Interrogating Whiteness in Community Research and Action

Abstract

Critical evaluation of whiteness is virtually absent from community psychology literature.• Other fields provide more comprehensive frameworks for interrogating whiteness.• Incorporating whiteness into liberation frameworks would advance the study of social justice.

The Performative is Political: Using Counter‐Storytelling through Theater to Create Spaces for Implicated Witnessing

“…The notion of whiteness is a metaphor for unearned privileges and the normativity of one's culture in the context of racialized social relations. Such privileges include racially encoding space to afford whiteness comfort in learned expansiveness, that is, uncontested access to any space (Sullivan, 2006), assuming narrator roles that skew collective remembering and knowledge production (Fern andez, 2018b), and indulging in a white ignorance that de-contextualizes racial injustices (Coleman, Collins, & Bonam, 2020). These colonial structures of whiteness often operate insidiously and are reinforced historically, politically, and socially.…”

“…These colonial structures of whiteness often operate insidiously and are reinforced historically, politically, and socially. Coleman et al (2020) have recently called for community psychology to better incorporate critical whiteness studies into the field. A critical whiteness lens implicates white audiences in examining racialized subjectivities as issues of race are typically considered a "non-white" problem or, when acknowledged, responsibility for change is displaced onto those who are explicit and extreme in their racism (Green, Sonn, & Matsebula, 2007).…”

Emerging Adults' Social Justice Engagement: Motivations, Barriers, and Social Identity

“…In contrast to the previous research on young people with marginalized identities (Asakura, 2017; Hope et al, 2019), research suggests that having a privileged identity influences how emerging adults engage in social justice efforts (Howard, 2011). In regards to White emerging adults, the strength of their White racial identity can influence how and whether they choose to engage in action (Coleman, Collins, & Bonam, 2020). For instance, prior to engaging in social action to combat racism, White emerging adults must become aware of their racial privilege and how their beliefs about other racial and ethnic groups may be rooted in White supremacy (Coleman et al, 2020).…”

“…In regards to White emerging adults, the strength of their White racial identity can influence how and whether they choose to engage in action (Coleman, Collins, & Bonam, 2020). For instance, prior to engaging in social action to combat racism, White emerging adults must become aware of their racial privilege and how their beliefs about other racial and ethnic groups may be rooted in White supremacy (Coleman et al, 2020). However, such awareness may elicit a wide range of emotional responses (DiAngelo, 2018; Spanierman, Beard, & Todd, 2012) that may prevent or motivate their engagement.…”

“…In a qualitative study with White college students, participants described various ways in which feelings of guilt about racial and economic privilege contributed to their sense of responsibility and motivation for social justice engagement (Howard, 2011). Conversely, fearful guilt may lead to less contact with individuals of a different race/ethnicity and less empathy for individuals affected by racism (Coleman et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2003). Ultimately, White emerging adults who can connect their emotional reactions to their privilege and develop a sense of accountability for oppressive conditions and empathy for those impacted by racial oppression are more likely to engage in action than those who do not develop an understanding of their privilege, do not address their White fear and fragility, and do not develop a sense of responsibility in dismantling racial oppression (Coleman et al, 2020; DiAngelo, 2018).…”