Taking Responsibility for Race Inequality and the Limitless Acts Required: Beyond ‘Good/Bad Whites' to the Immeasurably Whitened Self

Abstract

Certain radical race scholars argue that white people can and must act in anti-racist ways as part of a project that aims to end racial identities built on inequality, terror and domination. Yet revisioning the white subject as non-oppressive should not be the primary goal of anti-racism, as this re-centralises concern for those benefiting from whiteness. In this article, the author considers the ongoing erasure of white responsibility for race inequalities, and analyses the merits and tensions of 'critical race' and 'race critical' principles for exposing, politicising and countering them. He agrees with assertions that responsibilisation for race inequality is a radical process that cannot imply a finite state for individuals ('good/bad whites'); it is a process that must involve constant turns away from the Self and towards the Other. Acts of white anti-racist transgression must not be reduced to ever having taken 'full personal' responsibility for race inequality. However, for different reasons, caution needs to be exercised about assuming a universal, fixed, knowable white self at the centre of such acts, one which always successfully inhabits being white. Contributing to 'race-critical/post-race' scholarship, the author uses Butler's (2005) separation of agency from responsibility to think about responsibility as the task of the immeasurably whitened self.

‘You’ve got to teach people that racism is wrong and then they won’t be racist’: Curricular representations and young people’s understandings of ‘race’ and racism

“…• Counterdiscursive approaches of this nature are by no means a panacea to the ongoing problem of racism in schools and society; indeed, as Kitching (2011) reminds us, the acts required to overcome racial inequality are 'limitless'. However, being able to learn about and imagine 'race' and racism differently is one small, yet essential part of what Britzman (1998: 119) refers to as the 'interminable work of social justice and ethical understanding'.…”

Empirical Investigation of the Relationship between Construals of Structural Racism and Attitudes toward Critical Race Theory

“…It is possible to maintain the integrity of conceptualizing racism as a broad and systemic issue while also operationalizing structural racism in a more concrete manner. This can be achieved by localizing the perpetuation of structural racism within individuals and institutions, rather than obscuring personal agency and responsibility, which can hinder rather than facilitate racial justice efforts -particularly, among White Americans (Kitching, 2011). We hypothesize that people's understanding and acceptance of structural racism may be influenced differently based on whether they view it in abstract or concrete terms, as outlined by construal level theory.…”

Exodus, Exile and Resettlement: Displaced children and families in Ireland and the challenges for state and Educational facil

“…The imposition of the values and beliefs of the host country while not celebrating the different beliefs of the newcomer creates resentment and a devaluing of the culture of the newcomer 157 . Institutional racism has not been debated or explored adequately in Irish educational institutions 158,159,160 . This is particularly noticeable in the homogeneity of teaching staff in schools and higher educational institutions.…”