White People Among White People

• In Event: Hate, Partisanship, Silence, and Violence

Abstract

Drawn from a larger interview study in a rural, northern Wisconsin community, and grounded in critical whiteness studies, this paper examines how relations among white people determine white people’s relations with people of color. Three teachers are the focus of the paper. An analysis of their interviews illuminates how race was a source of conflict among white people in this community and how fear of racial others was produced. The paper supports a larger argument that our anti-racist efforts in education have been undermined by a lack of attention to relations among white people. In other words, what if our anti-racist efforts have been so ineffective, in part, because we have ignored what is going on among white people?

Author

• Timothy J. Lensmire, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities