White Racial and Ethnic Identity in the United States Author(s): Monica McDermott and Frank L.

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Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2005. 31:245-61 doi: 10.1146/annurev.soc.31.041304.122322 2005 by Annual Reviews. All rightsreserved ? Copyright First published online as a Review inAdvance on April 7, 2005

White Racial in the United

Monica

and Ethnic States

Identity

McDermott

and Frank L. Samson

California 94305;

Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, email: mcderm @ Stanford, edu, flsamson @ Stanford, edu

Key ?

Words Abstract

race This attention

awareness, review

whiteness,

racism on white racial studies and ethnic during identity, pay? the past decade. portrayed

examines

research

considerations of Although sociologists have long focused on white ethnic identity,

white racial

ing special

to developments

in whiteness racial

much

a default racial category, an invisible yet privileged identityformedby centuries of oppression of nonwhite groups.Whiteness has become synonymouswith privilege in
recent empirical work strives to consider white racial scholarly writing, although one. The situated identity rather than a monolithic identity as a complex, study of white as racial identity can greatly benefit from moving from away simply naming whiteness

identity

are more

recent. White

identity

is commonly

as

an overlooked, privileged identity and by paying closer attentionto empirical studies of racial and ethnic identity and by those studying social movements, ethnic identity, social psychology.

INTRODUCTION
Within thepast decade, the studyofwhiteness has attracted a great deal of attention from scholars of such disciplines as history, cultural studies, and communications. Although the impact of thisnew intellectualmovement has been less considerable among sociologists, therehas nonetheless been a resurgence of interestin the study of whites as a racial group. This renewed interest reflects demographic changes in the racial makeup of theU.S. population, with increasing numbers of Asians and Hispanics resulting in a corresponding shrinking of the relative size of the white population, highlighting the existence of whites as a racial category rather than as a default identity. At the same time, sociologists of race and ethnicityhave rightfully criticized the almost exclusive focus on nonwhites in studies of racial whites have no racial identitybut are instead treated as the identity,implying that base group towhich others are compared. Itwould be difficult to sustain such a edited volumes on whiteness produced by sociologists. Inmany respects, the relative drought of sociological research on white racial per se, is ironic, as the study of European ethnicity among whites had identity, 0360-0572/05/0811-0245$20.00
critique today, as there has been a recent profusion of articles, monographs, and

245

246

MCDERMOTT

? SAMSON

Although history is filled with examples of ethnic groups struggling to be recog? nized as white, the post-Civil Rights era has witnessed a shift in this process, as many of the legal barriers thatcorresponded to being identified as nonwhite have been lifted. A growing multiracial population has furthercomplicated theprocess of racial identification (Daniel 2002, Harris & Sim 2002), reflected in theU.S.
Census Bureau's decision to allow respondents to check more than one race for

been a bedrock of sociological research throughout much of the twentiethcentury, as evidenced by such classics as Thomas & Znaniecki (1927), Whyte (1943), and Gans (1982 [1962]). The publication of Ethnic Options (Waters 1990) and Ethnic Identity (Alba 1990) heralded the end of this era, as the assimilation of European American societywas found tobe all but complete. Consequently, immigrants into a therehas been gradual shift in focus from the study of white ethnic identity to white racial identity,reflecting the minimal impact of European ancestral origins on thedaily lifeofmost Americans. This is a step closer to the long-standing focus of studies of black racial identity, which have often been concerned with identity formation and group attachments among all black Americans (Burlew & Smith 1991, Helms 1990, Resnicow & Ross-Gaddy 1997). There is a growing realization thatone cannot fully understand the existence of racism and racial inequality without paying close attention to the formation and maintenance of white racial identity. While much of the content of any dominant social identityinvolves privilege (Doane 1997), rarely are thereno variations in the degree of privilege bestowed by membership in a socially dominant group. This is especially truewhen considering a population as socioeconomically diverse as thewhite population in the United States, where theboundaries and definitions of whiteness are constantly shiftingover both time and space. Both historians and legal scholars have outlined the evolution of popular and official definitions of whiteness (Delgado 1995, Haney-Lopez 1996, Jacobson 1998, Roediger 1991); theirwork highlights the vagaries of racial definitions, as the inclusion of Arabs as white and Chinese as nonwhite seemingly reflect the idiosyncrasies of judges and thedominant political mood more than any consistent pattern of identification.

