What a White Shame: Race, Gender, and White Shame in the Relational Economy of Primary Health Care Organizations in England

This paper considers the relationship between white shame in contemporary UK health care contexts and historically idealized forms of white pride derived from nineteenth-century British colonialism. It uses excerpts from qualitative interview material to highlight the contemporary figures of the "white worried man" and the "white women savior" and the relationship between them. Through this, it explores how shifts from white pride to white shame reflect shifts in the focus of whiteness away from civilizing the racialized Other to civilizing the white self. Through this analysis, it further complicates shame theory arguing for an understanding of [white] shame as constituted through a relational economy, differentiated through class and gender as well as race.