Whiteness as normal

http://www.npr.org/2012/05/07/152183865/lena-dunham-addresses-criticism-aimed-at-girls?ft=1&f=1008#

So I know that we're not necessarily required to post but I felt compelled to. When reading Right to Be Hostile, I was particularly struck by pg. 107 where she talks about whiteness as almost "invisible" and "unquestionable" because it is considered "normal". This section reminded of an article I read about the show "Girls" on HBO, which features an all-white cast in an (otherwise diverse) New York City. The show's creator Lena Dunham received some backlash questioning how it was possible to create a storyline that did not include racial diversity in a side so widely known as diverse. Below is her response to that question, in which she explains that she wrote from "gut-level" and that characters were either based on pieces of her or someone close to her.  She says "only later did I realize that it was four white girls." In her answer, not only does she touch on an issue very relevant to our class about who can represent whom, but also really speaks to Meiner's idea that white supremacy is not questioned because whites are in fact segregated in schools, neighborhoods, churches etc. That "all-white environments are not seen as negative. This also reminds me of friends in high school who said they did not want to go to HBCUs because they didn't want to continue to be in "minority-dominated" environments such as my high school. One of my other friends questioned her by pointing to the fact that nobody questions why white students attend majority white colleges/universities like the Ivies or any other school. To relate it even more, I think this issue related to Perry House and the constant question we get asking us why we need such a space on this campus, even though nobody question why Bryn Mawr is majority white.