What does whiteness mean and why weren’t these groups initially considered white?
Considering all the white ethnics, such as Jews, Italians, Irish, and many others, the white skin significantly contributed to their overcoming discrimination. The advantages of white skin imply better job positions, higher income, better education, as well as living in less segregated neighborhoods compared to non-Europeans nations (Aguirre and Turner, White Ethnic Americans, 97). Hence, whiteness means to see one’s origins as European. They were defined primarily as “different” due to prejudicial beliefs and discrimination; they were considered to pose threats to European-origin white ethnics.
What did the process of becoming white entail?
The white ethnics managed to blend with the overall population and advance the educational and occupational aspects by adhering to culture, speech, value, and other features of the Anglo-Saxon core. White ethnic communities eventually overcame the discrimination of the Anglo-Saxon core and “moved up the socioeconomic ladder” (Aguirre and Turner, White Ethnic Americans, 77). Such a successful outcome ironically contributed to current negative stereotypes about other ethnic groups and continuous discrimination towards them. The white immigrants advanced significantly by imposing the culture that dominates the modern United States. They assimilated into the predominant culture and secure resources.
How important was an Anglo-Saxon core?
The Anglo-Saxon culture always used to dictate and define the conditions and development paths for other ethnic populations. As such, every ethnic minority was obliged to adapt to the Anglo-Saxon core, which was accompanied by the discrimination from those who managed cultural symbols and institutional structures of the core. According to Aguirre and Turner, the Anglo-Saxons descendants still hold the senior positions (The Anglo-Saxon Core and Ethnic Antagonism, 67).
Up until now, the Anglo-Saxons can determine the cultural climate and institutional policies of modern American society. The core embodied the environment to which other ethnic populations had to adjust or, otherwise, address severe consequences.
Works Cited
Aguirre, Adalberto, and Jonathan H. Turner, “The Anglo-Saxon Core and Ethnic Antagonism.” American Ethnicity: The Dynamics and Consequences of Discrimination, 7th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2011, pp. 61–76.
Aguirre, Adalberto, and Jonathan H. Turner, “White Ethnic Americans.” American Ethnicity: The Dynamics and Consequences of Discrimination, 7th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2011, pp. 77–100.