Citation

Ferber AL. Sociol. Compass 2007; 1(1): 265-282.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00014.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In recent years, the study of race and ethnicity has expanded, and there is now a growing field of research that examines whiteness and racial privilege. This article provides an overview of theories of privilege and whiteness studies, and argues that these analyses should incorporate an intersectional approach. Intersectional theories argue that race and gender are intertwined, and neither can be fully comprehended on its own. An intersectional approach sees race and gender as interacting and inseparable. Two specific contemporary racial projects are examined: the ideology of color blindness, and organized white supremacist discourse, and argues that gender is essential to understanding both. Finally, the consequences of the erasure of gender from our analyses of whiteness are examined.