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Racism is a significant societal problem in the United States, and interventions intended to reduce racial injustice have inconsistent results. One factor that may undermine success or lead to paradoxical outcomes is reactance, a response to a perceived restriction of individual freedom. In this study, conducted via MTurk, White males were randomly assigned to read either a White privilege article or a control condition article (cooking). Participants then completed a brief writing assignment, randomly assigned to a compulsory writing condition, a free expression writing condition, or a control writing condition (cooking). Participants who completed a compulsory writing task were hypothesized to demonstrate more reactance than participants who completed a free expression writing task. Sample did not meet the power required for detecting a statistical effect, but group means were consistent with the hypothesis.

The murder of George Floyd was a pivotal moment in this country’s continual fight on racism. As a result, the Black Lives Matter movement initiated a campaign to defund the police. This research project will look at a purposive sample of 10 churches that were selected in Rust Belt cities of Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Transcripts were pulled from YouTube for the sermons from May 31, 2020, through June 21, 2020, for the 10 churches. This project used grounded theory when analyzing the texts in NVivo and the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count softwares to see if the churches selected took a position in any way regarding the Black Lives Matter movement. Results showed that 3 of the 10 churches had sermons that were sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter Movement. The majority of the churches had neutral sermons; however, all churches were similar in usage of keywords (specified below), authenticity, and tone. Future research is necessary to assist law enforcement with community relations and the potential connection between sermon topics and societal issues.

Fueled by individual and systemic prejudices, racism continuously cycles through American society. Eliminating racism begins with education and awareness on all societal levels. Denying the existence of privilege, specifically White privilege, allows people to ignore racial inequalities and aids in the perpetuation of injustice. This study focused on educating students at a southern university about privilege, oppression, racism, and discrimination with the goal of contributing to a less racist campus. A similar program developed and implemented in a previous study by the researcher was adapted for online modules. These four online modules consisted of presentations, activities, videos, speakers, and reflective questions. Mixed methodology of pretests, posttests, and optional individual qualitative interviews were utilized to analyze the effectiveness of the program and changes in participants' perceptions of privilege. Ultimately, the completion of this program resulted in an overall significant positive change among participants, indicating an increase in understanding of privilege, motivation towards anti-racist action, and new perspectives regarding privilege, oppression, and racism.

This is an inquiry into the experiences Black males have with the current high school curricula. Theoretically drawing on critical race theory (Bell, 1992; Delgado, 1995; Dixson & Rousseau, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 2009; Solórzano & Yosso, 2001, 2004), I explore how high school Black males’ suggestions and ideas can be used to shift the current curricula to a curricula that is more culturally sustaining. I challenge deficit research on Black male learners by focusing on the educational successes of Black males. Methodologically, I utilize counterstorytelling (Delgado, 2017; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002) to illustrate the experiences of three academically successful high school Black males. Six findings emerged from this inquiry including: (1) Personal connections between participants and teachers encouraged academic success and engagement in the curriculum; (2) Curricular choice supports college and career readiness; (3) Participants used writing as an outlet to express themselves and to reflect on life; (4) The importance of teaching beyond the standardized history curriculum was voiced by some, but not all the participants; (5) The negative impact of majoritarian tales on Black male students’ beliefs about education was evident in the responses of the participants. (6) Participants used academic success strategically as a means of securing future success and as a counternarrative against majoritarian tales about Black males.

The spring of 2020 saw waves of protest as police killed people of color. After George Floyd’s death, protests erupted in over 140 cities. The systemic racism exhibited by these killings has been uncontrollable, hopeless, and endless. Our country is facing a national crisis. In response to the police killings, businesses, schools, and communities held diversity workshops across the nation, and businesses and organizations posted antiracism statements. Legislators and City Councils introduced bills and orders to defund police and to limit qualified immunity. As schools prepared for the fall semester, teachers considered ways to incorporate antiracism materials into the curriculum. Drawing on the storytelling movement of Critical Race Theory, this Article discusses tools law professors can use to explore these issues in a safer and more egalitarian classroom setting, including counter-stories, such as those compiled in Claire Millikin’s “Substance of Fire: Gender and Race in the College Classroom.” Using an intersectional approach, this Article argues that important questions we should be asking our students and each other are (1) How does a particular area of law have racist and sexist effects and what can law do to remedy those effects? and (2) How do racism and sexism within the institution affect students and professors?

Screaming Yellow is a social-practice platform, a video installation and a campaign vehicle, which examines dialogue between racially margin- alized people . The work embodies critical race theory, and histories of discrimination against Asians . It also creates a theoretical framework for articulating the intersection of art and one Asian woman's 'minor feelings .' One methodology used is exploring yellowness within the black and white racial dichotomy in the U .S .

This is an exploration of what I have learned from veteran Black teachers in rural South Georgia regarding classroom practices on teaching Black students. Through the framework of Critical Race Theory (Bell, 1992; Delgado, 2017; Dixson & Rousseau, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 2003; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 2006; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002), I focus on systemic racism against historically obstructed African American children from reaching their full potential. Methodologically, I utilize critical race counterstory (Bell, 1992; Bamberg & Andrews, 2004; Baszile, 2014; Delgado, 1989/2000; He & Ross, 2012; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002; Ladson-Billings, 1998) in order to challenge the dominant metanarrative. My study analyzes the counter stories of veteran Black teachers, who have had extensive classroom experiences in rural South Georgia as well as having had the lived experiences of being students in the public-school systems of rural South Georgia themselves. The counterstories that I have collected, comes from veteran Black teachers that I have had the pleasure of working with for many years. I portray their experiences and incorporate fiction along with other forms of data that I have collected. Using fiction as counterstories allows me not only to depict their stories but also to highlight injustices in the world during the timeframe of their experiences. Grounded in research text from the perception of the researcher and participants, I compose their stories in a meaningful way while touching on various educational, political, and social moments in history. The following themes have been identified from my inquiry: (1) Black students are often in a classroom environment where they do not fully trust their teachers and feel disrespected for who they are as individuals. (2) If we listen to the counternarratives of our Black teachers, we will gain a deeper understanding of the injustices occurring in our Black student population. As teachers of Black students, we must act upon these counterstories to provide positive classroom experiences for our students. (3) Biases and racism towards Black students perpetuate injustices in our schools, which lead to them not receiving an equal education to their white counterparts, and it is up to us to act upon what we learn from these counterstories to even the playing field for our students.(4) Culturally responsive teaching has been proven effective for the success of Black students. Utilizing a culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) shows students that you value and respect them, the communities that they come from and are willing to assist in maintaining who they are. I convey these stories to dispel the myths and biases about teaching Black students in rural South Georgia and allow for noteworthy advice on how to appropriately educate these students utilizing their assets, preserving their culture, and heightening the teachers as well as the student’s critical consciousness. By presenting a fresh perspective on classroom practices, I hope that the dominant culture can not only acknowledge but also validate Black teachers and the expertise that they hold regarding teaching Black students in our society.

Americans have debated the appropriateness of displaying statues of Confederate soldiers since the monuments were popularized in the early 20th century. Only a few research studies have investigated predictors of attitudes toward these controversial statues. In four studies, I establish a causal relationship between White privilege beliefs and attitudes toward Confederate statues. Participants who are induced to experienced increased belief in White privilege report more negative attitudes toward Confederate statues. I also identify both symbolic threat (i.e., feelings of threat related to a group’s culture, values, or identity) and outgroup empathy (i.e., an understanding of an outgroup’s feelings) as parallel mediators of the relationship between White privilege and Confederate statue attitudes.

This dissertation focuses on the design choices in the modern board game and argues that game designs emerge from and constitute dominant ideologies that endorse and secure white male superiority. This dissertation utilizes Michel Foucault’s archaeological method to “unearth” ideologies that cultural artifacts both emerge from and constitute. The project considers three central questions: 1) How does the locus of production and consumption impact the dominant ideology underlying game design? 2) How do design choices secure and constitute an ideology of white male dominance? 3) What impact does the normalization of white dominance have upon the broader community? This dissertation is organized around different analytical frameworks with each chapter focusing on one of these frameworks through several case studies. Chapter one introduces readers to the history of the modern board game from World War II to the present and offers a rubric for understanding the interrelated elements in game design. Chapter two focuses on how board games can present as discursive artifacts that reveal the ideological premises they emerge from and constitute. Chapter three inspects how board games reveal a dominant Eurocentrism that is demonstrated and shaped by geographical representation. Chapter four analyzes the role of racial representation for nonwhite characters and bodies to show a proclivity toward the diminished importance and debasement of nonwhite roles. Chapter five looks at the normalization and invisibility of white racial politics that maintains a power disequilibrium through space and representation. Chapter six aligns the endorsements of white dominance implied by game design with exclusionary community practices that secure barriers to play. Collectively, the privileging performances of board games frustrate the industry’s aims to amass a wider and more diverse population of players.

In 2017, prominent counseling psychologists stressed the need to make Whiteness and allyship a focus of future research. In particular, they noted that a comprehensive definition of what it means to be White was missing from the extant literature within counseling psychology. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the present study recruited 10 White individuals, who self-identified as an ally, and asked them to describe how they experienced being White and an ally in their everyday lives. Findings revealed that White culture and White privilege have components that are visible and invisible to White individuals. The more visible component of White privilege was outgroup disadvantage, as only one participant recognized ingroup advantage. The visible portion of White culture entailed a belief in the ideology that hard work yields societal rewards. The invisible portion of White culture entailed a belief in White superiority and the corresponding belief in the inferiority of people of color. Results also revealed that lack of awareness of and fear of losing White privilege impeded the actions of aspiring allies. Whereas, letting people of color lead and educating other Whites were strategies used that attempted to minimize the use of White privilege in allyship. Findings from this dissertation may help counseling psychologists understand White culture and White privilege in greater depth, which should inform how graduate training programs train clinicians and aspiring allies. Findings may also help counseling psychologists develop a comprehensive definition of Whiteness, which has been absent from the extant empirical literature.

As medicine, technology, science, and industry coalesce into a hybridized biomedical market, individuals are increasing treated as customers who must pursue health by consuming products and services. It is within this context that clients of donor sperm make their donor selections. Although they make their selections as individual consumers, they are subject to powerful marketing and corporate-sponsored knowledges that promote very specific notions of health, family planning, and the ideal child. Clients of donor sperm, like most aspiring parents, want their children to be happy, healthy, and successful. Given the unique options that are available via the sperm donor market, they select characteristics and traits that will benefit their child in a society that is built upon complex intersecting systems of oppression. In this way, clients of donor sperm attempt to pass on privileges to their children and families, often ensuring that they themselves will maintain their advantaged positions in society. The contemporary sperm banking industry serves as a platform wherein individuals and families attempt to obtain these privileges through the power of purchase. They do so consistently and predictably—adhering to dominant ideologies regarding what people and what bodies are worthy of reproduction. In purchasing a donor, they select traits of power and privilege—constructing families that embody hegemonic values regarding race, health, ability, intellect, success, and family formation.

