Exposure to minorities increases whites’ race-based self-definition

Evidence

That is, when people do engage in affirmational identification (“I am white”), to what extent does their definition of this identity incorporate contrast from an out-group? Research on white racial identity indicates that whites are more likely to define themselves in terms of their race if they had a high level of exposure to non-whites while growing up (Knowles & Peng, 2005). This implies that identification with the white in-group depends, at least to some extent, on contrast from racial minorities. For white supremacists, out-groups may be so salient that their ingroup is partly defined by out-groups; not being black, Jewish, or Asian may be considered a core part of what it means to be white. Thus, the identity of white supremacists may be fundamentally linked to the identity of minority groups. This observation of interdependence between the identities of white supremacists and their out-groups has been made by Leets (2001, p. 290): “white supremacists’ racial, religious and sexual orientations represent a classic dichotomization of others as ‘not us.’ ” Whites who are not white supremacists may be less likely to perceive a dichotomy between their racial in-group and out-groups. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1119 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Pressure to pass into whiteness acted on all racialized groups; Mortality salience shifts Whites’ racial-pride and discrimination judgments in favor of their own race. — Jeff Greenberg and Spee Kosloff, Terror Management Theory: Implications…, 44; Whites linked their children’s safety in public space directly to neighborhood racial composition — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 207 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• White racial identity strengthens through contrast with minority out-groups #expands (0.92) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1119