The wages of whiteness

Good morning sexton scholars, below are my thoughts on Harris' Whiteness as Property. I discuss the idea of whiteness as consolation, and

“What passing attempts to circumvent, affirmative action moves to challenge” (1779). Harris’ exploration of identity and property appropriately begins with a testament to her grandmother’s fight for economic survival. She used whiteness as a shelter, enduring self-denial and loss of identity because it was a rational choice to support her family as much as possible.

The idea of whiteness as a consolation is incredibly powerful. Harris describes this as the idea that being white doesn’t mean you will win, though it means you won’t lose. I also appreciate her description of how resilient the property interest of whiteness is, especially how the Court aims to conceive of equality in intergenerational terms. They are seeking a different sense of social responsibility, away from our current state in which “the market value of [an] individual [is the] just and true assessment” (1778). This connects to how people commonly misconceive affirmative action– as corrective justice, not distributive. Many Americans view affirmative action as corrective justice, meaning the opportunities given to people who face systemic discrimination extract compensation from 'innocent whites'. Given the current sense of social responsibility, this would diminish the market value of an individual, degrading their value as a person.

While I agree with its importance and distinction, the distributive justice lens feels idealistic. Redirecting legal discourse from absolution and wrongs to just distribution and rights is necessary, but the majority of white people have an inherent entitlement that would prevent this clarification from swaying the public view on this issue. Harris agrees, but as she states in her footnotes, “correctly identifying the locus of power in the affirmative action debate would serve to better expose class privilege and domination” (1784). I think that the distributive justice lens should be applied to the broader conversations about DEI programs in general, especially as Trump preaches an anti-DEI purge.

Lastly, I find the distinction between equal treatment and equalizing treatment notable, as it establishes the core issue of the affirmative action debate; That whiteness as property must end, challenging the ideas of legitimacy and exclusivity in whiteness. - Eliot