whitewashings

Noun

whitewashing (countable and uncountable, plural whitewashings)

1. The application of whitewash.
2. (figuratively) The effacement of errors or bad actions.
   • 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.1906, Theodore Roosevelt, The Man with the Muck Rake

   Synonyms:

   whitewash

3. (derogatory) 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.
   • 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.2016 October 5, Leah Williams, “How Hollywood Whitewashed the Old West”, in The Atlantic

   Antonyms:

   blackwashing