Annie Gilbert ColemanÆs ôThe Unbearable Whiteness of Skiingö uses a variety of rhetorical devices to support the authorÆs contention that commercial ski resorts exclude ethnicity both on the slopes and in their promotions. Tracing the European ethnic roots of the popularity of skiing in the U.S., the author argues that the convergence of class and ethnicity in the ski industry has created a condition she refers to as ôethnic whiteout,ö an oxymoron in its own right as ethnicity typically refers to people of color (Coleman 144). In other words, skiing is not a sport or recreational pursuit in the U.S. that reaches out to ethnic or racial minorities; it is still, despite rapid advances in other sports once the purview of Anglo-Americans (such as tennis and golf), largely the private domain of a small group of white elites. ColemanÆs (163) main argument is that the American ski industry is an increasingly wealthy culture that excludes minorities and transforms people of color into ôinvisible workers or exotic objects of tourismö in order to appeal to wealthy whites because these patrons are less likely to want to be involved in a sport that is inclusive of minorities. Rhetorical devices such as simile and metaphor, euphemism, emotional and ethical appeals, hyperbole, allusion, and personification are employed by Coleman to illustrate her sense of the injustice reflected in the ski industry.
Even before she begins her essay, ColemanÆs title ôThe Unbearable Whiteness of Skiingö is a rhetorical device used to demonstrate the lack of ôcolorö in the American ski industry. The title is an allusion to the novel and film known as ôThe Unbearable Lightness of Being.ö In that film, a dominant culture (Russia) crushes a minority group of Czechoslovakian rebels. This allusion is a meaningful reference because, according to Coleman (141), even in the American West, a region known for its racial and ethnic diversity, ôSki resor...