Encountering Whiteness: The Black Body as the Dangerous Other
Location
Beaman A&B
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
25-9-2013 6:00 PM
Description
In this talk, Yancy argues that whiteness is what he calls the “transcendental norm”; that is, whiteness is that which defines nonwhites as other/different/deviant/raced. As such, the Black body, especially the Black male body, is constructed as a problem, a problem that the Black body has as a feature of its very being. The Black body is ontologically a problem. In short, the Black body is responded to as the very essence of criminality, deviance, evil. He explores the lived dimensions of Blackness vis-a-vis an encounter with whiteness within the context of an elevator, demonstrating that it is not the Black male body that is the problem, but whiteness as transcendental norm, as a site of ethical solipsism and privilege. He examines the dynamics of the encounter, revealing how white racism works within the space of quotidian social encounters. He concludes with the suggestion that whiteness must be put into a state of crisis, such that it loses its way in a world that supports its status as ontologically, ethically and epistemologically normative.
Recommended Citation
Yancy, George, "Encountering Whiteness: The Black Body as the Dangerous Other" (2013). Humanities Symposium. 14.
https://repository.belmont.edu/humanities_symposium/2013/2013/14
Encountering Whiteness: The Black Body as the Dangerous Other
Beaman A&B
In this talk, Yancy argues that whiteness is what he calls the “transcendental norm”; that is, whiteness is that which defines nonwhites as other/different/deviant/raced. As such, the Black body, especially the Black male body, is constructed as a problem, a problem that the Black body has as a feature of its very being. The Black body is ontologically a problem. In short, the Black body is responded to as the very essence of criminality, deviance, evil. He explores the lived dimensions of Blackness vis-a-vis an encounter with whiteness within the context of an elevator, demonstrating that it is not the Black male body that is the problem, but whiteness as transcendental norm, as a site of ethical solipsism and privilege. He examines the dynamics of the encounter, revealing how white racism works within the space of quotidian social encounters. He concludes with the suggestion that whiteness must be put into a state of crisis, such that it loses its way in a world that supports its status as ontologically, ethically and epistemologically normative.
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Convocation Credit: Academic Lecture