Imprint of Racism:  White Adult Males’ Transformational Experience from Racial Antipathy to Racial Reconciliation

Wynona Y. James

doi:10.29333/ajqr/5813

Imprint of Racism: White Adult Males’ Transformational Experience from Racial Antipathy to Racial Reconciliation

Wynona Y. James ¹ ^*

More Detail

AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 3, Issue 1, pp. 93-116

https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/5813

OPEN ACCESS 4531 Views 2224 Downloads

Download Full Text (PDF)

Abstract

Since the election of the first African American president in 2008, race relations have deteriorated in the United States. In May 2017, the emergence of the “alt-right” movement advocating for white nationalism caused further polarization between the races. This transcendental phenomenological research examined how white adult males’ exposure to racist ideologies influenced their perceptions towards African Americans, and how they emancipated from environments that promoted racist tenets. The study was guided by three research questions: How have white males been impacted by their exposure to racial antipathy and discrimination? What events or circumstances have white males experienced that led them to denouncing negative racial stereotypes and/or participation with hate groups? And, what efforts have they made to reconcile with individuals or groups they have harmed in the past? The literature review revealed racial conflict is a social phenomenon evolving from historical narratives posited by fear, social class, and white superiority. By employing qualitative data analysis, interviewing eight participants, and applying the theoretical lenses of critical race theory, social Darwinism, hate theory, and regenerative justice, the primary essence of the phenomenon acknowledged individuals are mentally and emotionally affected by negative historical narratives about racism. Six major themes evolved: 1) Familial Influences, 2) Southern White Experience, 3) Education and Race Relations, 4) Spiritual Convictions, 5) Immersion into the African American Experience, and 6) Physical and Mental Emancipation. The findings in this study contribute to the field of conflict resolution by advocating for advanced exploration into socio-psychology, racial reconciliation, and restorative justice.

Keywords: Racial Antipathy, White Males, Transformation, Qualitative Research, Transcendental Phenomenology, Racial Reconciliation