themselves or familymembers in the 2000 Census. The ambiguous racial status of post-1965 immigrants fromAsia and Latin America highlights the need to understand what it means to be white in the con? United States (Bean et al. 2003). There is a rich body of social scientific temporary
research on white ethnic

bined with recentwork inwhiteness studies, reflects central developments and key research questions in the rapidly growing sociological literatureon white racial identity. The focus of this review is solely on white racial and ethnic identity in the United States, initiallyputting forward a tentativedefinition of white along with a discussion of racial terminology. We assess significantdevelopments in thefield of whiteness studies and the study of European American ethnic identityand briefly review the research on white identity development models by social psychologists (for a more thorough review of the social psychological research on identity,see

identity,

racial

attitudes,

and

social

movements

that, com?

WHITE RACIAL AND ETHNIC IDENTITY

247

Howard 2000). Examples of theformation and uses ofwhite racial identity bywhite a to the of whiteness and white studies groups provide supremacist counterpoint are which concerned with of antiracist many identity development, developing
strategies, especially on college campuses.

WHITE,

CAUCASIAN, ANGLO

Although white is typicallyused to refer to thosewith European ancestry (Bonnett 1998), local understandings of just what white means vary, often reflecting the racial ecology of a community or region. Debates about the appropriate labels for whites provide an interestingexample of the interplay between self-identityand

white, and this is the term immigrants.The U.S. Census has always used the term most commonly used today.However, other labels such as Caucasian, European American, and Anglo have been used by whites when identifying their racial group membership. Goldstein (1999) finds significant demographic variation in thepreferences forone label over another among whites sampled in the 1996 Cur? rentPopulation Survey. Although white is preferred by over 60% of respondents, strong geographic patterns of preference reveal corresponding differences in the meaning of white. For example, white is strongly preferred in theDeep South, where dichotomous black/white racial divisions have long held sway. In contrast, more likely tobe preferred inboth theSouthwest and Anglo is Upper New England than in the rest of the country (although still only reflecting the preferences of a small minority of respondents), demarcating whites in these areas fromHispanics and French Canadians, respectively (Goldstein 1999, p. 19). Caucasian is often preferred by more educated respondents, despite this term's historical associa? tionwith scientific racism; Goldstein (1999) suspects that this trend reflects these respondents' desires to disassociate themselves from the associations of white? ness with social dominance, as well as a preference for the scientific sound of the term.The use of Caucasian in place of white has become increasingly common inmedical literature since the early 1990s (Aspinall 1998), reflecting the ironic
resurrection of an arguably racist term.

the social context. The terminology used to describe thewhite population has var? ied throughout U.S. history,and thereremains no consensus as to theoptimal term one should use todescribe American descendents ofEuropean andMiddle Eastern

WHITENESS STUDIES
The scholarship on whiteness in the United States has highlighted several important characteristics of white racial identity: It is often invisible or taken for granted, it is rooted in social and economic privilege, and its meaning and import are highly
situational.

