Once You See It, You Can’t Unsee It? Racial Justice Activism and Articulations of Whiteness Among White Collegiate Athlete Activists

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine how athletes holding privileged racial identities understand their whiteness as they engage in racial justice activism. Drawing from 12 semistructured interviews with white collegiate athletes who have engaged in activism for racial justice, we identified four higher order themes which we situate within a broader discussion of how each theme either reinforces or disrupts racial power: articulations of (a) racial consciousness, (b) white privilege, (c) white empathy, and (d) white accountability. While the white accountability theme has the potential to disrupt racial power due to its relying on rigorous self-critique, the remaining themes pointed to limited understandings of the systemic nature of racism, which can thus inadvertently (re)produce white supremacy even when engaging in activism for racial justice. Limitations, implications, and future directions for research are discussed to empower more white athletes to reflect critically on whiteness and facilitate systemic change.

College coaches’ engagement in advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other gender and sexual minorities (LGBTQIA+) rights and racial justice: Experiences, facilitators, and barriers.

“…This aligns with prior research that documents how awareness of racial injustice and privilege are important facilitators of racial justice advocacy (Tropp & Uluğ, 2019; Uluğ & Tropp, 2021). Yet, many White college athletes who engage in advocacy for racial justice may still lack sufficient knowledge about racial injustice and unintentionally further White supremacy (Kluch et al, 2022). Similarly, despite engaging in advocacy for racial justice, Bradley and others were concerned about making mistakes or saying inappropriate remarks.…”

Racialized organizations, strategies, and structures: a case study

“…Thus, despite outward attempts to lessen the organizational prowess of dominant groups, such measures ignore the organizational structures that maintain racial stratification. For example, diversity statements (Bimper and Harrison, 2017) and hiring diversity leaders (Keaton, 2023; Kluch et al ., 2022) are public-facing attempts to make organizations appear racially neutral; however, they often do not meaningfully address the distribution of racial power (Ray, 2019). Institutional theorists neglect how race and a society with a racialized hierarchy inform the enforcement and maintenance of organizational rules (Ray, 2019).…”

Through the Decades: Critical Race Theory and Pathways Forward in Sport Sociology Research

“…Only two of those articles mentioned CWS (see Brayton, 2005;Douglas, 2005). While many SSJ studies have brought attention to racial marginalization and the social power of white individuals in a racialized society, contemporary work in SSJ is more explicitly drawing upon CWS (see Dix, 2022;Frederick et al, 2022;Klein et al, 2023;Kluch et al, 2022).…”