Scholarly Review 2

"Note, too, the telling absence of specialized services to groups of northern-European descent; German Americans of Swedish Americans, for instance, are presumably too well absorbed into the librarians' mental mode of the 'normal' American to need special designation along with the supposedly more disadvantaged Italians, blacks, Asians, and so on, while the very idea of 'British American' probably makes little sense in this context." (Pawley, 2006)

This is a very interesting phenomenon to note, and something I have seen played out in the American culture. I think that what is described above is an almost invisible form of racism. When we think of 'white people' the could be anyone who has a European heritage. Russians, Welsh, Norwegians, Greeks and others are all lumped together in a form that is, supposedly, cohesive.

I would argue that this group is not at all cohesive and pretending that they are is a form of racism. If I were to fly to Greece, for example, I would understand very little of the culture and absolutely none of the language. Yet librarians and others would place me, as I am 'white', in the same race as these people. I went to England a few years ago, and even though I am partially English, I felt culture shock. The language was much different than American English, and the customs were different such as looking left for oncoming traffic instead of right. In short, it was adifferent culture completely.

My in-laws are Finnish-American immigrants. When they arrived in the United States in the 1970s, I doubt they didn't feel some culture shock. Yet, presumably, 'whites' are all the same. Thsi presumption means that European immigrants are overlooked in our culture. Immigrants like my in-laws are such a minority that they aren't even thought of when the word 'minority' is said. When people say 'minority' Blacks are the first group I think of, then Hispanics and Asians. People like my in-laws are, as the above quote says, supposedly absorbed into the label 'normal' when they may not even be able to read the same language as most Americans.

Is this not a form of racism as well? Librarians, and really, all Americans, need to remember that this country was built on immigration. Not everyone who 'looks white' is the same and special considerations should be made for those who are new to this country.






Pawley, C. (2006). Unequal legacies: race and multiculralism in the lis curriculum. Library Quarterly, 76(2), 149-168.