Much of the research on white racial identity during the past ten years has focused on how whiteness, and theprivileges associated with whiteness, remain

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? SAMSON

invisible to many whites, especially thosewith limited interracial contact (Delgado & Stefancic 1997, Lipsitz 1998). Instead, whiteness is normative (Hyde 1995), an unexamined default racial category.Although many nonwhites, especially African Americans, are confrontedwith their race on a daily basis (Feagin & Sikes 1994), many whites do not thinkof themselves as really having a race at all. In this respect, white is an unmarked identity, such as heterosexual or middle-aged (Brekhus 1998). was Frankenburg's One of the earliest identifications of the issue of invisibility make sense of the racial difficulties encountered by the feminist (1993) attempt to movement among ostensible allies. Because white feminists could not see the im? portance of race and its connection with gender inequality, especially their own privilege as white (largelymiddle-class) women, many black feministswere turned away from active involvement in women's organizations. College (Jackson & Heckman 2002) and high school (Perry 2002) students are often unable to artic? ulate what itmeans to be white, instead describing it as nothing or a vacuum, although Gallagher (1995) finds that college students exhibit a high degree of racial consciousness, perhaps given his focus on students in a city with a large black population. Frankenberg (2001) has since rejected her earlier understand? ing of whiteness as simply invisible privilege. The shrinking size of the white population as well as the increased presence of nonwhites in prominent posi? tions has rendered whiteness more visible rather than as an implicit synonym for
American.

of whiteness with privilege are more immune to changes in the United States than are associations between whiteness demographic makeup of the and invisibility; ifanything, the linkbetween whiteness and privilege is more likely to be strengthened thanweakened with an increase in the nonwhite population. Although theprivileges associated with whiteness are often obvious to nonwhites

Associations

(Roediger 1998), many whites themselves fail to see the connection between their much as theirrace is generally invisible opportunities in lifeand theirracial identity, to them. In some cases, thisfailure to recognize theconnection is due tononobvious legacies of structuraladvantage (Lipsitz 1998); inother cases, it stems froma desire to accentuate individual achievement (DiTomaso et al. 2003, Lowery et al. 2004). In fact,much of the recentwork on whiteness concerns how whites minimize, acknowledge, deny, embrace, or feel guilty about theirprivileged status (Doane & Bonilla-Silva 2003). The denial of white privilege is the foundation of color? blind racism, an ideological assertion of the fundamental equality of all racial serts that race-based programs and policies only serve to further solidify racial divisions (Andersen 2001). This perspective is a reflection of an understanding of white racial identity that assumes its content is like that of any other racial
group?we are groups?not only in terms of rights, but also in terms of experiences?that as?

such ideas sound remarkably similar to those articulated by antiracists during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, yet they are currently aimed at emp? tyingwhiteness of its privileged content rather than at transformingwhiteness

only

humans,

not whites,

blacks,

or Asians.

On

their

surface,

WHITE RACIAL AND ETHNIC IDENTITY

249

from an identityof social superiority to one of social responsibility (Bonilla-Silva 2003). The identification of whiteness with social responsibility is a frequent theme Because white pride has historically been in currentwork on white racial identity. predicated upon a denigration of nonwhites, the articulation of the duties and re? quirements of whiteness reflects a desire to correlate a conscious white identity with positive attributes. Ifwhiteness is explicitly associated with racism and dis? crimination yet otherwise relatively bereft of content, there is a tendency to create distance between oneself and whiteness; what ismarked as white is not a rich and varied set of cultural practices but socially destructive practices (Appiah & Gutmann 1996). The cultural emptiness and social culpability ofwhite identity is reflected in the tendency of semiautobiographical narratives on whiteness to cat? alog the advantages of being white (e.g.,Mclntosh 1988) rather than to describe other racial or ethnic identities. Links between white racial identityand privilege and/or racism also stimulate calls by scholars and activists for the abolition of whiteness (Ignatiev & Garvey 1996,Mazie et al. 1993, Roediger 1994) without advocating color blindness, in? stead urging whites to be traitors to their race and to adopt an antiracist identity whiteness be repu? (O'Brien 2001). The new abolitionist movement suggests that
specific cultural practices, as ismore common in narratives about the formation of

whiteness is not (Winant 2001). diated, and whites should instead embrace all that Critics of this approach, in turn, suggest thatwhiteness should not be abolished but instead should itself be studied as an object (Bonnett 1996), as when white identity is defined and examined by black writers (Roediger 1998). On a related note, Omi (2001) argues that a relentless focus on whiteness and white attitudes, as in the new abolitionist movement, is thought to be less likely to erode white supremacy than a consistent understanding of racial identities as relational (Omi

whose meaning is imparted by the particular context inwhich white actors are located. Poor (Buck 2001), gay (Berube 2001), or otherwise marginalized whites are likely to have a differentexperience of theirprivileged racial identity than are others able to see thedirect payoff ofwhite skin privilege (Rasmussen et al. 2001).

