8+ Cheryl Harris' Whiteness as Property: A Critical Race Theory Look

cheryl harris whiteness as property

8+ Cheryl Harris' Whiteness as Property: A Critical Race Theory Look

Authorized scholar Cheryl Harris’s groundbreaking 1993 article, “Whiteness as Property,” argues that whiteness has traditionally been handled as a type of property in the USA, conferring tangible and intangible advantages to those that possess it. Like different types of property, whiteness has been constructed, outlined, and guarded by the legislation, enabling its homeowners to regulate, switch, and profit from its worth. This idea manifests in varied historic and modern examples, together with redlining, racially restrictive covenants, and disparities in entry to training, healthcare, and employment alternatives.

Harris’s evaluation gives a crucial framework for understanding how racial inequality will not be merely a product of particular person prejudice however is deeply embedded in authorized buildings and social establishments. Her work highlights how the authorized system has traditionally performed a pivotal function in creating and perpetuating racial disparities by affording authorized protections and benefits to whiteness. Understanding this framework is essential for addressing systemic racism and dealing in the direction of a extra equitable society. The idea gives a strong lens by way of which to investigate the persistence of racial inequality and the challenges in reaching true racial justice.

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