Paper Summary:

This paper is written from the point of view of a non-white college student who is exploring how white American culture is seen by Whites themselves. The author chooses the unusual option of focusing on whites when asked to explore a culture other than his/her own. Research and interviews are offered to show how one can begin to understand the complexities of White culture. All this is investigated with the aim of improving intercultural communication.

From the Paper:

"Whites in America make up the largest cultural group in the United States, yet most members of this group do not, it seems, recognize their membership. Although countless studies have been made of all other cultures delineated on the basis of skin color, among racial identities the white category goes largely unexamined. One exception to this generality is the illuminating study made by Richard Dyer in his book White. Dyer states his eye opening premise at the very start of his work: "As long as race is something only applied to non-white peoples, as long as white people are not racially seen and named, they/we function as a human norm. Other people are raced, we are just people. (Dyer, 1) From Dyer we learn that if we are to talk about race, we must discuss not only humans with every other color of skin, but also white humans, who in actuality, do not fall into their racial category with any more consistency than do those of other hues. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dyer, Richard. White. Routledge. London and New York: 1997
• Martin Judith N., & Thomas K. Nakayama. Intercultural Communications in Context. The McGraw Hill Companies Inc. New York: 2000.
• McIntosh, Peggy. "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" (1988) "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women's Studies." Wellesley College Center for Research on Women Working Paper Series 189
• Talty, Stephan. Mulatto America: At the Crossroads of Black and White Culture: A Social History. Harper Collins Publishers. New York: 2003.
• Taylor, Betty & Jeanne Wolfe. "Why White Students Need to Learn About Their Own Race." Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 2008.

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