Whiteness In Renato Rosaldo's 'Border Crossings'

Improved Essays
In “Border Crossings,” Renato Rosaldo states that all peoples have culture and that “each human culture is so unique that no yardstick can measure one against another.” (Rosaldo 196) But in society, the most powerful group usually have the privilege of classifying themselves as a-cultural or post-cultural. They are blind to their own culture and therefore see themselves as the “norm.” Rosaldo argues that by labeling one group as the “norm” and another group as more cultural it perpetuates the idea that “if “they” have explicit monopoly on authentic culture, "we" have an unspoken one on institutional power .” (Rosaldo 202) In this instance, we can make “whiteness” an example of this arguement. Pamela Perry specifically tackles whiteness in her

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