Race Through Class: Antiracist White Identity Formation of Lower-Classed Students at a Historically White Institution with a Wealthy Student Population
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Mark William Pontious Candidate for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ______________________________________ Director Elisa S. Abes ______________________________________ Reader Brittany A. Aronson ______________________________________ Reader Kathy M. Goodman ______________________________________ Graduate School Representative Jennifer E. Cohen ABSTRACT RACE THROUGH CLASS: ANTIRACIST WHITE IDENTITY FORMATION OF LOWER- CLASSED STUDENTS AT A HISTORICALLY WHITE INSTITUTION WITH A WEALTHY STUDENT POPULATION by Mark William Pontious Resistance to systemic racism by white individuals is the subject of many articles, courses, and conferences. Yet, little research connects a marginalized identity with the formation of an antiracist white identity. Whiteness is not monolithic and is impacted by other identities. This study explores the influence of a marginalized social class identity on the formation of an antiracist white identity among college students. I conducted a narrative study rooted in a constructivist paradigm with the critical influence of Critical Whiteness Studies. I interviewed eight lower-classed white women from various majors, hometowns, and social identities, all of whom possess a self-described antiracist white identity. I completed three interviews with each, exploring the formation of their antiracist white identity. Participants shared how their social class impacted this identity formation, as well as the influence of other identities and of experiences before and during college. Participants’ stories revealed a varied impact of social class. Some participants drew parallels between their marginalized class identity and systemic racism. Experiences of marginalization helped them understand systemic racial privilege and oppression. For other participants, their class identity served as a barrier to overcome in the formation process. They were socialized into a narrative of success arising from individual effort, without mention of systemic forces. One participant’s social class identity did not have a discernible impact; her queer identity was the source of understanding systemic oppression. A queer identity was also meaningful for three other participants. Informal and formal experiences contributed to participants’ antiracist white identity formation, including classes and trainings, peers of color sharing experiences with racism, and white peers role modeling an antiracist white identity. Implications for practice reinforce the importance of validating experiences of marginalization, in and outside the classroom, including structured support programs for lower-classed students and inclusion of social class marginalization in academic conversations. Institutions must foster sustained engagement with topics of systemic racial oppression and whiteness across multiple platforms and across the students’ college experience. Higher education must find ways to decrease the burden of education about racism placed on individuals of color. Resources abound for white college students to hear personal experiences of racism and ways white individuals can resist white supremacy. Implications for research include studying the antiracist white identity formation of lower-classed white men and the role of other marginalized identities, in combination with a lower-classed identity, in the formation of an antiracist white identity. RACE THROUGH CLASS: ANTIRACIST WHITE IDENTITY FORMATION OF LOWER-CLASSED STUDENTS AT A HISTORICALLY WHITE INSTITUTION WITH A WEALTHY STUDENT POPULATION A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Educational Leadership by Mark William Pontious The Graduate School Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2019 Dissertation Director: Dr. Elisa S. Abes © Mark William Pontious 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .........................................................................................................................xi Dedication ..............................................................................................................................xiii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................xiv Chapter One: Introduction .....................................................................................................1 The Continued Relevance of Race and Racism ...............................................................2 Income and Social Class in the United States ..................................................................3 White Racial Identity Development During College .......................................................5 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................6 Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................7 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................8 Definitions of Terms and Notes on Language .................................................................10 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................13 Chapter Two: Literature Review ...........................................................................................14 What is Whiteness? ..........................................................................................................14 Functional Properties of Whiteness ...........................................................................15 White Colorblindness and Individualism...................................................................16 White privilege.....................................................................................................18 Whiteness in Higher Education .......................................................................................19 Institutional Whiteness...............................................................................................20 Individual Enactments of Whiteness by White College Students .............................21 Overt acts of racism .............................................................................................21 Avoiding discussions of race ...............................................................................22 Use of hesitant and coded language .....................................................................23 White guilt and white fragility .............................................................................25 White Racial Identities .....................................................................................................25 Early Calls for Examinations of White Identity ........................................................26 Theories of White Identity Development ..................................................................26 Antiracist White Identity Formation ..........................................................................32 Challenges to antiracist white identity formation ................................................33 The ongoing process of antiracist white identity formation ................................34 iii The Influence of Social Class on Antiracist White Identity Formation ...........................36 Social Class and Class Marginalization in Higher Education ...................................36 Involvement .........................................................................................................37 Institutional processes and policies ......................................................................37 Financial context ..................................................................................................38 College Experiences of Lower-Classed Students ......................................................38 Separation for integration ....................................................................................39 Isolation and sense of belonging ..........................................................................40 Academic habitus .................................................................................................40 Financial habitus ..................................................................................................41 Capital ..................................................................................................................42 Changing habitus and social class........................................................................43 Intersections of Whiteness and Social Class ..............................................................44 White intragroup disparities and alliances ...........................................................45 Impact of oppressed/marginalized identities on the formation of antiracist whiteness ..............................................................................................................47 Institutional Practices that Encourage Antiracist White Identity Formation ...................48 Cross-Racial Interactions ...........................................................................................49 Multicultural Education .............................................................................................50