Smith ScholarWorks Theses, Dissertations, and Projects 2010 Slavery in the white psyche : how contemporary white Americans remember and making meaning of slavery : a project based upon independent investigation Ryan Nelson Parker Smith College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Parker, Ryan Nelson, "Slavery in the white psyche : how contemporary white Americans remember and making meaning of slavery : a project based upon independent investigation" (2010). Masters Thesis, Smith College, Northampton, MA. https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/1104 This Masters Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations, and Projects by an authorized administrator of Smith ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Ryan Nelson Parker Slavery in the white psyche: How contemporary white Americans remember and make meaning of U.S. slavery ABSTRACT This qualitative study explored how contemporary white Americans remember and make meaning of U.S. slavery and assessed if there is psychological conflict in relationship to slavery. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants who identify as “white” and were born and raised in the United States. Participants were asked to reflect on their memories of learning about, talking about, and knowing about the history of slavery; to share their internal representations of slavery and how they imagine their familial, personal, and imagined relationship with slavery; to report their beliefs about the impact of slavery on themselves personally and on contemporary society; and to share their ideas about how slavery should be taught to children. The findings indicated that many contemporary white Americans have an intense and conflictual emotional and psychological relationship to U.S.