Monday, October 26, 2009

A not-so-subtle way to establish Whiteness


Larry Whitten, a hotel owner from Texas, recently made headlines by imposing some pretty strict demands on employees at his most recently acquired hotel in Taos, NM. The two demands that drew the most ire:

1. Employees are not allowed to speak Spanish in Whitten's presence.
2. Employees with Spanish names were ordered to Anglicize or change them while at work.

Click here to read the full text of an article that describes Whitten's rationale, the community reactions, and how former and current employees feel about his management edicts.

This story screams of Whiteness, specifically the supposition that White is right, context does not matter, and those viewed as the Other must always adapt to the dominant group - history, culture, and values be damned. Perhaps this small quote from Whitten sums it up best:
I came into this landmine of Anglos versus Spanish versus Mexicans versus Indians versus everybody up here. I'm just doing what I've always done.

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