When Being White Isn’t Enough: Experiences of White Multiethnic Danes

• In Event: 30420 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2: Racing Europe

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that in the context of immigration policies and public discourse on integration in Denmark, there are ‘degrees of whiteness’ and that a white European ethnicity is not always an advantage. With an analysis of 22 interviews with multi-ethnic Danes, I show that although white multi-ethnic Danes benefit from white privilege and have access to cultural citizenship and ‘Danishness’, some experience social exclusion and feel conflicted about their national belonging. Multi-ethnic Danes grow up with more than one cultural orientation within their homes and between home and majority culture. The mixing of cultures can cause self-identity confusion, and a combined cultural frame of reference can lead to social blunders in social interactions. Moreover, the extent to which white multi-ethnic Danes’ experience discrimination and social exclusion depends on their specific ‘other-ethnic’ background because there is variation in the amount of status associated with European ethnicities. For some white multi-ethnic Danes, being white is not a guarantee for complete acceptance in Denmark because group boundary processes include racial and cultural elements.

Author

• Mette Evelyn Bjerre, Bucknell University