Abstract

CARLOS FREGOSO, Gisela. Takeaways from the Teaching of Whiteness in Latin America. Tabula Rasa [online]. 2023, n.45, pp.273-292.  Epub Aug 10, 2022. ISSN 1794-2489.  https://doi.org/10.25058/20112742.n45.12.

In this article, some findings and reflections stemmed from the investigation “Whiteness in Mexico. Towards an Understanding of Being White in Mexico to Generate Social Justice Agendas”, submitted to the University of Guadalajara; This research was carried out during the years 2020 and 2021. Part of the methodology consisted in organizing two seminars, each lasting six months, where a total of sixty-three speakers and approximately one hundred attendees participated. Based on the findings of this research, in this article I suggest that white and mixed-race people want to take part in anti-racist conversations, but they do so from binary positions which contribute to “white vs. non-white” discussions. To show this, I draw from English-speaking discussions on whiteness studies, then I mention key analyzes on whiteness in Latin America that allow us to make a conceptual distinction between the US and Latin American scholarship. Later, I will explain the topics of the seminar and will break down the implications of white-mestizo people’s voices participating in anti-racist discussions. Finally, I will delve into two central ideas, namely white-mestizo denialism and the implications of educating white bodies on anti-racism.

Keywords : whiteness; heterogeneity; takeaways; white defensiveness; use of word.

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