This study asks how white identity varies across individuals and responds to sociopolitical disruptions, using in-depth interviews with white residents of Minneapolis and Saint Paul between 2020 and 2023 to develop a grounded typology of white identifiers. The central contribution is a three-type classification that links variation in awareness and positional framing to the 2020 uprising as an "epistemic disruption" that changed the salience of whiteness for many participants, with different temporal patterns of response.
Three rounds of in-depth interviews Typology: Type I / II / III Contextual change after 2020 uprising
Data and methods
The analysis draws on three rounds of in-depth interviews with white residents of Minneapolis and Saint Paul conducted from 2020 to 2023. The study is qualitative and interpretive: it builds categories from participants' accounts rather than using survey measurement or experimental manipulation.
Main findings
From the interview material the author identifies three ideal types of white identifiers—Type I (low awareness), Type II (disadvantaged awareness), and Type III (advantaged awareness)—and treats the 2020 uprising as an event that increased the salience of whiteness for respondents. Participants' reactions varied: some expressed grievance, others sympathy or solidarity, and some returned to prior identity expressions as the disruption receded while others sustained heightened awareness and engagement.
- A three-part typology organizes variation in white identity awareness and framing.
- The 2020 events are interpreted as producing an "epistemic disruption" that altered identity salience for many, with heterogeneous short- and longer-term responses.
