How Blackness Matters in White Lives

Abstract

Since the birth of “Black Lives Matter” in 2013 there has emerged a broad spectrum of public discourse about, and scholarship examining, the movement. Within this diverse conversation, some have concentrated on the supposed growth of White support for racial equality in general and Black Lives Matter in specific. Yet, within this scholarly corpus, there is no examination of White engagement with Black Lives Matter from a symbolic interactionist lens. Moreover, while there is focus on a seemingly mounting chorus of White voices who loudly proclaim support for the movement, few have examined how varied White expectations, silences, and actions speak louder than these words. Based on ethnographic observation, in‐depth interviews, and content analysis data collected over 2014–2020 from two different all‐White groups in the New England region of the United States, the relationship between White identity formation and White interpretations of the Black Lives Matter movement is analyzed.