Dyson (2017) explains that when America was created those who immigrated here wanted to embrace new identities but still kept some parts of their old identities. In this process, they constructed the idea of “Whiteness” as a way to separate themselves from their old countries and to have more freedom (Allen, 2012a, 2012b) Over time, this idea of Whiteness became tied to power and privilege, which led to discrimination against other groups of people who were seen as less important (Parham, 2019). This is called White privilege, and it gives advantages to White people even if they don’t realize it. Even in sports, the ideas of Whiteness and White privilege can have negative effects (Butryn, 2010, 2016). White privilege is not earned, can’t be given away, is not a negotiable entity, and creates psychological and social advantages from which Caucasians, irrespective of their social and class status, consciously or unconsciously benefit
(McIntosh, 1989).
References
Allen, T. W. (2012a). The invention of the white race, Vol. 1: Racial oppression and social control (2nd ed). New York: Verso Books.
Allen, T. W. (2012b). The invention of the white race, Vol. 2: The origin of racial oppression in anglo-America (2nd ed.). New York: Verso Books.
Butryn, T. M. (2010). Interrogating Whiteness in sport psychology. In T. V. Ryba, R. J. Schinke, & G. Tennebaum (Eds.), The cultural turn in exercise and sport psychology (pp. 127152). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
Butryn, T. M. (2016). Whiteness. In R. J. Schinke, K. R. McGannon, & B. Smith (Eds.), Routledge international handbook of sport psychology (pp. 228237). New York: Routledge.
Dyson, M. E. (2017). Tears we cannot stop: A sermon to white America. New York: St. Martin Press.
McIntosh, P. (1989). Unpacking the invisible knapsack. (July/ August, 1989). Peace and Freedom
Parham, W. D. (2019). In D. Hackfort, R. J. Schinke, & B. Strauss (Eds.), Dictionary of sport psychology: Sport, exercise, and performing arts (p. 313). Academic Press.