References

Aguirre, A., & Turner, J. H. (2009). American ethnicity: The dynamics and consequences of discrimination. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Ahmed, M. (2016). Ethnicity, identity and group vitality: A study of Burushos of Srinagar. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 3(1), 1-10.
Alexander, M. (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press.
Ash, S. V. (2010). The black experience in the civil war south. Omaha, NE: Potomac Books.
Baptist, E. (2014). The half has never been told: Slavery and the making of American capitalism. Philadelphia, PA: Basic Books.
Blazak, R. (2004). "Getting It": The role of women in male desistance from hate groups. In A. L. Ferber (Ed.), Home-grown hate: Gender and organized racism (pp. 161-179). New York: Routledge.
Branch, T. (1988). Parting the waters: America in the King years 1954-63. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Bullard, R. D. (2000). Dumping in Dixie: Race, class, and environmental quality (3^rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Corona, R., Velazquez, E., McDonald, S., Avila, M., Neff, M., Iglesias, A., & Halfond, R. (2017). Ethnic labels, pride, and challenges: A qualitative study of Latinx youth living in a new Latinx destination community. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 4(1), 1-13.
Center for Justice and Reconciliation (2018). About us. Retrieved from: http://restorativejustice.org/about-us/leadershipteam/#sthash.xpQBNZuy.PzFFYs5g.dpbs.
Coates, R.B., Umbreit, M.S., & Vos, B. (2006). Responding to Hate Crimes through Restorative Justice Dialogue. Contemporary Justice Review, 9(1), 7-21. DOI: 10.1080/10282580600564784.
Conservative vs. Liberal Beliefs (2018, January 16). Senator Cory Booker RIPS DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Over Defending Trump’s Sh*hole Remarks. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-y-ganpnlo
Creswell, J.W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3^rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Creswell, J. W. (20012). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (2^nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Creswell, J.W., & Poth, S. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4^th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Curtin, P. D. (1972). The Atlantic slave trade: A census. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Darwin, C. (1958). The origin of species: By means of natural selection of the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. New York, NY: New American Library.
Darwin, C. (1981). The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. New Jersey, NJ: Princeton University.
DeGruy, J. A. (2005). Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s legacy of enduring injury and healing. Portland, OR: Joy DeGruy Publications.
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York, NY: New York University Press.
DiLorenzo, T.J. (2002). The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, his agenda, and his unnecessary war. Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing.
Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. E., Kawakami, K., & Hodson, G. (2002). Why can't we just get along? Interpersonal biases and interracial distrust. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 8(2), 88-102.
DuBois, W. E. B., (1998) [1899]. The Philadelphia negro: A social study. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Dyson, M. E. (2017). Tears we cannot stop: A sermon to White America. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.
Fitzhugh, G., & Woodward, C.V. (Eds.) (1988). Cannibals all! Or slaves without masters. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Fleury, B. (2015). The negro project: Margaret Sanger’s diabolical, duplicitous, dangerous and deadly plan for black America. Pittsburgh, PA: Dorrance Publishing Co.
Foner, E. (2005). Forever free: The story of emancipation and reconstruction. New York, NY: Vantage Books.
Gabe, R. F. (2016). Phenomenological research study on unexpected loss for the adult sibling: Exploring interpersonal conflicts. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale.
Garrow, D. J. (2004). Bearing the cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the southern Christian leadership conference. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Gould, S. J. (1977). Ontogeny and phylogeny. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
U.S. Government Accountability Office (2017, April). Countering Violent Extremism: Actions Needed to Define Strategy and Assess Progress of Federal Efforts. (Publication No. GAO-17-300). Retrieved from: https://www.gao.gov/assets/690/683984.pdf.
Griffith, D.M., Mason, M., Yonas, M., Eng, E., Jeffries, V., Plihcik, S., & Parks, B. (2007). Dismantling institutional racism: Theory and action. American Journal of Community Psychology, 39(3-4), 381-392.
Hansen, T., & Umbreit, M. (2018). Regenerative justice, beyond restoring. Contemporary Justice Review: Issues in Criminal, Social, and Restorative Justice (in press), 1-23.
Ham, W., & Ware, C.A. (2007). One race and one blood. Green Forest, AK: Master Books.
Harris, T. (1984). Exorcising blackness: Historical and literary lynching and burning rituals. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.
Herrnstein, R. J., & Murray, C. (1994). Bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
Hitler, A. (1941). Mein Kampf. New York, NY: Reynal & Hitchcock.
Husserl, E. (1931). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology. New York, NY: Routledge.
Jordan, W. D. (1996). White over black: American attitudes toward the negro, 1550-1812. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Kendi, I. X. (2016). Stamped from the beginning: The definitive history of racist ideas in America. New York, NY: Nations Book.
Levine, B. (2005). Half slave and half free: The roots of civil war. New York, NY: Hill and Wang.
Levinson, J. D. (2007). Forgotten racial equality: Implicit bias, decision-making, and misremembering. Duke Law Journal, 57, 345-424.
Leyden, T. J., & Cook, M. B. (2008). Skinhead confessions: From hate to hope. Springville: Sweetwater Books.
