Becoming White: The Racial Socialization Practices of Middle-Class White Parents

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Underhill, Megan
Language:	English
Published:	University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2016
Subjects:	Sociology White racial socialization Whiteness parenting practices parenting middle class exposure to diversity
Online Access:	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1470755137

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spelling	ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin14707551372021-08-03T06:38:16Z Becoming White: The Racial Socialization Practices of Middle-Class White Parents Underhill, Megan Sociology White racial socialization Whiteness parenting practices parenting middle class exposure to diversity What, and how, do middle-class White parents teach their children about race and being White in America? Though Whites are the majority racial group in the United States, very little is known about how they racially socialize their children. Drawing upon observational research and interviews with 40 parents, I examine the explicit and implicit racial socialization practices of middle-class White parents in two Cincinnati, Ohio neighborhoods. I argue participants adopt “happy” racial socialization practices that promote positive racial narratives and interactions whilst simultaneously minimizing conversations and interactions that challenge or threaten their family’s race and class-based privileges. In terms of explicit racial socialization, this means parents do speak with their children about race but they ignore or downplay racial discussions that concern issues of racial inequality, racial tension, and racial protest. A similar pattern of behavior is evidenced in parents’ implicit racial socialization practices, or what I term their “exposure to diversity” efforts. Participants all claim to value racial diversity and actively pursue opportunities for their children to be in the presence of people of color. They envision their “exposure to diversity” efforts as a means to foster small-scale social change and to achieve racial and class distinction for their child. However, a study of participants’ parenting practices reveals that parents are not enthusiastic about all racial diversity. They embrace middle-class, people of color but are decidedly ambivalent about contact with the poor; they fear that too much contact will diminish their children’s middle-class presentation of self. Taken together, study results provide insight as to the role middle-class White parents play in the cultivation of a White identity. 2016 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1470755137 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1470755137 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection	NDLTD
language	English
sources	NDLTD
topic	Sociology White racial socialization Whiteness parenting practices parenting middle class exposure to diversity
spellingShingle	Sociology White racial socialization Whiteness parenting practices parenting middle class exposure to diversity Underhill, Megan Becoming White: The Racial Socialization Practices of Middle-Class White Parents
author	Underhill, Megan
author_facet	Underhill, Megan
author_sort	Underhill, Megan
title	Becoming White: The Racial Socialization Practices of Middle-Class White Parents
title_short	Becoming White: The Racial Socialization Practices of Middle-Class White Parents
title_full	Becoming White: The Racial Socialization Practices of Middle-Class White Parents
title_fullStr	Becoming White: The Racial Socialization Practices of Middle-Class White Parents
title_full_unstemmed	Becoming White: The Racial Socialization Practices of Middle-Class White Parents
title_sort	becoming white: the racial socialization practices of middle-class white parents
publisher	University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate	2016
url	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1470755137
work_keys_str_mv	AT underhillmegan becomingwhitetheracialsocializationpracticesofmiddleclasswhiteparents
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Becoming White: The Racial Socialization Practices of Middle-Class White Parents

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