whitewashing

[wahyt-wosh-ing, -waw-shing, hwahyt-]

noun

1. the act or process of whitening with whitewash.

   The picket fence could use a few minor repairs, but mostly it needs a good whitewashing.

2. an instance or methodical practice of covering up or glossing over the faults or errors of someone or something.

   Behind her assurances that all the coffee was fair-trade, there always lurked the possibility of some creative whitewashing.

   We would have known about this high-level corruption much sooner if it weren’t for the carefully orchestrated whitewashing within the department.

3. 1. the casting of a white actor to play a character of color in a film, television show, or play.

      Whitewashing has a long tradition in the history of Hollywood casting.

   2. in a representation of a historical era or event, the focus on a member or members of the dominant cultural group rather than the minority individual or group whose presence would be more historically accurate.

      The documentarian's whitewashing preserves the false notion that our race to the moon was won only on the shoulders of white heterosexual men.

Word History and Origins

Origin of whitewashing¹

First recorded in 1650–60 whitewashing for def. 1; 1760–70 whitewashing for def. 2; 2005–10 whitewashing for def. 3a; 1995–2000 whitewashing for def. 3b; whitewash ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

But his whitewashing campaign — or, more precisely, his White racial erasure project — does not exist in a vacuum.

From Salon

Revisions to Japanese textbooks began to spark controversy, with China and South Korea accusing Japan of whitewashing its wartime atrocities.

From BBC

Israel, it said, was "whitewashing its image before the world".

From BBC

Users ask: How do we honor this holiday without whitewashing it?

From Salon

Rewriting and whitewashing the past, whether of a nation or its leaders, is standard operating procedure.

From Salon

Related Words

• beating 
• blow 
• breakdown 
• collapse 
• debacle 
• destruction 
• drubbing 
• embarrassment 
• failure 
• killing 
• loss 
• massacre 
• rout 
• setback 
• thrashing 
• triumph