White Lies: A Critical Race Study of Power and Privilege

179 Pages·2009·0.687 MB·English

by  Patricia Jones Brainard

National Louis University
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4-2009
White Lies: A Critical Race Study of Power and
Privilege
Patricia Jones Brainard
National-Louis University
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NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY

WHITE LIES: A CRITICAL RACE STUDY OF POWER AND PRIVILEGE

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

In

ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

BY

PATRICIA JONES BRAINARD

Chicago, Illinois

April 2009
Copyright (cid:211) 2009 by Patricia Jones Brainard
Adult and Continuing Education Doctoral Program

Dissertation Notification of Completion

Doctoral Candidate Patricia Jones Brainard
Title of Dissertation White Lies: A Critical Race Study of Power and Privilege
Primary Advisor Elizabeth A. Peterson, Ed.D.
Secondary Advisor Thomas Heaney, Ph.D.
Tertiary Advisors Stephen D. Brookfield, Ph.D.
Vanessa Sheared, Ed.D.

Date of Final Approval Meeting April 20, 2009
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & DEDICATIONS

I would like to acknowledge the following for their assistance in this work:

• Carol and Fritz, who picked up a broken girl and helped make her a woman.
• Peter, who listened, believed, put up with the late nights, the uncertainties, the ups
and downs, and still keeps loving me.
• Ben, who put up with my craziness and continues to look at me with unwavering love
and loyalty.
• Josh, who entered my young life as a boy and helped make me a mother.
• Dr. Elizabeth Peterson, who kept answering the same questions over and over and
over and over; who was as fascinated with this research as I was; and who took an
uninformed adult educator and helped make her a scholar.
• Dr. Thomas Heaney and Dr. Stephen Brookfield, for believing in me when I lost my
confidence.
• Dr. Vanessa Sheared, who talked me through my grief and the final bits of putting it
all together.
• Dr. C., who kept me “running with her” even when I didn’t know how to “respond.”
• The Tripod sistas’, for standing strong.
• These seven participants, who entrusted me with their stories.
• The faculty and staff at National Louis University’s Adult and Continuing Education
program, for their assistance, kindness, and humor.
• Doc 6, for allowing me to sing out of tune, be mischievous and silly, play the guitar
horribly, and laugh out loud.
Page i

ABSTRACT
This was a phenomenological study of racial privilege as experienced by White
people who have struggled to become more racially aware and socially active in dismantling
racism and White privilege. The primary conceptual framework for this study was Critical
Race Theory with Transformative Learning theory and Racial Identity Development as
additional theoretical lenses. The purpose of this study was to increase our awareness of how
White people come to understand their racial privilege and what change in behavior occurs as
a result of that increased awareness. Its goal was to promote and influence White adult
educators to find explicit ways in which to address White privilege and racism in adult
education settings.
There were seven participants in this study. These were White adults who could
articulate their understanding of White privilege and were willing to share those critical
incidents that led to an increased consciousness about that privilege. The findings of the
study revealed seven common experiences among these participants. Each began an
understanding of privilege through a Black/White binary and had limited contact with people
of Color growing up. They had self-constructed a deep reflective process, learned empathy,
and their growth and development was a continuous process. Each struggled with their
intention to not be racist when in fact they could not help but act in racist ways. In addition,
each experienced many critical incidents that were transformative in nature. Within these
incidents, common elements emerged that contributed to and influenced their growth and
development in their understanding of racial privilege. More importantly and perhaps
surprisingly, these elements did not exist in isolation. Instead, there seemed to be a
convergence of these elements that, when combined, fostered growth. These elements
Page ii
included: 1) a critical incident that challenged the participants previous assumptions; 2) a
mentor-type relationship with a person of Color; 3) moral or ethical anguish or regret; and 4)
a relational nature and deep commitment to the growth of themselves and others.
Page iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................2
The Beginning – My Story...................................................................................................2
Personal Reflection: Obliviousness......................................................................................2
Personal Reflection: Denial..................................................................................................4
Statement of the Problem......................................................................................................4
Purpose..................................................................................................................................6
Research Questions...............................................................................................................7
Significance...........................................................................................................................7
Definition of Terms...............................................................................................................8
The Language of R(r)ace....................................................................................................10
Summary.............................................................................................................................11
Personal Reflection: Regret....................................................................................................13

