Hi GermanSwiss, and thanks for your question. Let me see how best to answer this. Please forgive the length of my response.
It's crucial to distinguish between personal racial biases and the broader societal construct of 'whiteness.' I'm referring to the concept of 'whiteness,' which goes beyond skin color or ethnic origin. It's a sociopolitical construct historically associated with power, privilege, and societal norms, predominantly in Western societies.
When I mentioned that individuals of various racial and religious backgrounds could subscribe to the ideology of 'whiteness,' it wasn't to suggest that a Hindu, for example, would inherently harbor racist attitudes towards black people in Western countries but not in India. Instead, the point is that the pervasive influence of 'whiteness' as a dominant cultural norm can lead individuals, irrespective of their own racial or religious identity, to internalize and perpetuate these norms.
This internalization can manifest in various ways, such as prioritizing Western beauty standards, success, or moral values over their own cultural norms. It's a form of cultural assimilation that sometimes leads to the marginalization of other racial or cultural identities, including one's own. Often, a black person can loathe their racial identity or culture or that of their family. For example, in some black cultures, colorism is their challenge, where a lighter skin tone gets more privileges than a darker-skinned person. This phenomenon is not geographically confined to the West; the global influence of Western culture means that these attitudes can be found worldwide.
It's also important to understand that subscribing to the ideology of 'whiteness' doesn't necessarily equate to overt racism. It's often more subtle, influencing attitudes and beliefs in ways that individuals may not consciously recognize. The reference to 'self-loathing' in my original comment was meant to highlight how individuals, in internalizing these norms, might unconsciously devalue their own cultural or racial identity. The colorism example comes to mind again.
In summary, the concept of 'whiteness', as I used it, refers to a set of cultural norms and power structures that individuals of any racial or religious background can internalize. It's about understanding how these norms shape societal attitudes and behaviors rather than a statement about individual racial prejudice based on geographical location. Let me know if this helps, and thanks again for the question.