2001). In addition to the emphasis on invisibility and privilege, a more promising recent trend in research onwhite racial identity is a focus on whiteness as a situated identity,not as an identityof uniform privilege but as a complex social identity

This trend toward considering whiteness as increasingly complex is reflected in thework of one of the first social scientists towrite specifically about whiteness as invisible privilege, Ruth Frankenberg (2001), who urges a shift in thinking about white racial identity as more complex than she or others had previously
considered. Specifically, she notes that the current "conditions and practice of

whiteness" render "the notion thatwhiteness might be invisible.. .bizarre in the extreme" (p. 76). Especially as whites become more rather than less likely to have interracial contact, the conditions of whiteness are increasingly explicit. Given the close association between whiteness and socioeconomic privilege, poor and

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MCDERMOTT

? SAMSON

The complex and situated character of whiteness is also highlighted among the multiracial population, where switching between white and nonwhite identities is not uncommon (Rockquemore & Brunsma 2002). Storrs (1999) finds thatyoung biracial women in theNorthwest are actually more likely to distance themselves fromwhiteness, instead opting for themore meaningful nonwhite identity. How? as can a sense to white of those ever, identifying grant psychological superiority who are nonblack (Warren& Twine 1997).

whiteness as well working-class whites are especially likely to be aware of their as to have a complex understanding of what it means to be white in theUnited States today. For example, Hartigan (1999) finds thatpoor whites living among blacks inDetroit are more likely to be aware of racial identityas well as to have alternating experiences of shame and pride.While the affluentwhite gentrifiers Hartigan studies resemble thewhites described by the literatureon whiteness as privilege, the poverty of theHillbilly whites across town renders a one-to-one correspondence between whiteness and privilege virtually impossible. In contrast, Royster (2003) details thedirect yet unseen benefits ofwhiteness among working class men, who receive advantages in employment specifically because of the social networks towhich their whiteness gives themprivileged access.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICALTHEORIES
Social psychologists have long been concerned with conceptualizing and mea? with white racial identityno exception. Social identity theorists suring identity, treat white racial identity much like any other dominant group identity; it forms in relation to the other actors in an environment and is constantly subject to change (Ellemers et al. 2002). The differentiation of an in-group from an out-group im? maintain the superiorityof one's group over theout-group (Tajfel & plies a need to Turner 1985); this is clearly evident in thehistory of discrimination against blacks practiced by whites (Sidanius & Pratto 1999). Helms (1990) has developed and tested several scales measuring white racial identitydevelopment. Much like Cross's (1991) theoryof black identitydevelop? whites pass throughon their ment, Helms proposes a theoryof stages that way to a racial for whites the final includes internalizing identity,although stage accept? ing a "nonracist core" (Helms 1990, p. 52). Although theparticulars of her scale have been subject to debate (Rowe & Atkinson 1995), Helms's identification of a measurement instrumentforwhite racial identity remains one of the standard scales in use today (Hardiman 2001). Along with thediverse white identity scales thatpreceded hers (see Helms 1990 for a review), the final, ideal stage of white identitydevelopment is a rejection of racism. Despite theirdifferences, each of these social psychological theories of identity development relies primarily on laboratory experiments, typically with college students (Frable 1997). It is unclear how the experience of being white might differ among differentpopulations in more complex social settings.

