Pioneer whiteness meets “multicultural” whiteness in farm communities in Washington state

Abstract

Emphasizing symbolic/material intersections, I employ a spatial approach to contextualize whiteness in migrant farm communities in Washington state. Specifically, I argue that white identity is not detached from physical settings, but evolves in relationship to others in these concrete, but symbolically constructed, locations. Utilizing observations, interviews, and ethnographic mapping, I discuss how participants’ spatial narratives elucidate pioneer and “multicultural” expressions of whiteness. The citation of an agricultural ethos also pervades discourses of whiteness in this community. These specific articulations signal the resiliency of whiteness to morph in response to perceived threats to its position and assuage anxiety over demographic changes.

Keywords:

• Whiteness
• Space
• Race
• Multiculturalism
• Socio-spatial dialectic

Notes

[1]. The town first began to be settled in 1904. Located in Central Washington, Farmville produces over $2 billion in crop, which includes alfalfa, fruit, corn, wheat, beans, peas, wine grapes, mint, and potatoes.

[2]. Although gang activity is not included in the Washington Uniform Crime Report, the police sergeant in charge of the Farmville gang team says gang activity had decreased in the previous five years.