ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the racialisation of white identities by exploring the class-based orthodoxy expressed in quantitative work on attitudes held by Europeans toward ethnic minorities and immigrants. Research in England reveals that there are some particular middle-class versions of whiteness, articulated around belonging to specific types of exclusive spaces; or relating to Empire; or choice of schools. Ostensibly, these versions of whiteness compound class position and racialisation to demonstrate and preserve the ethical validity of the speaker, as do the working-class versions. The 'respectable working class' (RWC) discourse is used to point out the gaps in the behaviour of factions of the white working classes that are now constructed as 'Chavs'. The working classes are frequently discursively excluded from their space or designated as undesirable others vis-a-vis culturally rich ethnic minorities, which is especially the case in Byrne and Reay's studies.
