Dismantling White Privilege: Age of Discovery

In order for the systems of racism to be dismantled, the responsibility lies upon the shoulders of white people since we are the ones who have created, benefitted, and continue to benefit from these systems of inequalities.

This is not a debate. White privilege exists and The United States of America functions within a white supremacist system. This is fact. When we debate the validity of this, we negate the experience of people of color by denying the realities that are — which only results in perpetuating white supremacy.

It is time to move past denial and debate and enter acceptance and action. This is not white guilt; rather, this is white study of the historical systems that were put in place that are still alive today that perpetuate the systems of white supremacy.

Before we begin, there are a couple of distinctions that need to be made:

1. Racism – is a system of power that only white people can perpetuate because white people are in control of power in this country.
2. Privilege – benefit(s) that one does not work for but are endowed with i.e. being born white, straight, male, physically and mentally able, etc.

White supremacy is not only limited to ‘white power’ that is often associated with skinheads, neo Nazis, the KKK and other racist, white power groups. White supremacy is an all-encompassing term that refers to the white power that controls this country. Not all white people are racist and subscribe to racist ideologies; however, all white people live under and benefit from a white supremacist system because white people have been — and still are — in power in this country.

Being white is a privilege in this country. If one is to dismantle systems, one must recognize that white supremacy permeates every ‘system’ i.e. education, corrections, business, housing, etc. within the United States. Dismantling racism must occur at every level within the white supremacist system and none can be overlooked.

Age of Discovery

During the 15th century, Europeans became curious of the world around them and acted upon these curiosities by leaving their continent to explore the world beyond their shores. This age began with the Portuguese ‘discovery’ of the Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores as well as the eastern African coast.

Dismantling white privilege in the United States must begin here. I know from my experience of being a white student studying history as a part of the United States history curriculum, the term ‘discover’ is troubling in and of itself. This notion that there were islands and continents that were ‘discovered’ suggests that these lands did not exist before the white Europeans happened upon them.

Africa existed. Australia existed. What we now refer to as South, Central and North America existed prior to the white Europeans ‘discovered’ these lands and more importantly, peoples, cultures, religions, customs and histories existed as well.

When the Europeans ‘discovered’ the ‘New World’ (the Americas and Australia), they began to rewrite history from their standpoint, a white European standpoint, which in turn completely negated he fact that indigenous civilizations had existed for generations prior to their arrival.

This history is not taught today in the United States. The term ‘discovery’ is in and of itself a part of the imperialist and colonialist part of white European expansionist history that is not acknowledged as such. ‘The Age of Discovery’ is simply a unit taught in United States history classes in which students are made to believe that white European expansion into Indigenous lands was natural. This unit is an example of one function of the institutionalized white supremacy curriculum that is taught in schools all over the country today.

Language matters. When teachers and professors use the term ‘discover’, they perpetuate the notion that these lands were irrelevant and nonexistent prior to the white European expansion. When this term is used, the white supremacist histories are perpetuated in the educational system because indigenous histories and cultures are once again ignored and forgotten.

Because United States history curriculum continues to teach ‘The Age of Discovery’, students learn about history through a white lens meaning through those who wrote the history, which were white, European men. Students do not learn about the histories and cultures of the indigenous peoples that occupied these lands prior to white expansion, thus continuing to promote white supremacy within the educational system.

As ‘discoveries’ increased, expansion became a part of European culture, meaning that venturing from Europe to ‘discover’ new lands, peoples, resources and customs became ingrained within the European way of life. Meaning, white Europeans were not content to simply know that there were other lands of peoples, cultures and customs in the world, but rather that other lands, peoples, customs and cultures had to be ‘discovered’.

And as history has taught us, European involvement did not stop at ‘discovery’. If only European explorers had happened upon ‘new’ lands, realized there were peoples, customs, cultures, religions and histories that were established and had said, ‘whoops, our bad, we’ll be going to back to Europe now. Sorry to intrude. Please continue what you are doing and we will leave you be.’ If only.

Unfortunately, this is not what happened. White history teaches that white Europeans were not content with trading resources and exchanging goods. White supremacy began in these lands before the United States was even ‘created’ (a different topic for a different day). The European discovery of these ‘new’ lands eventually led to white European entitlement of taking these ‘new’ lands, peoples and resources.

Take, for example, Christopher Columbus. A European explorer attempting to travel to the east Indies by discovering a western route, stumbled upon the ‘new’ world. His ‘discovery’ of the ‘new’ world was one of the major factors that contributed to European colonization of the ‘new’ world.

1. Colonialism – the establishment of one territory governed by another political power from another territory, and the subsequent maintenance, expansion and exploitation of that colony.
2. Exploitation – selfish use or utilization of, especially for profit

Though Columbus was not the first European to ‘discover’ the ‘new’ world, it was his voyage that established lasting relationships between the old and ‘new’ worlds. Columbus completed three more voyages to the ‘new’ world and helped establish colonies there. As a result, he was appointed governor of one of the new colonies.

A second — important — legacy that Columbus is known for is his tyranny as governor during his seven-year rule. Reports indicate that he regularly used mutilation as well as torture to rule his colony.

Another notable legacy of Columbus’ is that he helped spearhead the transatlantic slave trade.

But these are not the legacies that are taught in school. Rather, the legacies that are taught manipulate truth by claiming that Columbus was a hero. Today, there are many school districts that close in observance of Christopher Columbus day as well as many cities that celebrate this day by hosting parades in his honor. These celebrations are further example of white supremacy ingrained within the United States educational system.

In all of my schooling, I only learned about native populations in one class, 6th grade history in which ‘ancient civilizations’ like the Mayans and the Incas for example were taught in six week units. Six weeks. That’s it. Every other history course, including this course, was taught through a white supremacist lens i.e. through the history written by white imperialist men that ‘settled’ a ‘new’ country without regard to the native, indigenous peoples that existed prior to their coming and displaced after their arrival.

The systems of white supremacy were a part of this country long before the creation of the United States of America and more importantly, these systems of white supremacy continue because of how history is taught. United States history was written by white men and is therefore, white, male history. The history that is taught is biased towards the white population as well as against populations of color. As a result, history is relative and one person’s history does not reflect history for all people; but it is taught as embracing of all peoples.

The version of history taught in the United States specific to Columbus and ‘his discovery of the new world’ were written for white people, glorified lies and ignored facts. This history excludes the indigenous people whom Columbus and other white Europeans exploited in order to promote their culture and their history.

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By day Mia Furtado is a high school special education teacher in Denver Colorado; by night, Mia is a fierce advocate for social justice through activities including sitting on the board of PFLAG Denver chapter as well as through her writings of for feminist publications.