Identifier
etd-07142014-161650
Degree
Master of Education (MEd)
Department
Education
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
In this reflexive autoethnography, the author explores the “White Problem” by examining narratives of personal transformation resulting from her involvement in Dialogue on Race Louisiana (DORLA), an “educational process for the elimination of race.” The main query of this piece is: How has the author’s relationship to whiteness worked to reify or trouble the “White Problem?” Using writing as a method of inquiry, the author recounts several pivotal experiences that correspond to DORLA’s Original Six Week Series session topics and exhibit personal transformations in her interpretations of racism. After defining the research process, design, and product in Chapter One, the author troubles White privilege in Chapter Two. The author investigates institutional racism in Chapter Three while she examines her struggle and transformation in Chapter Four in terms of the previous two chapters. In Chapter Five, the author explores Affirmative Action, and in Chapter Six she reflects on the transformations resulting from this research process. The author determines that continuous reflexive writing is integral to her work as a White anti-racist, that she will commit to teaching other whites about the White Problem as part of her work toward eliminating racism through this writing, and that her future research will more specifically focus on the “White Problem” in K-12 education and K-12 teacher preparation.
Date
2014
Document Availability at the Time of Submission
Student has submitted appropriate documentation to restrict access to LSU for 365 days after which the document will be released for worldwide access.
Recommended Citation
Cooper, Destiny Marie Adams, "Piercing Privilege: Confronting the White Problem Through Autoethnography" (2014). LSU Master's Theses. 1097.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/1097
Committee Chair
Bickmore, S.
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_theses.1097