My Dear Americans is a multimedia project that includes photographs, video work and interactive installations. The pieces in this project are in response to gun violence in the United States. This body of work is influenced by my perspective as a mother and as a Mexican immigrant living in the US for the last eight years. Through the use of multiple materials, I provoke the audience to think specifically about gun laws, white privilege and the effect of gun violence on children. This work draws on propagandistic artworks, and has been influenced by Felix-Gonzalez Torres, Jenny Holzer and activist artists and groups such as Barbara Kruger, The Yes Men and The Guerrilla Girls.

Running with DuBois is a collection of creative nonfiction essays through which the author explores the nature of her whiteness and its roots in white supremacist thought within the context of the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States.

In many parts of a mid-western state, the student population appears to becoming more diverse, while the majority of the teaching population appears to continue to be White. There also appears to be discrepancies in many of the achievement results between Whites and African Americans. Other apparent discrepancies between those two groups are gifted identification, discipline, and special education identification. The objective of my research will be to describe how teachers learn about their own white privilege and how that recognition contributes to their use of culturally relevant pedagogy. The use of this framework may be one way in which to close these gaps. With an assumption that the majority of the teaching population is White, teachers’ recognition of their white privilege may be needed in order to employ these practices. Examining the use of culturally responsive pedagogy, and more specifically: how it has come to be used by White teachers, given the role white privilege might play, may be a way in which the gaps in achievement could be closed and equity in the classroom might be achieved. Teachers were identified as using those practices through a survey in which they agreed or disagreed with statements about students and the use of culturally responsive practices. Those identified were asked to be interviewed to explore, understand, and describe how they have recognized their white privilege and how that has influenced their pedagogy. This research may potentially help increase African American student motivation, interest, and achievement in that it would describe how teachers come to use these practices. It may also, potentially, offer guidance to White teachers on their journey to using these practices by learning about the various paths others have taken that enabled them to learn from others.

Ice Cream is a series of 2D and 3D depictions of lawn ornaments, Charlie Brown, and novelty ice cream bars, which question how White America is indoctrinated through seemingly innocuous images and objects. The exhibition unveils the white supremacy fostered within the American way of life and articulates an environment where Americans act in racist ways when they believe they are acting morally. The research found within Ice Cream attempts to dismantle the foundation these justifications are built upon. This honesty, coupled with acknowledging that these historic traditions are rooted in racial constructs, will result in a double consciousness and the ability to move toward building an inclusive human community.

Structural racism is often perpetuated by well-intentioned White individuals who passively accept or are unaware of its existence. However, when their perceptions and understanding of the world are challenged through learning about structural racism, White people may experience emotions such as fear, and guilt, which seem to serve either a debilitating or a motivating role in multicultural attitude development. Self-compassion, which is the ability to process distressing emotions without resorting to avoidance of the emotional experience, may help White individuals work through strong negative affect that accompanies an awareness of structural racism and ultimately aid in the development of multicultural attitudes. This hypothesized model of moderated mediation was tested using a sample of White adults (N = 240; 70.8% women, 26.3% men, 2.9% gender-expansive) who completed an online survey. Awareness of structural racism had a larger positive relationship with White guilt in individuals who endorsed lower levels of self-compassion. For individuals with high levels of self-compassion, more awareness of structural racism was associated with more fear, which in turn was associated with lower multicultural attitudes. For individuals with low levels of self-compassion, more awareness of structural racism was associated with less fear, which in turn was associated with more multicultural attitudes. Contrary to the theoretical model, the indirect effect of awareness of structural racism on multicultural attitudes through White guilt was not moderated by self-compassion. Implications and recommendations for research and practice in the field of counseling psychology are discussed.

The Boy in the Tunnel is a domestic coming-of-age novel told from three alternating perspectives. It is about two white teenage girls who cover up the accidental death of their black friend in Atlanta during the summer of 1994. The novel explored the insidious nature of racial prejudice and the many ways in which Americans deny responsibility for wrongdoing—both contemporary and historical. It also explores the intense nature of female teenage friendships and the harsh realities of the adult world in comparison with the relative simplicity of childhood.

Historically, research has focused on White individuals’ initial responses to learning about White privilege and other indicators of early stages of racial awareness and identity development. However, the literature is relatively sparse regarding understanding the experiences of racial identity development in White individuals who are beyond initial introductions to racial awareness, such as Counseling Psychologists (CPs). The assumption is that Counseling Psychology professionals are adequately trained to provide efficacious mental health services and engage in culturally sensitive work activities; however, research indicates that Black clients, colleagues, and graduate students experience racism, such as microaggressions, when interacting with White CPs. The current study seeks to address the overarching question: how do White Counseling Psychology faculty members understand their experiences with racism towards Black Americans? Ten White Counseling Psychologists were interviewed, and their interview data were analyzed with Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). IPA explored the unique perspectives and meaning-making processes that White Counseling Psychologists employed when discussing their experiences with racism against Black Americans. Findings elucidated how racism and allyship manifested variably among White CPs. Participants ranged from individuals engaged in advocacy work to individuals who actively defend the academy as a White space. Findings were organized into five overarching themes, including: White Privilege to Emotionally Distance Self from the Realities of Racism, Struggles to Engaging in Allyship, Honest Self-Awareness and Reflection, Intentional Advocacy, and Perceives Racism in their Environments. Recommendations were proffered to inform imperative training and allyship opportunities for White Counseling Psychologists in academia.

Education reform is shifting the landscape of New Orleans public schools, where alternative certification programs are thriving and changing the demographics of core teachers. This study follows a Teach for America (TFA) Corps Member from 2007 (just after the historic flooding from Hurricane Katrina) who brought a promise of innovation through idealism and green wisdom. The teacher’s preparation and motivations are shown to be problematic. Examining the assumptions and privileges that underlie the import of inexperienced talent to urban education systems, this study considers the ways that community voices have been lost or undervalued in New Orleans schools. The thesis tracks five unique student experiences in two schools over nine years, with accounts of the daily life of students and educators, some of whom are effective and make marked contributions to the community. The study concludes that care should be taken as reform continues to make schools better for kids.

