ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the social construction of whiteness and the process of becoming white, specifically the path to whiteness for Irish and Jewish Americans, and the more indirect path to whiteness for Hispanics. This allows us to explore the ways social class, mobility, and whiteness are intertwined. The idea of white privilege is introduced, known as the “other side of racism,” the cultural beliefs that support privilege and help keep it invisible, and the ways race privilege manifests, including in the form of institutional privilege. Finally, this chapter covers ways race privilege can be challenged.
