The (dis)similarities of white racial identities: the conceptual framework of ‘hegemonic whiteness’

TLDR

White identity formation is a cultural process that uses racist, reactionary, and essentialist ideologies to demarcate inter‑racial boundaries and marginalize non‑conforming performances, creating intra‑racial distinctions, and recognizing a shared ‘groupness’ among outwardly different white identities challenges the trend of emphasizing white heterogeneity over power, racism, and discrimination. This article examines white racial identity formation in the United States through a white nationalist and a white antiracist organization and proposes the conceptual framework of ‘hegemonic whiteness’ to resolve the analytic dilemma. The study finds that white racial identity construction in both groups is based on reproducing various racist and essentialist ideologies.

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the processes of white racial identity formation in the United States via an examination of a white nationalist organization and a white antiracist organization. Findings indicate that the construction of white racial identity in both groups is based on the reproduction of various racist and essentialist ideologies. The realization that there is a shared ‘groupness’ to outwardly different white identities has the potential to destabilize the recent trend that over-emphasizes white heterogeneity at the expense of discussion of power, racism and discrimination. As a resolution to this analytic dilemma, this article advances a conceptual framework entitled ‘hegemonic whiteness’. White identity formation is thereby understood as a cultural process in which (1) racist, reactionary and essentialist ideologies are used to demarcate inter-racial boundaries, and (2) performances of white racial identity that fail to meet those ideals are marginalized and stigmatized, thereby creating intra-racial distinctions within the category ‘white’.