McCausland, P., Saliba, E., Saliba, E., Donohue, E., & Donohue, M., (2017, August 12). Charlottesville Rally Turns Deadly: One Killed After Car Strikes Crowd. U.S. News. Retrieved from: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/charlottesville-rally-turns-deadly-one-killed-after-car-strikes-crowd-n792116.
Mascaro, L (2016, November 18). White nationalists dress up and come to Washington in hopes of influencing Trump. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-white-nationalists-thinktank-20161119-story.html
Mauch, J., & Tarman, B. (2016). A historical approach to social studies laboratory method. Research in Social Sciences and Technology, 1(2), 55-66.
McCullough, D. (1992). Truman. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Meeink, F. (2009). Autobiography of a recovering skinhead: The Frank Meeink story – as told to Jody M. Roy. Portland, OR: Hawthorne Books.
Michaelis, A. (2012). My life after hate. Milwaukee, WI: Authentic Presence Publications.
Moore, J. H. (Ed.). (2007). Encyclopedia of race and racism. (3^rd ed.). New York, NY: MacMillan.
Mohr, J. M. (2010). Leaving is possible: The psychological and sociological mechanisms of desistance from White supremacist organizations and racist ideologies. (Order No. 3407593, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 366-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/docview/366579251?accountid=6579
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.
Omi, M., & Winant, H. (2015). Racial formation in the United States. New York: Routledge.
Onyalla, D. B. (2018). Ethnic Influence of Colleagues and Friends on Choices of News Media Channels: The Case of Catholic Church Leaders in Nairobi, Kenya. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 5(2), 140-158.
Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Pew Research Center (2013, August 22). “King's Dream Remains an Elusive Goal; Many Americans See Racial Disparities." Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. Retrieved from: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/08/22/kings-dream-remains-an-elusive-goal-many-americans-see-racial-disparities/.
Picciolini, C. (2017). American youth: My descent into America’s most violent hate movement – and how I got out. New York: Hatchette Book Group Inc.
Potok, M. (2013a, Spring). The Year in Hate and Extremism. Southern Poverty Law Center – Intelligence Report, Spring 2013 Issue.
Potok, M. (2013b, Fall). Leaving White nationalism. Southern Poverty Law Center - Intelligence Report, (1), 37-42.
Roberts, G. & Klibanoff, H. (2006). The race beat: The press, the civil rights struggle, and the awakening of a nation. New York, NY: Random House.
Rosenberg, Y. (2017, August 14). ‘Jews will not replace us’: Why white supremacists go after Jews. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/08/14/jews-will-not-replace-us-why-white-supremacists-go-after-jews/?utm_term=.a961e604255a.
Schaefer, J.R., & Navarro, J. (2003, March). The Seven-Stage Hate Model: The Psychopathology of Hate Groups. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Retrieved from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/fbi/7stage_hate_model.htm
Simi, P. (2003). Rage in the city of angels: The historical development of the skinhead subculture in Los Angeles. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Nevada, Las Vegas).
Tarman, B. (2017). From the Editor-Editörden. Journal of Social Studies Education Research, 8 (1), 1-3. Retrieved from http://dergipark.org.tr/jsser/issue/29488/316353
Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science from an action sensitive pedagogy. London, Ontario, Canada: University of Western Ontario.
Wallis, J. (2016). America's Original Sin: Racism, White privilege, and the Bridge to a New America. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press.
Ward, J. M. (2015, June 19). Dylann Roof and the white fear of a black takeover. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0621-ward-charleston-ame-shooting-20150619-story.html.
Washington, H. A. (2006). Medical apartheid: The dark history of medical experimentation on Black Americans from colonial times to the present. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Williams, J. J., & Jones, K. M. (2017). Removing the stain of racism from the Southern Baptist Convention. Nashville: B & H Academics.
West, C, (2001). Race matters. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Williams, D. R. & Mohammed, S. A. (2013). Racism and Health I: Pathways and Scientific Evidence. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(8), 1152-1173.
Willis, J. W. (2007). Foundations of qualitative research: Interpretive and critical approaches. London, England: SAGE Publications.
Worthington, E. (2001). Five steps to forgiveness. New York, NY: Crown Publishing.
Zangrando (1980). National Black Law Journal, 7(3), 446-450. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1m71j2dk.

Citation

James, W. Y. (2019). Imprint of Racism: White Adult Males’ Transformational Experience from Racial Antipathy to Racial Reconciliation. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 3(1), 93-116. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/5813

James, W. Y. (2019). Imprint of Racism: White Adult Males’ Transformational Experience from Racial Antipathy to Racial Reconciliation. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 3(1), pp. 93-116. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/5813

James WY. Imprint of Racism: White Adult Males’ Transformational Experience from Racial Antipathy to Racial Reconciliation. American Journal of Qualitative Research. 2019;3(1), 93-116. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/5813

James, Wynona Y.. "Imprint of Racism: White Adult Males’ Transformational Experience from Racial Antipathy to Racial Reconciliation". American Journal of Qualitative Research 2019 3 no. 1 (2019): 93-116. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/5813

James, Wynona Y. "Imprint of Racism: White Adult Males’ Transformational Experience from Racial Antipathy to Racial Reconciliation". American Journal of Qualitative Research, vol. 3, no. 1, 2019, pp. 93-116. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/5813

James WY. Imprint of Racism: White Adult Males’ Transformational Experience from Racial Antipathy to Racial Reconciliation. American Journal of Qualitative Research. 2019;3(1):93-116. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/5813