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................14
Conceptual Frameworks.....................................................................................................15
Critical Race Theory.......................................................................................................15
Historical roots of Critical Race Theory in Critical Legal Studies.............................16
Derrick A Bell, Jr....................................................................................................17
Alan Freeman..........................................................................................................19
Richard Delgado.....................................................................................................23
Charles R. Lawrence, III.........................................................................................25
Current State of Critical Race Theory........................................................................27
Six Principles of Critical Race Theory.......................................................................29
Racism is normal.....................................................................................................30
Interest Convergence..............................................................................................31
Race is Socially Constructed..................................................................................32
Voices of Authority: Narratives/Counter-narratives...............................................32
Differential Racialization........................................................................................34
Intersectionality.......................................................................................................34
Page iv
Introduction of Critical Race Theory to Education.....................................................35
K-12........................................................................................................................36
Adult Education......................................................................................................42
Special Studies within Critical Race Theory..............................................................45
Transformative Learning................................................................................................45
Racial Identity Development..........................................................................................48
The Formulation of a Definition for “Race”.......................................................................55
Racial Supremacy...........................................................................................................57
Social Construction of Race............................................................................................59
The White Experience of Race...........................................................................................60
Elements of Privilege......................................................................................................61
White = “Normal” (cid:1) Privilege..................................................................................62
Choice.........................................................................................................................64
Invisibility...................................................................................................................65
White Supremacy............................................................................................................66
White Racialization.........................................................................................................70
Whites’ Reactions to Discussions of Race..........................................................................71
That was Then; This is Now: White Guilt and Shame...................................................72
The Problem is Not Being White.....................................................................................73
Minimization – Meritocracy: A Country Founded on Equality......................................75
Individualism and Universalism.....................................................................................77
Personal Reflection: Just Another White Person....................................................................81

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY...............................................................................82
Qualitative Research Paradigm...........................................................................................83
Phenomenology...................................................................................................................84
Methods and Procedures.................................................................................................86
Hermeneutical Phenomenology Methods...................................................................87
Transcendental Phenomenology Methods..................................................................89
Limitations......................................................................................................................93
Data Collection...................................................................................................................93
Page v
Epoche.............................................................................................................................93
Participant Selection.......................................................................................................95
Interview.........................................................................................................................97
Data Analysis......................................................................................................................98
Presentation of the Data..................................................................................................98
Participant Profiles..........................................................................................................99
Personal Reflection: I’m the Other.......................................................................................103

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS: RELATIONAL ORIENTATION....................................104
Unearned Privilege – Hidden and Unhidden....................................................................104
The Other: Skin Color, does it Matter?.........................................................................105
Isolation.....................................................................................................................107
All the People are White, aren’t They?.....................................................................108
Hidden Identity.........................................................................................................110
Limited Experience with People of Color....................................................................111
The only White – An Oppositional World View......................................................116
The Choice is Mine...................................................................................................118
Change in Consciousness..................................................................................................119
Critical Incident............................................................................................................119
Dialogue........................................................................................................................125
Empathy........................................................................................................................131
Reflective Process.........................................................................................................134
Change in Behavior...........................................................................................................136
Chapter Summary.............................................................................................................141
Personal Reflection: Invisibility............................................................................................142

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS..143
Conclusions.......................................................................................................................143
Research Question One.................................................................................................143
Black/White Binary..................................................................................................143
Limited Contact........................................................................................................145
Research Question Two................................................................................................146