Living with White Supremacy: An Autoethnographic Study of a Nice, White Christian Educator

White supremacy culture is the foundation for the lived experience of nice, White, Christian people in the United States. This autoethnographic study provides an intimate perspective into the complexities of living within White supremacy culture and the complicity of White people in perpetuating ongoing racial injustice. The research question asks what were the cultural values, norms, and practices that contributed to the racial identity of the researcher and how did his formative and current educational, professional, and religious experiences lead to his view of Whiteness, anti-blackness, and race. Collected data focused on artifacts, observation, journaling, memories, and archival research that informed the lived experience of the researcher. The role of White supremacy memories and the rejection of counter-memories developed in childhood established the paradigm of the researcher through which all future knowledge and experiences were created. Whiteness effectively blinded White people from understanding their own complicity in upholding racist systems and policies in higher education and Christian organizations. These findings indicate that nice, White, Christian people must intentionally choose to break a pattern of White supremacy thinking with a spirit of humility and within the context of a multi-racial community to participate in an equitable society. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]