This dissertation argues a dominant transgender narrative manifested through a focus on transgender bodies and prioritizing access to medical procedures when personal stories began to be publicly shared. With limited public conversations about the influence of a dominant transgender narrative, public understandings about the community have become isolated to one facet of some peoples lived experiences. Focusing on the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico, I examine the ways in which white privilege and presumptions about rural life as in certain respects antithetical to a transgender community have shaped the predominant representation of transgender in ways that often obscure the complexities of local context. Examining the iconic visual and popular culture representations and how they have contributed to creating a dominant transgender narrative, I seek to complicate the ways in which these prevailing tropes that presume the centrality of transgender medical transition narratives and urban (coastal) community formation. My hope is this research created an opening to more fully understand the impacts of whiteness, privilege and oppressive practices especially around how public knowledge is put forth about the transgender community.

This thesis examines the shifting narrative strategies of Hollywood films for preserving patriarchal ideals within the context of changing social gender relations. Over the last thirty years, social progress and economic changes in the United States have left many white, heterosexual, middle-class men feeling anxious about the possible de- escalation of patriarchy. Read symptomatically, the films in this thesis demonstrate a shared desire to reinforce male privilege.Though my focus is contemporary depictions of masculinity in film, my analysis of men springs from an examination of gender relations. Whether white male privilege faces, or will ever face, a legitimate threat to structural advantages remains to be seen; however, this thesis demonstrates how the perception of a need to sustain male privilege guides three groups of films while exhibiting the importance of considering gender relations, not just men, when confronting topics of masculinity.

This study is a construct validation of the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (Spanierman & Heppner, 2004) with Orthodox and non-Orthodox Ashkenazic (of European descent) American Jews. While Jewish-American biculturalism has been explored at length, there is a dearth of psychological research on Jewish-White biculturalism (Langman, 1999). Furthermore, the literature has yet to explore the impact of Jewish religious diversity on Ashkenazic-American self-perception as racially White beneficiaries of unearned privilege. The Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW) measures three dimensions of White racial attitudes: White Empathic Reactions Towards Racism, White Guilt, and White Fear of Others. The PCRW has been validated on multiple university samples (Sifford, Ng & Wang, 2009; Spanierman & Heppner, 2004) as well as with an employed post-university sample (Poteat & Spanierman, 2008). This study tests the psychometric validity of the PCRW factor structure with racially White Jews (Research Question 1) and examines differences in the factor structures of Orthodox and non-Orthodox samples (Research Question 1). Using confirmatory factor analyses, the results indicated that the original PCRW factor structure is statistically valid for non-Orthodox Ashkenazic American Jews (i.e., those who identify as Conservative or Reform) but not with their Orthodox counterparts. Subsequent exploratory factor analyses revealed that item loadings for the non-Orthodox sample were nearly identical to the original PCRW model, while fewer items loaded on smaller factors for the Orthodox sample. The factor orders of the two samples also varied. While a factor identical to the White Guilt subscale accounted for the most variance explained in the non-Orthodox group, a factor composed of similar items accounted for the least variance explained in the Orthodox sample. The study discusses limitations, implications, and directions for future research.

ABSTRACT Socioeconomic disparities between whites and blacks are pervasive in American society. Structuring of the discussion of these disproportions is the liberal race relations paradigm. According to Racial Liberalism, racial inequalities are an impermanent feature of American society because they are due primarily to race prejudice and discriminatory practices, which are continuously diminishing among whites. Challenging this view is Racial Realism. Racial Realism attributes the persistence of racial inequality to institutional privileges whites retain and refuse to relinquish whether or not they are conscious of them. I argue that Racial Realism, with some qualification, is the better explanation for the persistence of racial inequality. Racial inequalities will persist, because American society and its entrenched institutions continue to affirm, white supremacy.

This inquiry explores the underrepresentation of Black students in the Gifted and Advanced Placement (AP) Program from the perspective of the student. This study focused primarily on the barriers students perceived that hindered their participation. In addition, I explored the role teachers and guidance counselors play in Black students’ decisions to enroll or drop out of AP classes, and how the history and institution of gifted educations has aid and excluded Black students. Five Black high school students, four male, and one female, were interviewed. Theoretically, my study was grounded in two distinct inquiries; Critical Theory (Kincheloe & McLaren, 2008) and Critical Race Theory (Bell, 1980, 2004; Delgado, 1990, 2000; Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Ladson-Billings, 1999, 2005; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995). Critical Race Narrative was the primary means I used to contextualize and analyze the participants’ narratives. Methodologically, the study draws on the work of Narrative Inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) and Personal ~ Passionate ~ Participatory Inquiry (He & Phillion, 2008) both of which allows the researcher and participants to create new insights which can bring about social change. Four findings have emerged from the research. Students hold a variety of misconceptions about Advanced Placement classes. The fear of failing and the fear of stress played a significant factor in the decision to enroll in AP classes. Students expressed they received little to no encouragement from teachers and guidance counselors concerning AP classes. The issue of being a minority within a minority in AP classes was also a major deterrent in the decision of these participants in choosing to enroll in AP courses.

This dissertation is based on the design and implementation of a pilot seminar for college undergraduates on the topics of racism, intersectionality, and white privilege. Utilizing Critical Communication Pedagogy as a theoretical and methodological approach, the author discusses the learning competencies, activities, and achieved learning outcomes related to the pilot seminar. Next, the author analyzes participants' discourse that emerged through seminar surveys, recordings of seminar activities, and observations. The author then analyzes the first research question, related to participants' negotiated constructions of racism, intersectionality, and white privilege and examines how these constructions did/did not reflect change throughout the seminar process. A number of ideological discourses emerged through participants' discourse before, during, and after the seminar and these discourses are also analyzed using a Critical Discourse Analysis approach. The author then discusses findings from the study that include participants' subject positioning within the discourse, the implications of ideological discourses that perpetuate the pervasiveness of whiteness and white privilege, and how these discourses reinforce social practices that reify hierarchies, power relations, and status positionings.

Counseling Psychology has emphasized the importance of using multicultural and social justice frameworks in psychotherapy to avoid reenacting in session the privilege and oppression dynamics that exist in larger society. People of Color have historically underutilized psychotherapy services and have higher attrition rates when they do attend therapy, even though they have been more likely to face more sources of psychological distress (Kearney, Draper, & Baron, 2005; Sue & Sue, 2008). Additionally, White therapists have been over-represented in professional and training settings (Fouad & Arredondo, 2007; Hays & Chang, 2003). Add to that the fact that therapists have been trained in and practice psychotherapy theories developed primarily by White men and you have a system of counseling that works for some and not all. Thus, White therapists could be at risk for harming their clients of Color, and possibly their White clients as well, because of the utilization of these Euro-centrically biased ways of conceptualizing and treating clients (Mindrup, Spray, & Lamberghini-West, 2011). In this study, I examined the impact of therapist-reported White privilege attitudes on client-reported counseling outcomes and the therapeutic relationship. Participating therapists (N = 36) were recruited from a community mental health agency in the southeast and administered measures of White privilege attitudes, multicultural knowledge and awareness, and motivation to control prejudiced reactions. Outcome and therapeutic relationship data from clients of participating therapists, seen between fall 2012 and fall 2013 semesters, were provided by the agency. Therapist self-reported White privilege attitudes were not directly predictive of therapy outcomes and the therapeutic alliance. Therapists’ willingness to confront White privilege, White privilege remorse, and apprehension about addressing White privilege moderated the effects first session outcome scores and client gender had on number of sessions attended by clients. Client race/ethnicity was not directly predictive of therapy outcome scores or therapeutic alliance scores. However, client race/ethnicity varied significantly across therapists, suggesting that therapists were differentially effective. Results of this study indicate that therapist White privilege awareness has an effect on outcomes and the therapeutic alliance, although the relationship is complicated. Study limitations, strengths, and implication for future research are discussed.

This is an inquiry into the lived experiences of Southern, white, female teachers who teach their overwhelmingly Southern, white student populations in a rural/suburban North Georgia elementary school. I explore the obstacles and challenges they face as they experience the negative and crippling effects of the policies and practices forced upon them in their teaching and learning environments. Drawing upon the theoretical works of Dyer (1997), McIntosh (2012), Anderson & Collins (2007), Morrison (1992), Jupp (2013), Sleeter (1993, 2003), Smith (1944,1949), and hooks (1992) on race and critical white studies; the works of Apple (2001,2008), McLaren (1998), Foucault (1977), Freire (1970), Ayers (2004, 2006), Giroux (2009, 2010), and Macedo (2006) on critical social justice in education; and Whitlock (2007, 2013), Weiss (2005), Fine (1992, 2005), Villaverde (2008), Tochluk (2010), Miller (1980, 1992), Cobb (2005), Hoelseher (2003), and Walker (1997) on white female identities, Southern identities and cultures, I narrate the lived reality of the challenges and hindrances in teachers’ and students’ experiences that perpetuate injustices and inequalities in a public elementary school. The methodology I utilize in this study is based primarily on school portraiture (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997). In addition, I embrace the works of Schubert and Ayers (1992) on teacher lore, Clandinin and Connelly (2000) on narrative inquiry and storytelling, He and Phillion (2008) on personal~passionate~participatory inquiry, along with elements of autobiography and biography (Miller, 2005; Grumet, 1988) and (Barone, 2007; Lather, 1991, Benson & Anderson, 1989, Spring, 2013, Saye, 2002; Smith, 1944). The narratives presented use fictionalized composite characters acting out common, real, autobiographical, and biographical experiences that have been woven into fictional stories representing everyday concerns and challenges observed and expressed by teachers and students. The resulting vignettes purposefully aim to represent the dominant contradictions and constraints that teachers and students at an elementary school, a rarely viewed venue, express from their perspective. This inquiry illustrates the common threads of injustices, struggles, roadblocks, hindrances, and challenges that block teachers and students from reaching their full potential. Several major meanings have been made out of my inquiry. Since the current climate of the ever-increasing pressure to raise achievement and the demand of standardization in schools depreciates teachers and students and incites their fears, public schools desperately need spaces in which the root causes of these fears are exposed, the negative effects on students and teachers is examined, and a more trusting and encouraging alternative is created. The hegemony influenced by Southern cultures and values perpetuates a patriarchal structure that affects how the female populations in elementary schools act, how others perceive them, and how they are treated professionally and personally. Those female students and teachers, particularly those who are praised for being good, submissive, and quiet, and who do not dare to question the power structure, are in turn unknowingly pushed to participate in the oppressive injustices that continue in schools today. Counterstories of elementary teachers and students challenge the dominant narratives of power and hegemony, particularly the stereotypical views of teachers and students experiencing frustrations and injustices perpetuated by current oppressive policies and practices in our schools and societies. It is of paramount importance to create spaces for educators, administrators, policy makers, and the public to listen to the counternarratives from teachers and students, challenge stereotypical images imposed upon them, hear their voices and concerns, feel their struggles and frustrations, and recognize the root causes of narrow, unfair and frustrating policies and practices on the education of our children in schools and societies. Teachers and students, along with parents, the community, administrators, other educators, policy makers, and all others involved in the education of our society, must make a conscientious choice to hear the voices of the oppressed and question the purposes and aims of education for our children in today’s schools. They should work together to expose and negate the forces that are currently destroying opportunities for unlimited possibility and freedom for creative potential that all children deserve to experience and fight back the evil force of standardization and comodification of schooling and create inspiring learning environments where our children have equitable opportunities to reach their highest potential (Siddle Walker, 1996).

This study examined possible influences of racial socialization and racial identity in minority’s academic achievement. Qualitative data sources (in-depth, personal interviews, focus groups, and a survey) were collected from 10 minority students and 8 administrators. In addition, a quantitative survey was used to supplement qualitative data. The researcher established her own set of questions for the interviews and focus groups. The pre-established measures used were the Does Your School Have High Expectations for All Students survey and the School Climate survey. Thematic and theoretical analyses procedures were used to identify emerging themes and patterns, with particular attention to what minority male students and school administrators believe promotes and challenges minority student’s academic success and racial identity. Content analysis was used in the quantitative procedure to determine the school climate. Most participants reported relationships, expectations, self-motivation, and race as significant influences in academic achievement and identity development. Advisor: Rochelle L. Dalla

This is an inquiry into my experience of working with black males in an urban public elementary school in Georgia. Theoretically drawing on critical race theory (Bell, 1992; Delgado, 1995; Dixson, & Rousseau, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 2003, 2009; LadsonBillings & Tate, 2006; Yosso, 2006), I explore institutional racism and obstacles that hinder black males’ academic achievement and push them further to the margins. I challenge deficit discourse (McWhorter, 2001; Ogbu, 1990; Payne, 2005)to illustrate how public schools and policies perpetuate the underachievement of black males by denying their access to critical literacy and equitable opportunities. Methodologically, I utilize counter-storytelling (Bell, 1990; Delgado, 1995; Rousseau, & Dixson, 2006; Solorzano & Yosso, 2009) and fiction (Avi, 2010; Doll, 2000; Ellison, 1995; He, 2003; Wright, 2009), to create five composite black male characters. I fictionalize settings, events, time, and places based on my lived experience with black males both personally and professionally to challenge majoritarian stories. Six findings emerged from this inquiry. Public schools are racialized spaces that reproduce power structures and perpetuate inequalities that negatively affect black males’ academic achievement. Stereotypes, meritocracy, racism, white privilege, testing, tracking, deficit theories, and discipline policies contribute to the failure of black males. Historically, black males have been denied access to literacy and equitable opportunities and burdened by hardships, disadvantages, and vulnerabilities.Counter-storytelling empowers black males and other disenfranchised individuals to challenge majoritarian stories and to understand the sources of inequality, inequity, and injustice. Schools need to develop a critical pedagogy to help raise critical race consciousness within black males that empowers them to understand their locations in schools and societies and to develop strategies to fight against injustices. Educators need to develop a culturally relevant pedagogy of caring and justice and create hopes, dreams, and equal opportunities for all students to reach their highest human potential. Instead of disciplining their bodies and imprisoning their minds, educators need to create an environment where black males and many others are motivated, organized, and liberated to become active participants and positive change agents that promote equitable human conditions in an unjust world.

This thesis’ goal is to examine the way the term and concept of white privilege has been created in contemporary American society. The argument of the thesis will be that before and directly after discrimination was made illegal in the United States by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, scholars and activists implemented the term white privilege to describe structural and governmentally perpetuated privilege in the United States that had been consciously given to whites. This privilege allowed whites to obtain legal advantages over minorities across the nation. Years after the legislation was passed, however, discrimination was still an issue in the country. White privilege’s definition shifted in order to explain the reason for that reality; White privilege was not perpetuated by conscious and explicit efforts, but by white citizen’s subconscious. This thesis will show how that shift occurred, using scholarly and non-academic writer’s usage of the term white privilege.

This study explores the experiences of four White teachers teaching in a high-minority school in Macon, Georgia. Emily, Deanna, Richard, and I have crossed racial boundaries to establish successful teaching careers as White teachers working with Black students. Using a curriculum of place (Casemore, 2008; Kincheloe & Pinar, 1991; Whitlock, 2007) and the combined methodologies of personal-passionate-participatory inquiry (He & Phillion, 2008) and portraiture (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997) I explore these experiences. The key research issues are: why do these teachers remain at this school and why are they successful when other White teachers are not. This inquiry draws upon several bodies of literature: the social construction of race (Apple, 2004; Frankenberg, 1993; Tatum, 2007), Whiteness (Apple, 2004; Frankenberg, 1993; Mills, 1997), White Privilege (McIntosh, 1988/1998), race's impact on education (Howard, 2006; Kunjufu, 2002; McLaren, 2007), characteristics of high poverty schools (Kozol, 1992; Kozol, 2005), teacher attrition (Ingersoll, 2001; Ingersoll, 2003), and culturally relevant pedagogy (Delpit, 2006; Gay, 2002; Gay, 2010; Howard, 2006; Ladson-Billings, 2010; Perry, 2000). Six utterances emerged from the research. White teachers who crossed the racial boundaries and established successful teaching careers chose to stay in that assignment because of a feeling of belonging and their role at Ocmulgee. To be a successful White teacher of Black students a teacher must develop meaningful relationships with students. These successful teachers relinquish their place as members of the ruling social class and become part of the children's culture rather than expecting the children to reflect their culture. All four participants worked to maintain high expectations for student performance in regards to behavior and academic success that were reflective of culturally relevant teaching practices. Developing relationships with students of a different race is easier to negotiate than the relationships of trust with their parents. The teachers in the study did not consider the race of their students as an important factor when thinking about their job at Ocmulgee Elementary School. This utterance is of particular importance since race is the primary focus of my inquiry. Teachers at Ocmulgee, and beyond, need to work to ensure that they are addressing the issue of race in productive ways so that racial problems are not perpetuated. The implications of this study extend beyond the walls of Ocmulgee Elementary School. All teachers regardless of their teaching assignment need to engage in conversations about race with their students, consider how the curriculum of place affects their experiences, build meaningful relationships with their students, and hold high expectations for all students.

