Perceptions of White Identity and White Liability: An Analysis of White Student Responses to a College Campus Racial Hate Crime

This study takes a qualitative approach to understanding perceptions of White student identity in response to a racial hate email circulated to minority students throughout a predominantly White university campus community in the U.S. in 1999. This investigation adopts a critical White studies framework. Results indicated that even though White students did not feel the need to identify themselves as “White” because of its sense of normalcy, they still enjoyed and expected the privileges of being a member of that race. There is also a sense that their Whiteness is perceived as a negative attribute that now places them at a perceptual disadvantage in society. Additionally, the participants reported that their Whiteness should not be used as a marker of liability for continuing racial hate against minorities.