted me with to the office. I tried to disrupt our robotic weekly team meetings with check in questions that helped us get to know each other on a personal level and build trust, bring excitement, fun. But I eventually stopped. My voice got tired. I tried to share poems. I tried to bring life. I tried to bring spirit. But it almost always just felt like death. I was drowned in the loneliness of my sterile, box office. I sent long emails about my feelings, just hoping to connect, throwing a line to be pulled up from the water. No replies. Not urgent enough. The funders didn\u2019t ask for you to talk about your feelings.<\/p>\n I tried to spend as much time as I could away from the office. Going to every conference that came up. To learn about how I could do the job(s) better since no one around me was able to teach\/support me. But also just wanting to connect with people. That was the only time things felt real. Filled with spirit and lead by (BIPOC) people driven by genuine transformation and committed to the work beyond their jobs. In the office we talked about people as if they were only numbers contributing to our action alerts whose goals were created in our white conference rooms from white minds and white values.<\/p>\n I felt the stress, tension, and\/or apathy in our meetings and wanted to take collective breaths, but felt like there was no space or time to just be together as humans. I wondered if people needed hugs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So what do you do with this culture clash, which she identifies as a clash between \u201cwhite\u201d and \u201cblack\u201d culture?\u00a0 She felt that her office was \u201csterile,\u201d the team meetings \u201crobotic.\u201d\u00a0 Did her colleagues, did management have an obligation to accommodate her?\u00a0 How\u00a0could<\/em> they have done so in the first place without being compelled to change\u00a0their own<\/em> culture, if they say, \u201cI don\u2019t want to talk about my feelings or hear about yours or read poems or give hugs; I just want to do my job, to get the work done that needs to be done, to put in an honest day\u2019s work for the company and go home so that I can spend time with my spouse, my children, my friends\u201d?\u00a0 The author may not have liked the standard American white-collar\/office culture, but\u00a0you get what you get and you don\u2019t throw a fit<\/em>, as my kids once would have said.\u00a0 Even in this very narrow sense of the operative work culture, you cannot have two simultaneous cultures at the same time.<\/p>\n And, finally, some of the pundits and blue check-marks and others who have an audience who listen to them with respect to such matters are beginning to call out the harms experienced by the American \u201cmeritocracy\u201d \u2014 by which they don\u2019t mean the notion that individuals with the most \u201cmerit\u201d or intelligence or skill do best, but the evolution of our educational system, in which upper-middle class teenagers struggle mightily to gain admission to top-tier colleges, and not-quite-so-upper middle-class teens accumulate debt because of the credentialism that demands a college degree for all manner of jobs which fundamentally don\u2019t require it.\u00a0 (Once upon a time, my employer wanted new-hire secretaries to have degrees.)\u00a0 And there\u2019s no reason this couldn\u2019t change.\u00a0 Likewise, various experts call on Japan to change its workplace norms in which employees must work long hours to prove their devotion to the company.\u00a0 But, again, having a multiplicity of cultural norms at the same workplace, or within the same working world in general, cannot work.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Now, this is getting overly-long, so, to sum up:\u00a0 there are real, definable characteristics of the American middle-class dominant culture that merit understanding.\u00a0 But as long as the purported anti-racist experts continue to insist that so-called \u201cwhite culture\u201d stands in opposition to something else, we will never be able to move away from our divisions.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhiteness\u201d infographic<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Top image:\u00a0 from pixabay.com; public domain<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My husband is German.\u00a0 Well, as of two years ago, he is also American, but he spent his childhood in Germany, came to the U.S. for grad school, and stayed.\u00a0 Which meant that he had to accustom himself to American culture \u2014 and at the same time, I had to learn that some of his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[497,1462],"class_list":["post-17233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-multiculturalism","tag-whiteness"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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