what is whiteness?

Defining whiteness

When we first began this work, we asked others to give us feedback on our terms, our methods, and among other things - call out any assumptions our team may be guilty of or blind toward (see our page on Critical White Methodologies).

Some individuals had concerns that using terms like “white identity” and “whiteness” set the tone for a potentially divisive conversation that might prevent an honest good-faith discussion about these topics with participants. Even the title of our study “Exploring white identity and solidarity* in Edmonton” seemed, to them, to imply that our group was studying extremist viewpoints or white extremist groups, instead of everyday Edmontonian experiences.

Experts in diversity, equity and integration have long called for researchers exploring race, racism and whiteness to use these (specific) terms due to scholars’ long-standing avoidance of these concepts, in everyday discussions (Hartigan, 2010; Harrison 1998; Corces-Zimmerman and Guida, 2019).

As a team, we argue for the use of these terms (including white identity, white privilege, white solidarity, or whiteness) and ask questions about these specific concepts in order to disrupt the 'normative' practice of avoiding these terms here in Canada. Here in Canada, white identity is not often thought about/seen/identified as a racial form of identity by white Canadians (and white immigrants). Instead, white identity is thought of as the 'norm' (e.g. "old stock Canadians" - PM Harper 2015) whereas all other identities (Black, Brown, Indigenous identities) are thought about/seen/identified as the 'ethnic other'.

By situating white identity – its privilege and its use as an ideology – as one of many racialized identities, our team will be better able to identify the ways in which whiteness features as a powerful practitioner in shaping everyday life in Edmonton.

In response to this feedback we received, our team also noted an inferred connection between white identity or solidarity as something necessarily connected to (white) extremism. It is important to acknowledge that white solidarity occurs among most white folks in many ways, regardless of intention.

I define whiteness as:

"[T]here are two broad points to understand about whiteness. The first is white privilege defined as the array of advantages that accrue to whites regardless of whether, as individuals, they maintain racist beliefs. White privilege is most manifest in the ways whites are generally able to maintain an unmarked racial identity" (Hartigan, 2010, p.243)]; The second is the tendency of white (folks) to disavow the very notion of white collective identity. (...) Whiteness (is) as a collective identity that is powerful but largely disavowed or misrecognized by white (folks) (Hartigan, 2010, p.85-86). The reviewer also noted: "The reading of the application seems to imply that simply being born with white skin automatically implies a host of (mostly negative) attributes about that person and the group they belong to". We of course did not wish to imply this. Instead, our team seeks to explore how folks living in Edmonton think about the role of racialized identities in affording privilege and their thoughts on white identity as a collective identity.

*white solidarity is defined as "the unspoken agreement among whites to protect white advantage and not cause another white person to feel racial discomfort by confronting them when they say or do something racially problematic" (DiAngelo, 2018, p.57). Christine Sleeter has also used the term 'racial bonding' which works to reaffirm "a common stance on race-related issues, legitimating particular interpretations of groups of colo(u)r, and drawing conspiratorial we-they boundaries" (1996, p.149).

Jennifer Long, PhD, 2021