Antiracism and the abolition of whiteness: Rhetorical strategies of domination among “race traitors”

Abstract

The development of whiteness studies over the last decade has been welcomed by some, and noted with trepidation by others. An outgrowth of the work of race scholars of color, whiteness studies has been the topic of much recent debate. A body of scholarship that takes whiteness as its central focus cannot afford to be ignored by either academics or the lay public. This paper overviews two primary tendencies within whiteness studies, anti‐racism and abolitionism, and notes their points of divergence. In particular, the abolition rhetoric of self‐proclaimed “race traitors”; is interrogated. It is imperative that discourses that are positioned as “oppositional”; be monitored for their repressive strains. We suggest that positioning whiteness studies as an intersectional practice may help whiteness scholars avoid some of the conceptual traps in which Race Traitor finds itself.