Beyond Reverse Racism: A Research Note on How White College Students Construct the Myth of Silencing in the Classroom

Abstract

The popular rhetoric of “reverse racism” suggests that white students are victimized by racism, but it is unclear what contemporary white college students specifically find negative about their experiences in race classrooms. Analyzing interviews and open-ended survey data from 54 white undergraduates at a predominantly white university in the Northeast, this research note shows that “reverse racism” is not the primary framework through which respondents interpret their negative classroom experiences. Instead, respondents rely on racist tropes about people of color to position themselves as silenced in these settings. We show how respondents (1) describe hypothetical scenarios involving explosive professors and students of color, and (2) view the race classroom as a space for learning “different perspectives,” in order to (3) claim that their whiteness renders them ineligible to participate in class discussions. Amidst political and academic condemnation of “cancel culture” and the perpetuation of myths that left-wing activists of color unjustly target free speech, white students may incorporate these concerns into their meaning-making. Although respondents do not explicitly invoke “reverse racism,” we argue that these narratives still reinforce the existing racial structure. These preliminary findings suggest the need for further exploration of white students' complex reactions to race classes in the current sociopolitical context.