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Race through class: Antiracist white identity formation of lower-classed students at a historically white institution with a wealthy student population

Pontious, Mark William
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6195-6642
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami15628387416807

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Educational Leadership.
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.
Elisa Abes (Committee Chair)
246 p.
Higher Education
racism; antiracist; anti-racist; college students; white identity; lower-class; working class; low-income

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pontious, M. W. (2019). Race through class: Antiracist white identity formation of lower-classed students at a historically white institution with a wealthy student population [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami15628387416807

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pontious, Mark. Race through class: Antiracist white identity formation of lower-classed students at a historically white institution with a wealthy student population. 2019. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami15628387416807.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pontious, Mark. "Race through class: Antiracist white identity formation of lower-classed students at a historically white institution with a wealthy student population." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami15628387416807

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.