ABSTRACT
During the course of everyday life, we human beings act and interact in a significant variety of places and spaces. Typically, the reality of these spaces is social. They ground most of our interpersonal ties and interactions that involve racial matters. A common component of white interaction in this frontstage arena is performativity. That is, whites admit to acting and performing differently around persons of color than elsewhere. In regard to racial events in frontstage settings, numerous students reported interactions with people of color in which they operated with an accentuated, sometimes extreme politeness. In a variety of social settings, whites who interact with people of color frequently go to great lengths to avoid mentioning various racial issues. This strategy is typically linked to an ideology of racism denial wherein whites proclaim not to notice skin color as they navigate racially in a white-dominated world.
