Working through Whiteness: White, Male College Students Challenging Racism

This qualitative study relies on Freire’s conception of liberatory praxis to examine White male college students’ becoming aware of racism and translating awareness into action. The participants developed racial cognizance via crossracial contact and course content. They also tended to be open to interrogating racism and racial privilege due to other marginalized identities (e.g., being gay). The participants took actions against racism but continued to struggle with race (e.g., essentializing minority experiences). The findings demonstrate the importance of race-conscious curricula, empathy, and cross-racial contact in promoting racial justice actions, while illustrating the nonlinear trajectory of White student racial identity development.