Cheryl Harris’s influential 1993 article, usually circulated in digital format, examines the idea of whiteness as a socially constructed type of possession. Harris argues that whiteness has traditionally functioned as a property curiosity, conferring tangible and intangible benefits, privileges, and advantages upon these deemed white. This framework helps analyze how racial inequality is created and maintained, illustrating how whiteness has been handled as an asset handed down by generations, offering entry to assets and alternatives usually denied to others.
Understanding this framework is essential for analyzing systemic racism and its influence on numerous points of society, together with regulation, economics, and social relations. It presents a strong lens for analyzing how historic and ongoing practices have contributed to racial disparities in wealth, housing, schooling, and employment. Exploring this idea traditionally illuminates how whiteness offered materials benefits during times corresponding to slavery and Jim Crow, and continues to form modern energy constructions. The article’s enduring relevance lies in its skill to clarify the persistence of racial inequality regardless of formal authorized equality.
