Remaining vigilant: reflexive considerations for white researchers studying whiteness

Drawing on Applebaum’s theory of White Complicity, this paper considers how white researchers remain complicit in the reproduction of whiteness despite our intentions of disrupting its hegemonic nature. I reflect on a recent qualitative investigation on white college students’ understandings of race and whiteness and offer three reflexive considerations for white researchers: creating contexts for racial comfort, unintentionally validating racist beliefs, and missed opportunities for educational interventions. In doing so I move beyond simplistic, reflective accounts of researcher identity and work towards a more vigilant, reflexive understanding of the white researcher in relation to our white participants. The paper should assist white scholars who seek to remain vigilant in reflecting on their own complicity in white supremacy, despite our scholarly intentions.