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Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Investigating the white racial equilibrium and the power-maintenance of whiteness
Analyses of social issues and public policy, Vol.22(3), pp.961-988
07/30/2022
DOI: 10.1111/asap.12321
Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access
Abstract
The white racial equilibrium is a social, historical, and cultural location where whiteness is insulated from critique and the importance of race is largely ignored by white people. The expectation of the white racial equilibrium is one way white people define their whiteness, and this expectation protects white supremacist epistemologies and ideologies. We completed interviews with fourteen white undergraduate students to understand more about the processes employed by students when challenged by the white racial disequilibrium. Using consensual qualitative research (CQR), we coded their responses and found seven representative domains, with two categories endorsed by every participant: "assumption of valid knowledge" and "non-racist beliefs." While some respondents displayed thoughtfulness about race and whiteness, findings suggest that most participants attempted to restore the white racial equilibrium by centralizing the innocence and beneficence of whiteness and white people through various rhetorical maneuvers, including (1) invoking superficial and incomplete knowledge of complex racial topics, and (2) depersonalizing themselves from racist acts and ideas, among others. This study contributes to the whiteness literature by providing descriptions of how white students attempt to re-establish the white racial equilibrium after facing disruptions to their expectations for conversations about race. Implications for anti-racist psychologists are discussed.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Investigating the white racial equilibrium and the power-maintenance of whiteness
- Creators
- David Drustrup - University of IowaWilliam Ming Liu - University of Maryland, College ParkThomas Rigg - University of IowaKatelynn Davis - Washington Univ, St Louis, MO 63110 USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Analyses of social issues and public policy, Vol.22(3), pp.961-988
- Publisher
- Wiley
- DOI
- 10.1111/asap.12321
- ISSN
- 1529-7489
- eISSN
- 1530-2415
- Number of pages
- 28
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/30/2022
- Academic Unit
- International Writing Program
- Record Identifier
- 9984322346202771
Metrics
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