Better the devil you see, than the one you don’t: bearing witness to emboldened en-whitening epistemology in the Trump era

Abstract

Critical scholars of race maintain that racism that is not clearly seen every day is the most dangerous kind. Notwithstanding ‘invisible’ racism qua racism without racists—per some race scholars—explorations on mechanisms of Whiteness in the Trump era must be had. One mechanism is perpetuating epistemological racial ignorance. However, that epistemological moment has passed. Instead, US society is returning to an emboldened en/whitening epistemology characterized by perverse re-appropriation of civil rights terminologies—once used to support People of Color—to instead strengthen White nationalism. Towards racial justice—dismantling White supremacy—we unveil how Whiteness incites an en/whitening epistemological moment so captured in today’s mindsets. Methodologically employing critical hermeneutics, specifically, metaphors, to forever remind Whiteness as dehumanization, this paper identifies the devil of Whiteness so to facilitate the futurity of humanity.

Keywords:

• Whiteness
• en-whitening epistemology
• critical hermeneutics
• race
• racism

Notes

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