
“Whiteness” is a hard thing to define in contemporary America. The difference between “black” and “white” is hardly ever as easy to separate as in American History X. Our current president has been billed as the first “black” president; however he is only half black. Likewise Tiger Woods is generally referred to as black, when he is actually one-quarter Chinese, one-quarter Thai, one-quarter African American, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch. The article “The Concept of Whiteness in American Film” says that at one time The Irish and Italians were not considered “white.” Eventually though society was forced to accept them as “white” due to changes in society. I think this will have to start happening because of the prevalence of inter-racial marriage in America. Because so many people in America are of ambiguous ethnic origin, the lines of “white” and “black” are becoming evermore blurred. Soon we will have to redefine our notions of race because our current definitions of “white” and “black” will fit for fewer and fewer people. This kind of redefinition is similar what happened with the Italian and Irish immigrants. Hopefully when this happens our society will begin to be more inclusive, in film and in society.
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