Examples Of White Racial Identity Formation

Heckstall 2

Sa'nia Heckstall

White Racial Identity Formation in the NPHC

Black Greek letter organizations (BGLO) were created to serve Black communities and to foster brotherhood and sisterhood for Black college students. These organizations were created in response to the exclusionary membership practices of other Greek organizations of the time. Unlike other Greek organizations, BGLOs never excluded members solely because of their race and welcomed white members. Although these organizations were made specifically to serve Black communities, white members continue to join. This leads to a key question: how does being part of a BGLO influence white racial identity and racialization? Current literature reveals that white racial identity changes

Ashley Jardina, White Identity Politics. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), 16. Unlike Jardina's example where whites began to try to protect their dominance in society and their own group, white members of NPHC recognize the privilege their whiteness grants them. Rather than thinking of their white identity as something that must be protected, they begin to think of how to dismantle white supremacy and challenge the American racial hierarchy. White members of the NPHC begin to take on what Rowe et al. describe as the reactive and integrative forms of white racial consciousness. Rowe et al., "White racial identity, "138-142. This means that they begin to contest white normativity in both their actions and the actions of others. I argue that white members more often display integrative white racial consciousness instead of reactive consciousness. Whites that display reactive racial consciousness attempt to reject their whiteness; in comparison, integrative types accept their whiteness while still challenging the racial

As explained by Flagg, whites prescribe colorblind ideology as their position at the top of the racial hierarchy prevents them from fully understanding the implications of race. Flagg, "White racial consciousness," 957-958. Being part of a BGLO makes it impossible for white members to adopt colorblind ideology as they are exposed to what it is like to be a minority. For instance, a white member states that being part of his organization made him realize that colorblindness is part of white privilege, stating "We have the luxury of not caring about our color because it doesn't affect [white people]." Laybourn and Goss, Diversity in Black Greek Letter Organizations, 47. With this, white members think of their racial identity as something highly visible and understand the privilege their whiteness grants them. To illustrate, a white fraternity member states, "My whiteness is much more apparent to me and I'm much more aware of the implications that it has than before I