WHITE RACIAL AND ETHNIC IDENTITY

251

WHITES AS EUROPEAN AMERICANS

Because many of those who are today considered white were once white eth? nics, research on the ethnic identity of whites has touched upon themeanings and construction of white racial identity.European immigrants flooded into the large cities of theNortheast and Midwest during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and their incorporation into theAmerican racial system has not been without struggle and uncertainty. However, when compared with African Americans, the experiences and hardships of European immigrantswere much less difficult,by anymeasure (Lieberson 1980). Throughout the twentiethcentury, white ethnic distinctions gradually blurred intoa more diffuseEuropean American identity (Alba 1990), especially by the thirdand fourthgenerations (Alba & Nee 1997), although most white Americans still claim an ethnic ancestry when re? sponding to theU.S. Census (Lieberson & Waters 1993). In the contemporary United States, white ethnic identityhas ranged from a symbolic identity (Gans means of counteringAfrican American demands for equality 1979) to a strategic (Formisano 1991, Patterson 1977, Steinberg 1981). Among middle-class whites, more representative of affinitiesfor certain cultural practices than ethnic identity is an importantpart ofwhites' self-concept; unlike racial identity, ethnic identityhas

yet primary identityrestswith the core society. Historians have traced the many paths by which Irish, Italians, Jews, etc., have become whites. Despite a relatively uncomplicated embrace of whiteness by the descendents of European immigrants (Durr 2003, Sugrue 1996), their ancestors faced a radically different set of attitudes and assumptions about who was to be considered white. At the turn of the century, Irish, Jewish, and Italian im? migrants were considered neither white nor black (Allen 1994, Brodkin 1998, Ignatiev 1995, Jacobson 1998). Union organizing that focused on the dignity and privilege of ethnic workers played a critical role in forging a white iden? tityforEuropean immigrants (Roediger 1991). Anti-black activism on thepart of immigrant groups also played a crucial role in securing the privileges of white? ness for European immigrants (Olzak & Shanahan 2003), as did the existence of white youth gangs that engaged in racist violence with the tacit approval of adults in their communities (Adamson 2000). The historical and continued im? portance of white racial and ethnic identity in defended urban neighborhoods is evident in a wide range of locations, including Chicago (Kefalas 2003, Suttles 1972), Detroit (Sugrue 1996), New Jersey (Lamont 2000), Baltimore (Durr 2003), Boston (Formisano 1991), Philadelphia (Kazal 2004b), and New York (Rieder 1985).
As the nation's borders expanded westward, the correlation between white and

become optional (Waters 1990). For Barkan (1995), the conscious yetmaterially tangential ethnic identityrepresents the fifthstage of a six-stage assimilation pro? cess, whereby some nominal cultural ties are maintained with countries of origin

with religious and ethnic differences among European American became stronger, European immigrants inCalifornia fading in the service of a united white front

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used to marginalize Indians, Asians, andMexicans (Almaguer 1994). The relative importance of white racial privilege is evident when assessing the socioeconomic attainment of twentiethcenturyEuropean immigrants,as substantial ethnic group differences inhuman capital at the turnof the century did notmanifest themselves in differentialoutcomes threegenerations later (Alba et al. 2001). The ethnic community has been a primary source of identity maintenance for these immigrants and their descendents, and the dispersion of European ethnic groups to suburban neighborhoods is likely a major reason for the declining im? portance of white ethnic identity (Alba et al. 1997). Among Italian Americans in the New York City region, "the overall population shiftcan be described as taking most ethnic neighborhoods and placing them in the least" (Alba people from the et al. 1997, p. 908). In other cases, such as among German Americans living in World War II provided Philadelphia, external shocks such as thenativism stoked by an additional push in the direction of assimilation (Kazal 2004a). Although themain story to tell about white ethnic identity during the past 30 years has been itsdeclining distinctiveness and importance, there are nonethe?
less some counter-examples, primarily from small, relatively isolated communi?

