Whiteness Studies

Definition of Whiteness Whiteness can be seen as an ideology of a white capitalistic supremacy, where the white race is seen as the norm to which all racial structures live by, and anything other than this is seen as the abject. Richard Dyer refers to the property of whiteness that is everything and nothing, as the source of its representational power. (Dyer 1988:44) Howart Winant sees racial identity as something that all people have, except for whites. White individuals are seen as people, whereas any non-white individuals are just classified according to race. (Hue and Cry on ‘Whiteness Studies’ 2003:A01) The film The Bang Bang Club by Steven Silver, deals with four white male photographers based in South Africa in 1994 during apartheid. These white males are showcased as heroes while taking photos of violent outbreaks in rural black areas. In these rural areas are outbreaks of chaos; where different groups of black cultures vandalises each other’s property and kill one another without guilt. The outbreaks portrays these culture groups acting extremely uncivilized, unorganized and without restraint as seen in Figure 1, a screenshot of the film. Whereas the white photographers and army enter the outbreaks with a certain plan and goal in mind showing that they are organized and structured. The juxtaposition is made clear through the change of scenery when moving from civilized lives – in proper housing and working areas – to the rural townships where destruction of property and murder is naturalised. The civilized white photographers are placed in contrast to the uncivilized lives of black people who live in these townships. Richard Dyer explains that with the manner in which non-white groups are represented and looked at, is part of the process that creates their oppression, marginalisation and subordination, as well as the fact that it only enlarges these groups’ sense of oddness, differentness and exceptionality and the feeling that they are departures from the