The Definition of Whitewashed

The feeling of whitewashing, which consists of trivializing, minimizing or erasing errors, problems or negative information, is used mainly in the context of official and corporate political communication intended to conceal scandalous information. Such words and deeds are intended to conceal (or conceal), not repair, mistakes and scandals – hence the metaphor. It can be said that things that have been whitewashed in this way have been swept under the rug (another expression based on a metaphor of hiding negative things). Example: Finally, we have a film where we see a realistic representation of black and Indigenous women behind the movement – not a version of history ignored by Hollywood. Watergate-Gate, or as the Nixon Library glossed over the scandal that brought down a president: t.co/jOtH3fBIH7 did you go to #Santorini? 🇬🇷 This must-see island is known for its whitewashed buildings, panoramic views, picturesque streets and more. Read more ☀️ here: t.co/Igw5jTSExj pic.twitter.com/0Xxk8McXeT For example, in 2015, a widely studied history textbook by publisher McGraw Hill described the Atlantic slave trade as an exchange that « brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States. to work on agricultural plantations.  » according to NPR. Bleaching lies in the neglected details. For all those who wonder what is wrong with this sentence: These people were not workers – they were enslaved against their will to do this work. After McGraw-Hill was made aware of the editorial error, she worked to correct her main flaw by offering to send corrected copies to schools free of charge or provide a sticker to conceal the aforementioned copy as well as a lesson plan on the cultural context of the language, according to NPR.

Yet by then, more than hundreds of thousands of copies of this whitewashed report were already in the hands of students across the country. The adjective whitewashed is sometimes used negatively to describe people of color whose identity or personality resembles that of their white peers rather than that of others with the same cultural identity, especially if they associate primarily with white people. The term is typically used by people of color to criticize other people of color, such as: those immigrants or communities that are supposed to have adapted to the dominant white culture without retaining much or no element of their own cultural identity. What about money laundering in education? It can also be harmful because « it perpetuates this myth that we`re in the postracial United States and we live in a country or even a world where all things are shared, and they`re not, » Harris says. Teaching, and thus promoting a distorted and false narrative, leads children to believe this misinformation and prepare it for « a harsh reality. » « If whiteness is the norm and what to look for, it means that being black or brown is not the norm and should be something you should distance yourself from, » she continues. « People are losing a valuable sense of self related to race and/or culture. » Overall, this — like racism as a whole — can lead to various psychological consequences, including depression and anxiety, according to research and the American Psychological Association. (See more: How racism affects your mental health) And in that sense, a particularly important way to combat this form of racism is to be an honest and effective ally – not a performative person who simply displays a black square on their Instagram grid and calls it one day. (See more: How to become an authentic and useful ally) Here`s more about what whitewashing is, how it plays a role in privilege and society, and what you can do about it. To quote Ms. Kaye: « A liberal peer is as useful as a harness for a car and as decorative as whitewashing. Bleaching is also used in situations where members of a marginalized group are excluded or eliminated by substitution by members of the dominant cultural group, such as in fictional depictions of historical events. That being said, whitewashing goes beyond hiring white professionals instead of BIPOC for on-screen and off-screen positions.

It also includes a white depicting a person of color (e.g., Rooney Mara as Native American princess Tiger Lily in Pan), the creation of all-white worlds (e.g., The Lord of the Rings), and the removal of BIPOC from depictions of specific eras (e.g., 1920s New York in Fantastic Beasts and where to find them). In fact, in fact, in the odds, they will continue to live in a bubble, only to have a `rude awakening` when interacting with someone from a systematically oppressed group, » she says. [If this happens], they might question their ideology and development, or they might be more rooted in belief in those ideals. (The first mention of the word whitewash dates back to the late 1500s. It began to be used figuratively in the 1700s. (The new term greenwash is modeled on whitewashing, referring to a superficial concern for environmental concerns expressed by a company or organization to make them appear environmentally friendly.) Bleaching in the entertainment industry also occurs with « hiring white directors and other key teams through qualified people of color, » according to Meghan Sanders, Ph.D., associate director of the Media Effects Lab at LSU Manship School of Mass Communications.