“But I’m oppressed too”: white male college students framing racial emotions as facts and recreating racism

Abstract

Most analyses of racism focus on what people think about issues of race and how this relates to racial stratification. This research applies Feagin’s white racial frame to analyze how White male college students at two universities feel about racism. Students at the academically non-selective and less diverse university tended to be apathetic while those attending the academically selective and more racially diverse campus tended to be angry. This study highlights the interconnectedness of affective and cognitive responses to race: two areas integral to both the maintenance and dismantling of systemic racism. It also highlights how men frequently frame emotions as facts, which can also support racial stratification.

Keywords:

• whiteness
• white racial frame
• higher education
• racism
• racial emotions
• anger
• apathy

Acknowledgements

A previous version of this paper was presented at the 2011 meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, Louisiana. The author would like to thank Zeus Leonardo for his insightful comments on an earlier draft of the paper.

Notes

1. When referring to “post-racial” discourse, I use quotation marks because it accurately reflects how many commentators frame issues of race but it is also divorced from contemporary realities where race still matters in many substantial ways.

2. During the paper, I will usually capitalize the term White in addition to all other markers of race and ethnicity. I use lowercase when referring to the white racial frame to stay true to how Feagin represents his concept.

3. George said, “‘cause it’s been so hard for me,” in a high-pitched, nasal, almost whiny tone that I read as him mocking and dismissing racial minority claims that racism impedes their academic and economic opportunities. He did not raise his voice, so I did not italicize this section.

4. There is not an official verb for describing the act of committing a microaggression, but “microaggress” is one that has been used colloquially for years.