Since the 1970s, racial progress in the United States has stalled and in some ways, even regressed. There continues to be vast disparities between racial groups, pointing to serious inequities and systemic racism within our institutions. White privilege, a product of institutional racism and white supremacy, is a collection of unearned social benefits and courtesies that are bestowed upon a select group of people by virtue of their being white (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). This literature review examines the dynamics of white privilege and power using the tenets of critical race theory to explain how they are both protected and perpetuated by liberal colorblind ideologies, particularly in education. Naming and examining whiteness, as opposed to ignoring and/or denying its significance, is the first step toward transforming the existing racial hierarchies in society.

Since the 1970s, racial progress in the United States has stalled and in some ways, even regressed. There continues to be vast disparities between racial groups, pointing to serious inequities and systemic racism within our institutions. White privilege, a product of institutional racism and white supremacy, is a collection of unearned social benefits and courtesies that are bestowed upon a select group of people by virtue of their being white (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). This literature review examines the dynamics of white privilege and power using the tenets of critical race theory to explain how they are both protected and perpetuated by liberal colorblind ideologies, particularly in education. Naming and examining whiteness, as opposed to ignoring and/or denying its significance, is the first step toward transforming the existing racial hierarchies in society.

This study is a participatory action research project using photovoice in a multicultural curriculum in higher education utilizing visual culture and examining meaning making in our everyday lives. The instructor incorporated an inquiry-based approach in order to address cultural practices that still maintain white privilege in constructing social identities and objectifying minority groups. In combination with building media literacy in interrogating visual texts, photovoice was used to incorporate students in investigations about their personal identities and working in collaboration with community members to address different ways of positioning oneself in understanding the “American experience.” Photovoice is an investigatory model that incorporates student voices into (re)presenting their views and beliefs about a topic of concern. The course created avenues for intergroup dialogue with sustained discussions on controversial topics pertaining to the vision of what a socially just society looks like, and the obstacles that still exist in moving toward a society with equitable practices.

The emancipatory city thesis suggests that, through gentrification, communities become more diverse, tolerant, and socially cohesive (Caulfield 1989; Caulfield 1994; Lees 2000; Lees, Slater, and Wyly 2008). However, this research illustrates that, amongst a sample of whites living in the diverse and gentrifying neighborhood of the Old West End in Toledo, Ohio, racial identities are formulated on white advantage and dominance. Through in-depth interviews with 10 Old West End residents, this research suggests that white identities are experienced, constructed, maintained, and projected through the discursive frames of privilege, exclusion, racialized space, and gentrification. This research advocates for increasing interaction between people of different races, the construction of language with which to talk about race, and the creation of safe spaces in which to talk about race. Additionally, this research pinpoints a need for whites to become race aware, and to individually and collectively acknowledge their positions of power and challenge the racist ideologies which uphold those positions. Until these ideologies are challenged by whites and non-whites alike, social relations in and out of urban settings will continue to be hierarchical and littered with unnecessary and misguided accusations of blame.

OLSON, BARRY ALAN. Difficult Dialogues: How white male graduate students in student affairs preparation programs make meaning of their whiteness, white privilege, and multiculturalism. (Under the direction of Audrey Jaeger). The purpose of this narrative case study was to understand how white male graduate students in student affairs preparation programs make meaning of their whiteness, white privilege, and multiculturalism. Through the use of the participant’s own words, the results showed that these nine participants from the Southeast had a limited understanding of whiteness as it related to any racial conception, often limited to the negative components of their racial makeup, or even an obliviousness to whiteness in general. White privilege was understood more clearly, however the participants often were in positions where they could choose to act in favor of a person of color, and instead chose not to act. Finally, the participants gained a significant amount of value from personal connections through their own informal experiences and formal activities, but the most growth seemed to occur within a classroom setting focusing on multiculturalism and diversity. The findings indicate that white male graduate students in student affairs preparation programs could benefit from required coursework in the areas of diversity and multiculturalism, where exposure to race, culture, and difference would broaden their limited experience base. Within this study, a model for the social transformation of racial identity was proposed as a way to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Using the concepts of white privilege, multicultural competency, and emancipation, the proposed model helps to explain the components within developing those difficult dialogues among white males, but also across racial boundaries.

This thesis examines the role of racialized practices in the discourses and processes that alter place identity. Drawing on ethnography from the East Village of Buckhead, a once vibrant nightlife district in Atlanta, I examine how discourses of danger, colorblindness, and the race card have been employed to “whitewash” the discussions about the redevelopment of the Village. In effect, the business and civic elite of Atlanta (and Buckhead) deployed racialized conceptualizations of group identity. In particular, they utilized “public safety” discourses to influence the Atlanta city government to support the redevelopment effort. This led to the elimination of the establishments that attracted African American partygoers in large numbers. Using interviews with government agents, night club operators, and Buckhead civic and business leaders, combined with archival analysis of newspaper accounts, I implemented a hybrid content-discourse analysis to explore the ways in which the discourses of race and place concerning the East Village changed between 2000 and 2008.

