Perspectives: Unpacking Whiteness in One of the Whitest States in America

By: Ian M. Mette, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Maine

Unpacking Whiteness in One of the Whitest States in America

In Maine we get a lot of things right. Our motto, “The Way Life Should Be,” speaks to our humble way of life, one that is informed by our ability to connect with nature and through our small towns.

However, as someone who grew up in Maine, and is a proud Maine educator, the one thing we perhaps struggle the most with to make sure all Mainers experience the way life should be is the ability to talk about issues of race. For a state where 94% of people are white, it is often difficult to find models of diversity close to us. And yet that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t talk about issues of race and attempt to understand our own whiteness.

Whiteness, broadly speaking, is a social privilege afforded to white people and is treated much like property rights – the power and privilege of being white has been, and continues to be, passed down from one generation to the next. Additionally, whiteness, by and large, refers to systems that afford protections of class reproduction, such as economic systems, education systems, and healthcare systems. If you grow up in Maine in almost entirely white communities you likely are not taught to unpack what these systems look like to people who identify as black, indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC). Sadly, Mainers have had little support from elected leaders who espouse beliefs that immigrants should just assimilate and that racial profiling is an acceptable practice.

When we demand assimilation and accept whiteness as the norm, we take part in social replication, one that white bodies have benefited from for hundreds of years. This lack of perspective is harmful to BIPOC Mainers who face aggressive actions of discrimination based on their nationality, their skin color, and their indigenous rights. And yet as Mainers we have a rich moralistic history that values the importance of the communal good and the obligation to engage in the health of our communities. And moving forward that has to include the acceptance that race matters in America, and here at home in Maine.

The powerful aspect of unpacking our own whiteness is that it doesn’t have to be a political issue, although currently it often is. To be clear, you can identify with conservative ideals and also accept your whiteness gives you power and privilege. In fact, if you consider the definition of conservativism – the preservation of what is traditionally viewed as the strengths of the American society, such as acceptance of faith, strong family and moral values, right to bear arms, competitive free markets, strong military defense systems, and individual liberties – all are incredibly important concepts. Nothing about these conservative values have to be inherently tied to whiteness.

However, one thing that conservativism in America has repeatedly gotten wrong is the use of power to maintain social and economic institutions of control, particularly as it relates to race, or to deny that it exists altogether. For white people in Maine to argue with this reality, particularly as Maine and other parts of the country continue to see huge upticks in white supremacist ideologies, should be concerning to all Mainers.

Some white Mainers will argue that the system no longer works for them – that without well-paying jobs, affordable housing, and access to healthcare, they have been left behind. Ironically, the very people who argue for conservative ideals about protecting privileges traditionally afforded to white people actually highlights the nefarious nature of whiteness itself. For white Mainers who are now disadvantaged socially and economically due to a globalized system, they have been stripped, perhaps unknowingly, of their whiteness. And what we must understand is that this sort of suffering has been a constant source of pain for our BIPOC brothers and sisters – ongoing exposure to social and political systems that don’t work, and never have worked, because of skin color.

The question Mainers need to answer, regardless of political ideology, is “When will you wake up white?” How we view race, discuss race, and address issues of race with action will impact countless future generations of Mainers. And it’s important to note you can hang on to conservative ideals but shed the cloak of whiteness.

Ian M. Mette is associate professor of educational leadership at the University of Maine. This column reflects his views and expertise and does not speak on behalf of the University of Maine. He has recently co-authored a book The Essential Renewal of America’s Schools: A Leadership Guide for Democratizing Schools from the Inside Out, with Carl Glickman, professor emeritus of education at the University of Georgia.