"The study of the structures that produce white privilege, the examination of what whiteness is when analyzed as a race, a culture, and a source of systemic racism, and the exploration of other social phenomena generated by the societal compositions, perceptions, and group behaviors of white people."
The study of the ways in which whiteness is constructed and maintained in media and society, and how this can perpetuate racial inequality.
White Privilege: The concept of white privilege refers to the unearned advantages that are enjoyed by white people solely because of their race. It is a pivotal concept in critical whiteness studies.
Intersectionality: This concept refers to the way multiple forms of oppression, including race, gender, sexual orientation, and class, intersect and interact to produce unique experiences of oppression and privilege.
Structural Racism: This term is used to describe the ways that social, political, and economic structures contribute to the maintenance of racial inequality, even in the absence of individual prejudice or discrimination.
Microaggressions: Microaggressions refer to small acts of everyday bias and discrimination that are often unintentional but can accumulate over time to create significant harm.
Whiteness as a Social Construct: This concept refers to the idea that white identity is not a natural or inherent category but rather a social and historical construct that has been actively created and maintained through systems of power and privilege.
Media Representations of Race: This topic examines how media representations of race can reinforce or challenge dominant racial narratives and influence public consciousness about race relations.
Cultural Appropriation: This term refers to the process by which members of a dominant culture appropriate or adopt elements of a marginalized culture without regard for the lived experiences or cultural significance of those elements.
Colorblindness: This concept refers to the idea that we should strive to ignore or downplay racial differences in order to create a more equitable society. However, many critical race theorists argue that colorblindness actually perpetuates systems of oppression by denying the lived experiences of marginalized communities.
Anti-Racist Activism: This topic explores the various strategies and tactics that have been used to challenge systemic racism and promote racial justice.
Decolonizing Methodologies: This concept refers to the need to challenge the dominance of Western epistemologies and methodologies in academic research and center the knowledge and experiences of marginalized communities.
"Particularly since the late 20th century."
"Pioneers in the field include W. E. B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Theodore W. Allen, Ruth Frankenberg, Toni Morrison, and David Roediger."
"The cultural, historical, and sociological aspects of people identified as white, and the social construction of 'whiteness' as an ideology tied to social status."
"Numerous works across many disciplines analyzed whiteness, and it has since become a topic for academic courses, research, and anthologies."
"Some syllabuses associate the dismantling of white supremacy as a stated aim in the understanding of whiteness, while other sources view the field of study as primarily educational and exploratory."
"A reading of history and its effects on the present that is inspired by postmodernism and historicism."
"Racial superiority was socially constructed in order to justify discrimination against non-whites."
"Some writers have argued that the phenotypical significances attributed to specific races are without biological association, and that what is called 'race' is therefore not a biological phenomenon."
"Nakayama and Krizek write about whiteness as a 'strategic rhetoric', asserting that whiteness is a product of 'discursive formation' and a 'rhetorical construction'."
"There is no 'true essence' to 'whiteness': there are only historically contingent constructions of that social location."
"To name whiteness means that one identifies whiteness as a rhetorical construction that can be dissected to unearth its values and beliefs."
"The nature of white privilege and white identity, the historical process by which a white racial identity was created, the relation of culture to white identity, and possible processes of social change as they affect white identity."
"Whiteness is considered normal and neutral."
"Whiteness is a product of 'discursive formation' and a 'rhetorical construction'."
"It has developed beginning in the United States from white trash studies and critical race studies, particularly since the late 20th century."
"Pioneers in the field include W. E. B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Theodore W. Allen, Ruth Frankenberg, Toni Morrison, and David Roediger."
"By the mid-1990s, numerous works across many disciplines analyzed whiteness, and it has since become a topic for academic courses, research, and anthologies."
"Some syllabuses associate the dismantling of white supremacy as a stated aim in the understanding of whiteness, while other sources view the field of study as primarily educational and exploratory."
"Nakayama and Krizek write that whiteness is a 'strategic rhetoric' and a 'rhetorical construction' that can be dissected to unearth its values and beliefs."