The gap between the demographic of white teachers and administrators working in ethnically and socioeconomically diverse schools and their students continues to widen. While federal 2003-2004 statistics indicate that 84% of teachers and administrators are white, 2006-2007 statistics indicate that 43% of students represent minority populations and continues to increase. White educators bring different life experiences with them that are often middle-class, English-speaking-only backgrounds. These backgrounds, researchers argue, make it difficult for white teachers and administrators to act as role models for their ethnically and socioeconomically diverse students, or to look at curriculum and instruction through a lens of multicultural pedagogy. The purpose of this study was to better understand perceptions of white privilege that educators hold and how those perceptions impacted their teaching and administrative roles. Data was gathered and analyzed from interviews of educators who worked in two different ethnically and socioeconomically diverse elementary schools. Minnesota Department of Education Report Card statistics were used to determine ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. Participants in this phenomenological study were identified through purposeful sampling. Field observations were done at both schools with information used to describe the context of the study. Among the findings were perceptions of white privilege varied greatly between the novice teacher and other experienced educators, and educators were aware of the power they possessed as a result of their privilege. Findings also included indications that perceptions of white privilege led educators to have a particular awareness of the lived experiences of their ethnically and socioeconomically diverse students and families. Impact on professional roles was based on this awareness. Among the findings of how professional roles were impacted were educators' awareness family circumstances affected student learning and that high expectations were needed for all students. Further findings emerged from administrators that indicated they based many of their decisions on principles of multicultural education. Findings from experienced teachers revealed periodic work in opposition to the status quo.

Author's abstract: The requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has forced school systems throughout the United States to consider the achievement gap between White students and non-White students, which had not previously been a factor in determining school success for federal and state funding. However, acknowledging the gap is not enough. Schools must move beyond acknowledging the gap to developing strategies to close the gap. A professional development course entitled Courageous Conversations About Race, written by Curtis Linton and Glenn E. Singleton was taught to thirty-seven teachers in a rural South Georgia school system. Eight of the teachers agreed to participate in this research project. The teachers, two Black females and six White females with teaching experience ranging from one to over twenty years, represented elementary, middle, and high schools. The participants' reflections on racism, institutional racism, whiteness, and white privilege were analyzed through the theoretical framework lens of Critical Race Theory. Findings of this research show that teachers express a desire to move toward developing strategies to close the racial achievement gap. However, the history of racism in the patriarchal South is deeply embedded into these women's personal identity and presents challenges that must be overcome before real change can occur.

This study was to explore the use of critical literacy (Freire, 1998) to assist predominately White teacher candidates in their preparation to teach diverse groups of students. Seven White females, who were born and reared in Georgia, participated in the study. These participants were encouraged to critically examine their personal, racial, and cultural roots through autobiographical papers, literature circles using African American children's books, critical reflective papers responding to the literature circles, conversations, and interviews. Three bodies of research provided the theoretical framework for the study: White identity theory (Kunjufu, 2002, McIntyre, 1997, Wise, 2008), critical literacy theory (Freire, 1974, Freire & Macedo, 1987, Macedo & Steinberg, 2007, Vasquez, 2003, 2004), and culturally relevant pedagogy (Ayers, 2004, Delpit, 1995, Gay, 2000, hooks, 1994, Howard, 2006 ,Ladson-Billings, 1994). The study was conducted using two distinct strands of inquiry, narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) and personal̋~passionate̋~participatory inquiry (He & Phillion, 2008). Engaging in research that is personal̋~ passionate̋~ participatory creates possibilities for positive change in the researcher, participants, and ultimately in society. This form of inquiry allows researchers "to connect the practical with the theoretical, and the personal with the political, through passionate participation in, and critical reflection upon inquiry and life" (p. 3). Part of the challenge for this study was to confront the resistance to challenging Whiteness, to use literature circles to create a space for the hearts and minds to develop critical consciousness and cultural awareness, to transgress White supremacy, and to embrace multitudes of differences, contradictions, and complexities in schools, neighborhoods, and communities. This study has awakened me intellectually as I continue to live my life as a member of a racist society and a teacher educator in a predominately White College of Education. As the public school populations become increasingly diversified, the number of White teacher candidates continues to increase. As education within the South and beyond still perpetuates White privilege, relinquishing White supremacy and status quo is the prelude to cultivating cultural awareness in White teacher candidates. Teacher educators need to work with learners, teachers, parents, community workers, administrators, and policy makers to support and encourage a culturally relevant pedagogy and to create culturally responsive and inspiring learning environments to engage all learners in an increasingly diversified world.

Traditionally, teachers have been at the bottom of the hierarchy of power that exists in education, leading teachers to define themselves as 'just teachers' (Katzenmeyer and Moller, 2001) not leaders. The current movement to professionalize teaching recognizes the classroom teacher as an untapped leadership resource for improving student achievement. This research analyzes the impact of a Fellowship Program for Curriculum and Leadership Development on its participants using the lenses of normative discourse and the culture of power that exist in education. Specifically, this study explored the extent to which participants were taught to 'perform whiteness' (Warren, 2003) in order to gain power and a voice as teacher leaders. In order to examine the Fellows' experiences, narrative inquiry (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000; Mishler, 1986) was used to gather the stories of four Fellows. Both narrative analysis (Hatch, 2002; Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, and Zilber, 1998; Riessman, 1993) and poetic analysis (Gee, 1999) were employed to 'restory' the participants' stories (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000). Then, the Fellows' stories were analyzed to examine how their fellowship experiences affected their self-identification as teacher leaders and, furthermore, to explore the extent to which normative discourse and the culture of power shaped the Fellows' experiences.

2031-01-02