Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

First Advisor

Baber, Ceola Ross

Abstract

Despite claims of a post-racial society, racism is still alive and well in America and whiteness remains invisible or unseen (Delgado & Stefanic, 2012). To a great extent the invisibility of whiteness serves to preserve and perpetuate racism in our society (Wildman, 2005). Efforts to eradicate racism need to shift from focusing on people of color to the task of unveiling and calling out whiteness. Doing away with norms that traditionally benefit White people and disenfranchise people of color could prove productive in combatting socio-cultural patterns and conditions that maintain White privilege and racial inequalities (Peterson & Hamrick, 2009). This phenomenological study was purposed to learn more about Whites who have critically examined whiteness and taken efforts to transform themselves. This doctoral research project describes this phenomenon by investigating the lived experiences of White anti-racist allies serving as community organizers in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. The lessons learned through this research contribute to the literature in critical White Studies by uncovering information about White anti-racist allies and their contributions to the struggle against racism through their activism. The voices of these allies are heard through the application of Seidman’s (2012) three-interview series and a group interview. The data was analyzed following Moustakas’ (1994) modification of Van Kaam’s Method of Analysis of Phenomenological Data. The study’s findings indicate that the essence of unveiling and deconstructing whiteness involved overcoming the challenges in grasping whiteness/White supremacy as racism; committing to an ongoing journey, undergoing a re-education process, trying to liberate other White people, and a need for activism to progress in this work.

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