ties of recentEuropean andMiddle Eastern immigrants to the United States. Arab Americans are an especially interestingexample, as theyare officially considered white by the U.S. Census yet often have stronger identification with theircountries of origin than with a white racial identity.InDearborn, Michigan, Lebanese Amer?
ican adolescents

one who exhibits immigrant culture, towhite (Ajrouch 2000, p. 458). To these teenagers,white embodies both thepositive attributesof education and wealth as well as the negative attributes of irresponsibility and a lost sense of familial and community obligation (Ajrouch 2000).

categorize

each

other

along

a continuum

ranging

from boater,

or

WHITE IDENTITYANDWHITE SUPREMACIST MOVEMENTS

The studyof social movements and collective action provides other vantage points from which to analyze theconstruction and reproduction ofwhite racial and ethnic The sociological literature is replete with explorations of the identity. relationship between ethnic identities and collective action (Green & Seher 2003, Williams

1994). Some studies seek to determine the conditions that lead to ethnic conflict and the specificmechanisms that trigger such phenomena, whereas others explore cases of collective action that may not explicitly rely or focus on white ethnic or racial identities.However, while struggling and mobilizing to protect or acquire particular resources, groups may invokewhite ethnic and racial identities indefin? ing constituents, allies, and threats (Formisano 1991, Rieder 1985). In many of
these studies, white racial and ethnic such category masking other conflicts identity acts as a by-product as over material competition or instrumental resources, loss

of status, etc. (Olzak

1992). However, white racial identity also constitutes the

WHITE RACIAL AND ETHNIC IDENTITY

253

ments (Burlein 2002, Bushart et al. 1998, Sharpe 2000). This religious doctrine posits a seedline genealogy of thehuman species with thewhite racial descendents ofAdam (God's creation) pitted against the demonic and mongrel Jewish descen? dants of Cain (the offspringof Satan and Eve) and his nonwhite consort who hails from thepre-Adamic mud people thatgave rise to nonwhite racial stocks (Barkun 1994, Dobratz 2001, Ferber 1998). Drawing upon the analytical tools of deconstruction most popularly associated with the humanities, Ferber (1998) analyzes white supremacist periodicals and websites to explicate theways inwhich white supremacist organizations engage in theproduction (and elevation) of what is essentially a white, patriarchal, hetero? sexual masculinity. Building upon Omi & Winant's (1986) racial formation theory and introducing Judith Butler's (1990) work on the construction of gendered iden? tityand subjectivity,Ferber reveals how white supremacist organizations engage in theprocess of delineating white racial identityprimarily through constructing boundaries and framing difference as absolute. In white supremacist discourse, white racial identity is simply the essential ex? pression of genetically distinct races resulting from the natural evolution of the human species. The case for racial difference ismade by constant references to religion (Christian IdentityChurch doctrine) and science (mobilizing evidentiary claims of physiological and anatomical difference to signify essential racial dif? ferences). Arguing for natural gender distinctions is part and parcel of thewhite supremacist Weltanschauung, which argues, for instance, thatdisparities inmath proficiency are simply expressions of genetically encoded, biological differences between males and females. Racial and gender hierarchy is pitched as the conse?
quence

raison d'?tre for a number of social movements that,despite their small size, are given a comparatively large role in publicly definingwhite racial identity. In recentwork, sociologists have delved further into understanding the rela? tionship between social movements and whiteness by exploring perhaps thequin? tessential convergence of white identityand collective action: white supremacist movements. Contemporary white supremacist formations include theKu Klux Klan, neo-Nazis (and racist skinheads), and militia movements (Dees & Corcoran 1996, Ezekiel 1995, Gallaher 2003, George & Wilcox 1996, Langer 2003, Levitas 2002, Ridgeway 1990). Across these various formations,Christian IdentityChurch doctrine provides a religiously based justification forwhite supremacist move?

