White-Washed is becoming a norm for people to use against each other and in the media today.  It can be used against people of color and by people of color against one another. “Derogatory terms like ‘whitewashed’ and ‘oreo’ are used to shame black people for not aligning with black stereotypes,” said Lakeridge News.  They divide and separate people of different cultures who do not fit the stereotype of that culture.

White-Washing also has an effect on social media and tv by changing and casting white actors in roles that were originally played by a person of color. Health.com said, “In the movie adaptation of James Sallis’s novel Drive, the female lead—a Mexican woman named Irina—is renamed Irene and portrayed by Carey Mulligan, a White, non-Hispanic actress.”

Mostly minorities have been deemed “White-Washed” by people from their own culture or by someone who is white. When someone in your own culture calls you “White-Washed” it’s mostly because they don’t fit the stereotypes of the group or people feel you hang out with too many white people.

Everyday Feminism said, “People are products of their environment – so unless you are surrounded by your heritage growing up, you’re more likely to be a product of where you are and who you’re with.”

But when a person of color is called whitewashed by a white person it means they don’t fit the stereotypes of being ghetto or talking a certain way. “However, I think it hurts more when a black person says it,” said Ricks,” said Ricks from Lakeridge News.

Many different things can play a factor in someone being labeled as white-washed whether it be, “Hanging out exclusively with white people, Following trends in American clothes and style, Inability or refusal to speak in their parents’ language, Denial of or dissociation with their ancestral culture in any way possible, Occasional touting of their ancestral culture when it is to their advantage,” said psu.edu.

Also, the environment that you grew up in whether it was PRW(predominantly white school) or a more diverse school can impact if you are seen as “white-washed. Tushar Asthana(Feature Staff Writer @ VYCinic) said “Mocking me by calling me a byproduct of a white environment due to the circumstances that I am forced to adapt to because of white mishaps, is a class in hypocrisy.”

Socially this can negatively impact a person’s life because it can make them an outcast in their group and have people look at them in a certain way. Health News said “It can lead to debilitating anxiety as minority individuals may feel pressured to look, speak, or present a certain way.” Whether it be excluding from events and plans or having once friends change how they interact with you. This isolates and separates people leaving them only to their thoughts. Laylah Pitt a hall high student said “It made me self conscious of everything I would say, do or wear. I also didn’t know who to hang out with in fear of being called this label again.”

White-Washing affects school from history to smallest thing of were you sit in a class. As Health.com said “ America’s education system is faulty. Telling a side of the story that only puts America in a good light does not allow for accountability.” History books most times skip over the horrors and injustices that have happened in this country whether they be racial or not.  According to Merriam Webster “Whitewash can also refer to glossing over or covering up something that is immoral, illegal, or otherwise bad (as in “a book which whitewashes the country’s troubled past”)” This can often leave kids scared of talking or sharing their experiences in class since they might feel that the school or teachers do not wish to teach about these events in history.