Author Description

White Privilege: The Persistence of Racial Hierarchy in a Culture of Denial approaches the discussion of racism from a novel and innovative viewpoint by focusing on majority group advantage, or white privilege. The book first explores the construct of race and the definition of white privilege and then examines the ways in which white privilege manifests in economy, education, criminal justice, and especially within media and pop culture. The book balances scholarly research on racial discrimination and racial disparity with narratives that provide the reader with highly personal accounts of injustice. Dedicated chapters demonstrate how microaggressions emerge in unexpected places and situations, as well as how they contribute to the development and maintenance of institutional racism. Intersectionality sections throughout the book explore how class, gender, and sexual orientation shape how white privilege is experienced by individuals. Finally, the text offers a myriad of strategies and approaches to end injustice and cultivate anti-racist practices. An important and enlightening text, White Privilege is an ideal supplementary resource for courses on race, diversity, and social inequality. Ninochka McTaggart holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Riverside. She is a senior researcher at the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and a diversity and inclusion strategist. Her research areas include race, gender, class, mass media, and popular culture. Eileen O'Brien holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Florida. She is a professor of sociology and the associate chair of the Department of Social Sciences at Saint Leo University in Virginia. Dr. O'Brien's area of specialization is race relations and social inequality.