Within this ideological framework, policies such as affirmativeaction, school the natural order by promoting black male-white female intercourse that leads to white racial genocide. Orchestrated by an invented group ofmixed-race Jews, the objective is to eradicate the genetically superiorwhite racial stock by introducing biological deficiencies via black male-white female contact and ensuing interra? cial sexuality, in theendmongrelizing thewhite race. Even the feminist movement
becomes a desegregation, and residential integration are framed as conspiracies that threaten

of the age-old,

natural,

evolutionary

progress

of the human

species.

plementary hierarchy (inwhite supremacist discourse) between males and females

knowing

accomplice

to this plot,

because

threatening

the natural,

com?

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MCDERMOTT

? SAMSON

ingmasculinity through interracial intercourse with black males. The obsession with interracial sexuality is ubiquitous throughoutwhite supremacist discourse. The reiteration and propagation of these narratives, Ferber argues, embodies the gendered construction of a particular racial identity, thewhite supremacist male (see also Ferber 2004). Focusing on the contours and characteristics of white supremacist propaganda and mobilizing frames does not sufficientlyexplain why individuals participate in thesemovements. Recognizing that thesemessages may be received and inter? preted differentlyby both constituents and potential recruits,Blee (2002) seeks to understand themicroprocesses and mechanisms that recruit and retain active participants in organized white supremacist movements. Contrary tomedia por? trayals of white supremacists as irrational or extremistswith pathological dispo? sitions or dysfunctional upbringings,many active participants come from normal backgrounds and lead mainstream lives. Rather than assuming a priori conditions or static interests thatpredispose individuals to join organized racist groups, Blee
argues that recruitment

throws into question the other natural hierarchy (as the narrative goes) between blacks and whites. These arguments concern theconstruction of a patriarchal formofwhite identity, as white supremacist movements perceive white men as under siege and literally emasculated. The rupture in patriarchal gender roles that removes white women from theprotection ofwhite males creates a crisis inwhich white women, naturally masculine protector and provider,must seek bestial and dominat? seeking a strong

tivistsentail the social construction of individual interest.Social interactionswith acquaintances, peers, friends, and familymembers involved inwhite supremacist ests to align with thegoals of theorganization and its espoused ideologies. Within collective action research, thisphenomenon describes the conversion process and highlights the importance of social interactionwithin movements. In the context of white supremacist organizations, the conversion often involves an incremental change in self-identity (fromwhite towhite supremacist) and self-interest (from apathy to advocacy) that takes place during one's involvement in racist activities,
organizations may shape, structure, and perhaps define a potential recruit's inter?

and membership

in these

organizations

for women

ac?

and is facilitated by the narrative frame of the organization. Conversion towhite supremacist identity is learned, often throughretrospective reflectionon lifeevents via the lenses provided by white supremacist organizational narratives, rather than revealed as an instantaneous epiphany thatbrings an individual immediately into thewhite supremacist fold. women play in The roles that white supremacistmovements sometimes facilitate the reproduction of racist white identities.Given themaintenance of patriarchal find themselves inmothering roles, taskedwith birthing and childrearing thenext generation of white supremacists. Women send children toAryan schools and help forge the social networks thatchildren grow up within, includingAryan play groups. Some women promote white racial identity through family consumption
gender hierarchies within white supremacist organizations, women most often

WHITE RACIAL AND ETHNIC IDENTITY

255

patterns and through timedevoted to making and selling arts and crafts thatadhere towhite supremacist symbols and themes. White supremacistmovements also provide concrete organizational and institu? within which collective white supremacist identities are formed.Or? tional settings ganizations andmovements furnish the space within which a sense of belonging to a larger white community can be imagined,while providing concrete activities (re? cruiting, celebrating, protesting, committing violent acts, studying,etc.) thatbring individuals together to reaffirmindividual and collective white supremacist iden? Movements and organizations also provide a vehicle for thedissemination of tity. a set of culturalmarkers thatoften signify white supremacist commitments. These
include clothing, tattoos (e.g., Swastikas), accessories (e.g., Klan crosses),

