"Whiteness"

So what exactly is "whiteness"? Is it a race or is it also someone's ethnicity? 

"Whiteness" has do with having access to power and privileges.Rights become privileges when they are denied to others based on their ethnicity or racial classification. If someone is asked to make a list of the things they like about their ethnicity the list would look something like this: I like the family and community aspect, food, music, and holiday traditions. If someone that considers themselves as being "white" is asked what they like about being "white", their list would look something like this: I like being white because I can live in a safe community, I am trusted and seen as innocent, I can get a good education, and I don't get stopped by the police randomly. 

The list made by the individuals of why they like being white include a list of privileges that come with being "white" not cultural or traditions that come with being "white". 

Noel Ignatiev's, How the Irish Became White, discusses how the Irish where discriminated against and were considered to be the inferior of the whites. The Irish Catholics were even more discriminated against because most of the white Europeans were Protestant. At one point, the Irish were seen as less than the black slaves because the slaves were "white property" and the Irish were not even worth "caring for".  

The idea of the Melting Pot was to make everyone equal and that everyone "melted" into one. The only people that were allowed to fully  "melt" were the white Europeans. The Native Americans and African Americans were never allowed to fully "melt". 

The Irish eventually became "white" when they gave up their ethnicity. "Whiteness" is based on power, socioeconomic status not based on culture.The Irish assimilation explains that their "white colored skin" was the only marker that was similar to the other Europeans. Their ethnic markers were seen as" bad" or "less than other Europeans".