This study explored the question, “How do white, college-student, social-justice allies describe their interactions and relationships with anti-inclusive family and friends?” Data revealed five key themes: regularly witnessing anti-inclusive interactions, regularly confronting anti-inclusion, regularly not confronting anti-inclusion, experiencing strained and lost relationships, and having parameters placed on them. Additionally, using critical whiteness as a theoretical framework, the results furthered our understanding of the phenomenon of whiteness, as well as uncovered several tenets of white supremacy manifested through the participants’ interactions and relationships: minimization of racism, white action and complacency, white privilege, and rules of whiteness.
Cite this paper
Cleveland, J. and Anderson, S. K. (2021). White, College-Student, Social-Justice Ally Experiences. Open Access Library Journal, 8, e7629. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1107629.
Cleveland, J. (2020) Using phenomenology and Critical Whiteness to Understand the Experiences of White College-Student Social-Justice Allies and Their Interactions and Relationships with Anti-Inclusive Family and Friends (Doctoral Dissertation). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA.
Merriam, S. (2002) Introduction to Qualitative Research. In: Merriam, S. and Associates, Eds., Qualitative Research in Practice, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 3-17.
Watt, S.K. (2007) Difficult Dialogues, Privilege and Social Justice: Uses of the Privileged Identity Exploration (PIE) Model in Student Affairs Practice. College Student Affairs Journal, 26, 114-126.
Sue, D.W., Rivera, D.P., Capodilup, C.M., Lin, A.I. and Torino, G.C. (2010) Racial Dialogues and White Trainee Fears: Implications for Education and Training. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 16, 206-214.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016112
Smith, L. and Redington, R.M. (2010) Lessons from the Experiences of White Antiracist Activists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41, 541-549.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021793
Sue, D.W., Alsaidi, S., Awad, M.N., Glaeser, E., Calle, C.Z. and Mendez, N. (2019) Disarming Racial Microaggressions: Microintervention Strategies for Targets, White Allies, and Bystanders. American Psychologist, 74, 128-142.
https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000296
Malott, K.M., Paone, T.R., Schaefle, S., Cates, J. and Haizlop, B. (2015) Expanding White Racial Identity Theory: A Qualitative Investigation of Whites Engaged in Antiracist Action. Journal of Counseling and Development, 93, 333-343.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12031
Morey, A.C., Eveland, W.P. and Hutchens, M.J. (2012) The “who” matters: Types of Interpersonal Relationships and Avoidance of Political Disagreement. Political Communication, 29, 86-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2011.641070
Polkinghorne, D.E. (1989) Pheomenological Research Methods. In: Valle, R.S. and Halling, S. Eds., Existential-Phenomenological Perspectives in Psychology: Exploring the Breadth of Human Experience, Plenum Press, New York, 41-60.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6989-3_3
Roberts, T. (2013) Understanding the Research Methodology of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. British Journal of Midwifery, 21, 215-218.
https://doi.org/10.12968/bjom.2013.21.3.215
Groenewald, T. (2004) A Phenomenological Research Design Illustrated. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3, 1-26.
https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690400300104
Jones, S.R., Torres, V. and Arminio, J. (2014) Negotiating the Complexities of Qualitative Research in Higher Education: Fundamental Elements and Issues. Routledge, New York, NY.
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2006) Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield, Oxford, UK.
