It tells us that the distinctive characteristics of “whiteness” and “white culture” include:
Hard work
“Delayed gratification”
Planning for the future
The “nuclear family”
Rational thinking
Promptness
Politeness
“Decision-making”
Personal responsibility
Speaking standard English
You can't discuss racism without discussing race and skin color. I'm trying to think of why you wouldn't think talking about race would be helpful, and this is what I came up with: race isn't a problem in modern America; discussing race causes racism; or examining race & racism creates racial differences.
> but the opposite of hard work, individualism, and the scientific method are in fact bad things.
These are good traits, but their "opposites" aren't inherently bad.
- Hard work is the key to success; "work smarter not harder"
- The individual is the primary unit; cooperation and mutual assistance.
- Scientific Method: "Quantitative Emphasis"; qualitative readings of personal narratives such as interviews.
> accidentally claims that white traits are mostly superior
This is addressed in the webpage, and is the entire point of the graphic. "Racism is perpetuated by deeming whiteness as superior and other racial and ethnic groups as inferior. … [The superior traits] describes the experience and attitudes of those who are members of the dominant, privileged, or powerful identity groups."
The infographic is asking you to examine why you think these traits are superior. That doesn't mean they're inferior, but they aren't the best in every situation either.