may

many younger adherents,white power music. The relative pop? hairstyles, and for ularity of such cultural products has even given rise towhite power recording and publishing companies (Burghart 1999). Memorizing musical lyrics and reading
magazine articles allow

while working towardwhite supremacist identities are also affirmed The ultimate organizational goals. expression and celebration ofwhite supremacist beliefs is to shoulder the responsibility imparted by one's racial heritage and be? come a white supremacist activist. Movement organizations provide the infra? structure,networks, resources, and training throughwhich the belief in white racial supremacy can be proven through the exemplary commitment demonstrated by white racist activists. However, white supremacist activities are not solely the purview of organizational cadres. In fact,Blee and other researchers and analysts (Blee 2002, Durham 2002, Whine 1999) have observed the decentralization of white supremacist organizations in light of the law enforcement crackdown fol? lowing theOklahoma City bombing in 1995. Going underground or working in small and secret cells, white supremacist activists, although harder todetect, are us? ing technologies such as the Internet to continue to communicate across distances while maintaining some measure of anonymity (Gerstenfeld et al. 2003, Levin 2002, Whine 1999). Evolving information technologies thus provide another ve? hicle for the reproduction and diffusion ofwhite supremacist racial identity (Burris et al. 2000, Swain 2002).

beliefs. Collective

supporters

to reiterate,

rehearse,

and

reinforce

their racist

POINTS OF AGREEMENT AND DEPARTURE

One common theme links these disparate lines of research on white racial iden? tity:The context inwhich whites are enmeshed influences theirperceptions and whether it is placed experiences of being white. Virtually all theorists agree that, in historical context (Allen 1994, Brodkin 1998, Jacobson 1998), class context (Giroux 1997, Hartigan 1999), racial context (Stoddart 2002), or the situational environment (Hartigan 1997), whiteness is not a static,unchangeable, easily defin? able identity. That is,white racial identity ismore of a process than a descriptive;

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it reflects the ever-shiftingboundaries between differentracial groups (Lamont & Molnar 2002, Nagel 1994). However, attempts at specifying concrete ways inwhich the process of white racial identityformation varies or experiences of whiteness differhave been con? siderably lacking; instead, studies show a mix of "pride, denial, and ambivalence" in being white (Jaret & Reitzes 1999). Consequently, we have no standardway of classifying how whiteness, or any other dominant group identity, is experienced.

archival fragments to theentirewhite population has further hampered theprocess of specifyingwhite identity (Arnesen 2001), although increasingly frequent calls formore empirically grounded studies (i.e., Barrett 2001) should begin to yield while white racial identity is very progress. Part of thedifficultylies in the fact that much in flux, it nonetheless simultaneously encompasses the enduring structural of Americans Lewis (Duster 2001, privilege European 2004). Navigating between the long-term stayingpower ofwhite privilege and the multifarious manifestations of theexperience ofwhiteness remains the task of thenext era of research on white racial and ethnic identity. The Annual Review of Sociology is online at http://soc.annualreviews.org

There is agreement thatwhite racial identity is not the same for all groups at all times, but just how this identitydiffers remains unclear. The study ofwhite racial identity in theUnited States can greatly benefit from moving away from simply naming whiteness as an overlooked, privileged identity and by paying closer attention to empirical studies of racial and ethnic identity in the areas of social movements, ethnic identity,and social psychology. In par? ticular, the adherence to standards of evidence?regardless of the methodological Theoretical approach?is of vital importance to the study of white racial identity. reflections on whiteness have far outpaced empirical investigations of the con? struction,experiences, and meanings of white racial identity in theUnited States today. Although thereare notable exceptions (especially Hartigan 1999), including a spate of recentwork on how children and adolescents learn about race in general and whiteness inparticular (Bettie 2003, Lewis 2003, Perry 2002, Van Ausdale & Feagin 2001), much of what has been written about white racial identity is rooted in autobiographical reflection.A tendency to generalize from a few individuals or

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