whitewashing
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.50 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The process of whitewashing, of making over (a person or character, a group, an event, etc) so that it is or seems more white (Caucasian), for example by applying makeup to a person, or by covering over the participation of non-whites in an event and focusing on only white participation.
Countable; Derogatory; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Some persons are sincerely incapable of understanding that to denounce mud slinging does not mean the endorsement of whitewashing; and both the interested individuals who need whitewashing and those others who practice mud slinging like to encourage such confusion of ideas."
- "The institution insulted history by peddling ludicrous whitewashings — describing the Watergate criminal conspiracy as a “coup” by Nixon’s political rivals fed by fake scoops purchased by the Woodstein investigative duo at The Washington Post."
- "While whitewashing remains a modern problem, it has a long history in American film: In the very first Hollywood movie, 1910’s In Old California, white actors played non-white roles."
- "In both films we see the consolidation of a colonial power structure of Western saviour and African victims. [...] The director responds that 'the question doesn't even come up' when his whitewashing of black history in ancient Egypt is challenged. Scott and like-minded defenders of racism take the century-long Hollywood whitewashing of African history and heritage as normal. This [...] is now challenged through audience racism fatigue, alternative narratives of Africa, […]"