ABSTRACT Title of Document: WHITE GUILT: RACE, GENDER, SEXUALITY AND EMERGENT RACISMS IN THE CONTEMPORARY UNITED STATES Patrick Ryan Grzanka, Doctor of Philosophy, 2010 Directed By: Associate Professor Sheri L. Parks, Department of American Studies White guilt is a culturally and historically contingent emotion rooted in White people’s recognition of unearned privileges and collective and/or individual roles in the perpetuation of racism. Situated within the context of neoliberal multiculturalism, this interdisciplinary dissertation investigates contemporary manifestations of White guilt in popular discourse and the lived experiences of young White adults in the United States. As a form of identity-based affect, White guilt may aid in the development of antiracist White people; however, because White guilt retains a focus on the White subject, it may offer limited potential to transform social relationships and systems of inequity. Three interrelated studies compose the methodological work of this project and undertake the task of empirically grounding White guilt so that we may better understand its forms, limits and consequences. The first study interrogates journalists’ coverage of three moments of controversy in the early 21st century: Anderson Cooper’s “emotional” reporting during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Don Imus-Rutgers University basketball scandal and Isaiah Washington’s firing from Grey’s Anatomy after allegedly calling a co-star a “faggot.” Reporting on these episodes illustrates how multiculturalism manages and defers racial guilt and shame while simultaneously eliding the intersections of identity that structure experience. The second study is the creation and initial validation of a survey-based measure of White guilt (the Test of White Guilt and Shame or “TOWGAS”), which attempts to reconcile several limitations of extant research on racial affect – namely, the persistent conflation of guilt and shame. The third study centralizes the intersectionality of White people’s experiences through in-depth interviews with 10 White college students. A modified grounded theory approach is used to explore how gender, sexuality and race together influence how these White people a) perceive Imus, Washington and Cooper and b) conceptualize their own Whiteness and the feelings associated with racism and inequality. Finally, the concept of “emergent racisms” is posited as a critical, working framework with which to investigate White racial affect. This theoretical approach emphasizes the complex interactions between identity, affect, attitudes and context (i.e., situation) that co-constitute the phenomenology of White guilt and shame. WHITE GUILT: RACE, GENDER, SEXUALITY AND EMERGENT RACISMS IN THE CONTEMPORARY UNITED STATES By Patrick Ryan Grzanka Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2010 Advisory Committee: Associate Professor Sheri L. Parks, Chair Associate Professor Laura Mamo Professor Emerita Ruth E. Fassinger Professor John L. Caughey Associate Professor Angel David Nieves © Copyright by Patrick Ryan Grzanka 2010 Dedication To my grandmother, Eileen Callahan. ii Acknowledgements Though this dissertation focuses on unpleasant feelings, I have been fortunate to experience many moments of joy during the past five years of research and writing. The best parts of graduate school were the many people who selflessly contributed to my development as a scholar and person. I cannot name all of them here, but this is a humble attempt to recognize those who directly impacted my work and, in several cases, literally made it possible. My dissertation committee represents the five most talented scholars I know. Dr. Sheri Parks took me under her wing and inspires me every day with her beautiful mind and spirit. Thank you, Sheri, for letting me and my project be, “unusual,” and always making sure I had the confidence to keep trying to find my place in American studies. Dr. Laura Mamo’s generous mentoring and dedication to my project is evident in every page of this manuscript. Dr. John Caughey’s gentle guidance and critical lens enriched my interviews and the shape of the project from its inception. Dr. Angel David Nieves’s mentoring since my first week in graduate school enabled me to imagine a future for myself as a political, unapologetic, out queer man in academia. Finally, the unstoppable Dr. Ruth Fassinger is the reason I still love psychology. Thank you all for teaching me. Several scholars served as the larger “committee” who shaped my dissertation. Dr. Bonnie Thornton Dill funded my first two years of graduate school and made an indelible impact on my growth as a scholar and Black feminist. Drs. Mary Corbin Sies, Nancy Struna and Gordon Kelly have supported and championed my work on campus and beyond. A trip to the Futures of American Studies Institute at Dartmouth College pushed my thinking about interdisciplinary research forward. I especially thank Drs. Eric Lott, Adam Waterman, Michelle Fazio, Nikhil Pal Singh, Barrymore Anthony Bogues and my seminar members for their thoughtful feedback. Also, Dr. Lisa Spanierman’s encouragement at the latter stages of this project helped me stretch to the finish line. The queer research team in counseling psychology helped me articulate the quantitative elements of my project. The brilliant Debbie Van Camp taught me how to use SPSS, do factor analysis and pretend to be both a social psychologist and a statistician. Special thanks go to my other favorite psychologists, Jill Paquin, Joe Miles, Dr. Kelly Barnes and Dr. Julie Arseneau, for helping me find that productive middle ground between reductionism and complexity. Julie, this is our omnirama. My colleagues in American Studies offered their wisdom, support and friendship. I have learned so much from Christine Muller, Robb Hernandez, Beck Krefting, Amelia Wong, Manon Parry and, especially, Justin Maher. Dr. Tanya Jung is my sister and the most important mentor I have ever had. My dear friends Rhoya Tocco, Mao-Lin Shen, Matt Goldmark, Jessica Hoffman, Erin Dieterich and Anna Lucas listened to countless musings on guilt and shame over the years. My parents, Butch and Sharon Grzanka, and aunt, Janet Gibson, are my family – thank you for supporting me. My partner, Joe Miles, still loves me after a dissertation and deserves at least half of my diploma. Several organizations at the University of Maryland contributed financial support to this project and me. Thank you to the Graduate School; the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity, especially Dr. Amy McLaughlin; the College of Arts and Humanities, especially Dr. Elizabeth Loizeaux; the Honors Humanities Program, iii especially Drs. Tanya Jung and Peter Mallios; the Center for Teaching Excellence, especially Dr. David Eubanks; and the Department of American Studies. Generations of Honors Humanities students, particularly Dan Greene, Rayyan Ghuma, Anne Price and Andy Bowen, motivated me to do this work. Thank you for teaching me how to teach – and how to feel my way through it. Finally, my respondents and interview participants contributed their time, energy and thoughts to this work. Their words and feelings are the foundation of this project. Thank you all for being so honest. iv Table of Contents Dedication..................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements......................................................................................................iii Table of Contents.......................................................................................................... v List of Tables ............................................................................................................... vi List of Figures............................................................................................................. vii Introduction................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Guilt, Reconsidered................................................................................... 16 Factor: Shame.............................................................................................................. 80 Chapter 2: Finding White Guilt: Popular Culture and Three Moments of Crisis....... 88 Factor: Negation........................................................................................................ 157 Chapter 3: The Differences Between and Within Guilt and Shame: Quantitative Perspectives................................................................................................... 163 Factor: Guilt.............................................................................................................. 221 Chapter 4: Upsetting Whiteness: Guilt and Shame at the Intersections of Difference ..................................................................................................... 226 Chapter 5: Emergent Racisms................................................................................... 281 Epilogue: On Intersectionality .................................................................................. 329 Appendix A: Journalism News Sources ................................................................... 335 Appendix B: Broadcast Transcripts.........................................................................