White guilt 455199 223220963 2008-07-03T03:08:02Z TheRedPenOfDoom 5745932 /* Criticism of the concept */ wikilink, and rephrase to more NPOV language '''White guilt''' refers to the concept of individual or [[collective guilt]] often said to be felt by some [[white people]] for the [[racist]] treatment of [[people of color]] by whites both historically and presently.<ref>{{cite video |people=Shelby Steele |date2= |month2= |year2= |title=A World of Difference: White Guilt |url=http://streams.wpsx.psu.edu/White_Guilt10102.html |format= |medium= |publisher=[[WPSU-FM]] |location=internet |accessdate=2007-09-30 |time= |quote= }}</ref> The term is generally used in pejorative way, usually by those who criticize efforts to assist non-whites, particularly with policies or decisions the critics believe give advantages or benefits to them unfair to whites.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} Many on the left have rejected the idea that guilt is the motivating factor for these efforts.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} The term is often applied to [[white Americans]] regarding the history of enslavement of [[African Americans]], and colonization and displacement of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] and [[Native Hawaiians]].{{Fact|date=April 2008}} In addition, white guilt may be experienced by citizens of [[Europe]]an countries whose nations participated in the [[slave trade]] and/or colonized portions of [[Asia]] and [[South Asia]], [[Sub Saharan Africa]], Australia, New Zealand and the [[Americas]].{{Fact|date=April 2008}} White guilt has been described as one of several psychosocial costs of racism for White individuals along with the ability to have empathic reactions towards racism, and fear of non-whites.<ref>''[http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ684874&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=EJ684874 Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW): Construction and Initial Validation]'' Spanierman, Lisa B.; Heppner, Mary J. Journal of Counseling Psychology, v51 n2 p249-262 Apr 2004</ref> According to [[Shelby Steele]], white guilt is "a form of self-congratulation, where whites initiate 'compassionate policies' toward people of color, to showcase their innocence to racism."<ref>{{cite news |first=George F. |last=Will |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=White Guilt, Deciphered |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12995478/site/newsweek/page/0/ |work= |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |date=[[June 5]], [[2006]] |accessdate=2007-09-30 }}</ref> Steele has put the term in the context of American history and society in his book ''White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era'' (2006): :"Whites (and American institutions) must acknowledge historical racism to show themselves redeemed by it, but once they acknowledge it, they lose moral authority over everything having to do with race, equality, social justice, poverty and so on. [...] The authority they lose transfers to the 'victims' of historical racism and becomes their great power in society. This is why white guilt is quite literally the same thing as black power."<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=KUDIisq-KksC&dq=&pg=PP1&ots=q3jbHSbh8T&sig=SLB12DHTo2bHNr_AJjSxd6LC9Mc&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft%253Aen-US%26q%3D%2522White%2Bguilt%2522%26btnG%3DSearch&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title#PPA24,M1] Google books excerpt from Steele, Shelby, ''White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era'' Chapter 4: Certain Knowledge, p 24, HarperCollins: 2006, accessed [[September 30]], [[2007]]</ref> ==Criticism of the concept== Commentator [[Sunny Hundal]], wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'' in September 2007, "Not much annoys me more than the stereotype that to be liberal is to be full of guilt. To be socially liberal, in my view, is to be more mindful of ''compassion'' and ''empathy'' for others." Hundal wrote that motivations for political opinions that are based on collective guilt create a "reductionist", simplistic view of the world that few people on the left actually hold.<ref>[http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sunny_hundal/2007/09/the_guilt_free_liberal.html]Hundal, Sunny, "The guilt-free liberal", ''The Guardian'' Web site, [[September 3]], [[2007]], accessed [[September 30]], [[2007]]</ref> ==Use of the concept outside of politics== [[Judith Katz]] author of ''White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-Racism Training'' is highly critical of what she calls self-indulgent white guilt fixations. Her concerns about white guilt led her to move from black-white group encounters to all-white groups in her [[anti-racism]] training. She also avoided using non-white people to reeducate whites, she said, because she found that this led whites to focus on getting acceptance and forgiveness rather than changing their own actions or beliefs.<ref>[http://www.iupjournals.org/hypatia/hyp13-3.html What Should White People Do?] ''Hypatia'' Volume 13, Number 3</ref> Statements about racial inequality may be framed as either [[White privilege]]s or Black disadvantages, when framed as White privileges a 2005 study found that the statements resulted in greater collective guilt and lower [[racism]] compared to a Black disadvantage framing. The findings suggest that representing inequality in terms of outgroup disadvantage allows privileged group members to avoid the negative psychological implications of inequality and supports prejudicial attitudes.<ref>[http://psp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/31/4/508 Inequality as Ingroup Privilege or Outgroup Disadvantage: The Impact of Group Focus on Collective Guilt and Interracial Attitudes] Adam A. Powell, Nyla R. Branscombe and Michael T. Schmitt. ''Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin'', Vol. 31, No. 4, 508-521 (2005)</ref> [[Confidence man|Con artists]] have been accused of using white guilt: "Telephone and mail solicitors, trading on "white guilt" and on government pressure to advertise in minority-oriented publications, are inducing thousands of businessmen to buy ads in phony publications", according to a 1978 ''Washington Post'' article.<ref>[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/136950092.html?dids=136950092:136950092&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=JAN+16%2C+1978&author=By+Lou+Cannon+Washington+Post+Staff+Writer&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Phony+Ad+Salesmen+Prey+on+'White+Guilt'&pqatl=google]Archives search result page, ''The Washington Post'' Web site: Cannon, Lou, "Phony Ad Salesmen Prey on 'White Guilt'", news article in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', [[January 16]], [[1978]], accessed [[September 30]], [[2007]]</ref> == See also == *[[Affirmative action]] *[[White privilege]] *[[Whiteness studies]] *[[Psychometrics of racism]] *[[Racial microaggression]] *[[Reparations for slavery]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://psp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/25/4/500 White Guilt: Its Antecedents and Consequences for Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action] * [http://psp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/29/1/117 White Guilt and Racial Compensation: The Benefits and Limits of Self-Focus] * [http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=107 Teaching White Students About Racism: The Search for White Allies and the Restoration of Hope] </br> [[Category:Political neologisms]] [[Category:Racism]] [[Category:Sociology]] [[Category:Politics and race]]