Revised notes from a leisure son: expanding an understanding of White supremacy in leisure

ABSTRACT

Within leisure studies, to properly explore and understand ‘Whiteness’ as a cultural process that impacts lived realities it is important to create distance from the oft-used term, White privilege, and begin to grapple with the magnitude of White Supremacy as the fundamental basis for the creation ‘Whiteness’. This critical commentary as a revision to (Mowatt’s [2009]. “Notes From a Leisure son: Expanding an Understanding of Whiteness in Leisure.” Journal of Leisure Research 41 (4): 509–526) ‘Notes of a Leisure Son’ in the Journal of Leisure Research, seeks to hone and advance ‘Whiteness’ studies within leisure studies, and to identify ways that an emancipated field of leisure studies could engage in critical theory and action. It is thought that such a coupling could off-set the impact that ‘Whiteness’ (as an outgrowth of White Supremacy rather than White privilege) has had on the lived realities of populations of colour and racially classified Whites who seek to abandon ‘Whiteness’ as an identity of dominance.

KEYWORDS:

• Whiteness
• White privilege
• White supremacy
• Race
• anti-racism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rasul Mowatt

Rasul Mowatt is Professor of American Studies & Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington.