This chapter addresses what philosopher George Yancy describes as the needed process of white “unsuturing.” A sutured white self grows up believing itself to be deserving of whatever merit, privileges, and wealth are bestowed upon it. It misreads itself as self-sufficient and autonomous, perhaps as masterful. In seeing itself as self-made, it is ignorant of history’s role in its constitution. It does not reckon with how centuries of unremunerated or poorly paid labor of Black people have added to its own comforts and coffers; it is unreflective about how racial hierarchy contributes to a false sense of security and worth. When confronted by people of color or by history itself, it too often reflexively denies, deflects, or attacks. White people’s acknowledgment of the harms to people of color from colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, and white supremacy contribute to building societies where truth-telling and accountability flourish. Through ongoing white unsuturing, both whites and Blacks gain freedoms, be it of different kinds.

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“Unsuturing” the White Self: Creating Freedom and Integrity by Reckoning with the Past

  • Mary Watkins

摘要

This chapter addresses what philosopher George Yancy describes as the needed process of white “unsuturing.” A sutured white self grows up believing itself to be deserving of whatever merit, privileges, and wealth are bestowed upon it. It misreads itself as self-sufficient and autonomous, perhaps as masterful. In seeing itself as self-made, it is ignorant of history’s role in its constitution. It does not reckon with how centuries of unremunerated or poorly paid labor of Black people have added to its own comforts and coffers; it is unreflective about how racial hierarchy contributes to a false sense of security and worth. When confronted by people of color or by history itself, it too often reflexively denies, deflects, or attacks. White people’s acknowledgment of the harms to people of color from colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, and white supremacy contribute to building societies where truth-telling and accountability flourish. Through ongoing white unsuturing, both whites and Blacks gain freedoms, be it of different kinds.