{"title":"The role of White identity in anti‐racist allyship","authors":"Caitlyn Yantis","doi":"10.1111/spc3.70005","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Although White allies attempt to support racial justice movements, their behaviors can be interpreted as performative rather than genuine by racially minoritized individuals. In the current work, I discuss how White individuals' personal connection to their racial identity and the power it confers—<jats:italic>White identity form</jats:italic>—shapes their allyship behaviors. Specifically, moving beyond conceptualizations of White identity as centrality, I call for a study of White identity that incorporates power‐relevant ideologies, understanding how White individuals make meaning of their unearned privilege and incorporate it into their self‐concept. I suggest that a power‐cognizant identity form, which involves personally connecting the self to Whiteness and unearned power, is necessary for White individuals to engage in genuine anti‐racist allyship. I discuss White identity measurement issues as well as potential interventions for promoting a power‐cognizant identity form.","PeriodicalId":53583,"journal":{"name":"Social and Personality Psychology Compass","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Social and Personality Psychology Compass","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.70005","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Although White allies attempt to support racial justice movements, their behaviors can be interpreted as performative rather than genuine by racially minoritized individuals. In the current work, I discuss how White individuals' personal connection to their racial identity and the power it confers—White identity form—shapes their allyship behaviors. Specifically, moving beyond conceptualizations of White identity as centrality, I call for a study of White identity that incorporates power‐relevant ideologies, understanding how White individuals make meaning of their unearned privilege and incorporate it into their self‐concept. I suggest that a power‐cognizant identity form, which involves personally connecting the self to Whiteness and unearned power, is necessary for White individuals to engage in genuine anti‐racist allyship. I discuss White identity measurement issues as well as potential interventions for promoting a power‐cognizant identity form.