Sociology

White Gatekeeping: How Emotions and Internalized White Supremacy Impact White Antiracism

patenaude — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 16:27:14 +0000

White Gatekeeping: How Emotions and Internalized White Supremacy Impact White Antiracism

Thursday, October 9, 2025

patenaude Thu, 10/09/2025 - 12:27

Assistant Professor Annie Ferguson

Summary

Oftentimes whites who support racial equity are harshly judgmental of other whites—although this behavior sometimes feels like one is being a "good white antiracist" it is actually causing harm to white engagement in antiracism.

Abstract

Antiracist movements have repeatedly called for increased support from whites. However, white participation has often been fickle and/or harmful. Based on 61 interviews and 17 months of ethnography with whites who support racial equity, this research explores how antiracist white people’s emotions impact their engagement. Among white activists, the factor most often described as demotivating participation is white gatekeeping, defined here as white activists harshly holding themselves and other whites to extreme and perfectionist standards for involvement, perpetuating the sense that if one makes a mistake, they will be judged harshly, shamed, and removed from the community. Participants describe white gatekeeping as grounded in internalized forms of white supremacy such as superiority, individualism, binary thinking, perfectionism, competition, and violence. Positive interventions that dismantle internalized white supremacy and support more effective emotion management also emerged, including development of specific forms of antiracist community and a more authentic individual sense of self.

Main research question

How do white people manage their emotions to stay engaged in antiracism?

What the research builds on

White people's emotions can cause significant harm in antiracist spaces and to activists of color by whites, for example:

Inadequately examining and dismantling racist views and behavior, committing microaggressions and other forms of violence
Undermining action due to discomfort or a desire to move more slowly, goading activists of color to ‘have patience’
Lacking the courage to act when needed
Centering their emotions, needs, and beliefs, making white interests the agenda rather than action
Taking credit when the movement is successful (Gorski and Erakat 2019; Michael and Conger 2009; Srivastava 2005, 2007).

What the research add to the discussion

The article argues that emotions are a core challenge to effective white action on antiracism and yet, can also be a resource in sustaining action when managed in specific ways. Further, the research contributes to several subfields:

Within social movement research, there has been a surge of interest in the role of emotions and culture in movements in the past 30 years. However, much of that focus has been on how they connect to recruitment; less work has been done on retention. The analysis points out that actually, the emotions that get people in the door, are often quite different than those that impact whether they stay. Second, in considering the role of emotions, much of the focus has been on the power of top-down messaging, movement leaders developing “resonant frames” that emotionally engage participants to join a movement. I argue that there is immense value in looking at movement culture and emotions from the bottom-up, recognizing that social movement actors are in fact creating their own cultures that have dramatic positive or negative impacts on emotions and engagement.
The field of race and ethnicity has recognized the importance of emotions, but the subfields' primary focus has been on highlighting the manifestations of structural or interpersonal racisms. This is critical because we can’t change systems if we don’t understand how they operate. However, as structural racism is no longer primarily held up by laws and policies and instead largely by culture and choice - oftentimes being made by white people with power within these institutions - understanding the interplay between the individual, their emotions, and the culture is critical to understanding how to get people to change those systems. And further, to emphasize that, as others have argued, white emotions are not idiosyncratic, individual problems, but are themselves systemic, functioning as part of this broader white habitus. Second, within whiteness research, there has been a tendency to construe whiteness and white supremacy as this omnipresent and yet, invisible, normalized hegemony. I expand our analysis of whiteness by incorporating the felt experience of white supremacy. My research highlights the ways in which white supremacy is cultural, internalized, sometimes subconscious, and so, either passively reinforced or actively dismantled. This has important implications when we think about the depth and layers required to eradicate racism and build a mutually liberated future.
The research contributes to the social psychological literature, particularly as it relates to research on the construction of the white racial identity and by analyzing interventions at multiple levels that connect the more psychological focus on individual, internal interventions with the more sociological macro-scale interventions by incorporating interventions that focus on culture and identity.
Finally, this research has implications around our understanding of the relationship between emotions and power more broadly as we think about the emotional work and experiences of others who have systemic power within the movements they join, such as men in feminism, straight allies in queer movements, and upper class participants in working class movements. My findings in this context raise interesting questions to ask about, for example, how feminist men’s emotions impact how they show up in feminist movement spaces and the form and level of action they take.

Implications for society

This work has significant implications as a public sociology. For movement organizations focused on engaging white people and for white antiracists who are struggling with their emotions, this study provides specific tools and strategies for increasing productive, healthy, sustained white engagement. These include that whites who support racial justice (and the organizations that work to engage them) should:

Recognize internalized forms of white supremacy
Replace harsh judgment with critique that holds one another accountable with care
Focus on identity work that builds authentic and committed activists
Build antiracist community that models loving accountability and healthy emotion management.

Implications for research

Several future lines of research emerge from this work, including conducting similar research with whites who support racial equity but do not take action, as well as those who support colorblind or overt racism to understand how these or related challenges emerge in those groups. Future research should also study community-building in greater depth to identify additional specifics around how to develop the types of community that effectively hold the nuance of pushing members while supporting them, as well as the role that white-facing antiracist movement spaces can play in supporting white antiracist action. Finally, the balance between authenticity and over-confidence in this context is deserving of further study, in particular, consideration of how whites can act effectively in the complexity of rebuilding self-trust while deferring to leadership of color.

Funding source

Arizona State University Graduate College

Ferguson, Annie. 2025. “White Gatekeeping: How Emotions and Internalized White Supremacy Impact White Antiracism.” Ethnic and Racial Studies Online First (Themed Issue: Antiracism I: Theories and Perspectives):1–19. doi:10.1080/01419870.2025.2541977.

Ethnic & Racial Studies (2025)

Annie Ferguson

mea100 — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 02:49:34 +0000

Annie Ferguson

Assistant Professor of Sociology

mea100 Tue, 07/29/2025 - 22:49

Bailey Hall 239

585-245-6206

aferguson@geneseo.edu

She/They

Annie Ferguson has been a faculty member of ��ɫ�� since 2025.

Office Hours

Tuesday 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Thursday 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Virtual by appointment

Curriculum Vitae

Education

2025 Ph.D., Sociology, Arizona State University
- Dissertation: White Emotions in Action: Strategies and obstacles for
increased engagement in antiracist movements
- Committee: Monica McDermott (Chair), Nilda Flores-Gonzalez, Rocío García, Glenn Bracey

2012 M.C.R.P., Community & Regional Planning, Iowa State University
M.S., Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University
- Thesis: "Empowerment in the context of climate change: how community-based organizations can play a role in engaging citizens."

2006 B.A., Planning & Environmental Policy, Western Washington Univ.

Publications

Ferguson, Annie. Forthcoming. “White Gatekeeping: How internalized white supremacy and emotions impact white antiracism.” Ethnic & Racial Studies.
Ferguson, Annie. 2023. “Redefining antiracism: Learning from activists to sharpen academic language.” Sociology Compass, 17(1). doi.org/10.1111/soc4.13057.
McDermott, Monica, and Annie Ferguson. 2022. “Sociology of Whiteness.” Annual Review of Sociology 48:257–76. doi: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-083121-054338.
Perline, Allie, Ferguson (Heuscher), Annie, Sondag, Annie, & Brown, Blakely. 2015. “Perceptions of local hospitals and food producers on opportunities for and barriers to implementing farm-to-hospital programs.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 6(1), 147–159.

Interests

Race and ethnicity
Social movements
Emotions
Social psychology
Critical whiteness
Qualitative methods: interviewing, ethnography, and focus groups

Congratulations, Class of 2025!

rime — Thu, 22 May 2025 14:51:14 +0000

Congratulations, Class of 2025! rime Thu, 05/22/2025 - 10:51

Sociology Department Welcomes New Assistant Professor, Annie Ferguson

mea100 — Sat, 17 May 2025 04:36:25 +0000

Sociology Department Welcomes New Assistant Professor, Annie Ferguson

Friday, May 16, 2025

mea100 Sat, 05/17/2025 - 00:36

Sociology News

The SUNY-��ɫ�� Department of Sociology is pleased to announce that Dr. Annie Ferguson (she/they) will be joining the department in a full-time tenure-track line as an Assistant Professor of Sociology, effective August 2025.

Dr. Ferguson brings a breadth of experience to the role of teacher-scholar so valued by the department and the college. Prior to returning to school to earn a Ph.D., Dr. Ferguson worked with various communities in Montana, Oregon, Idaho, and across the country on land use planning, community economic development, and agriculture. Annie is an engaged teacher whose research informs their classes and allows them to connect sociological ideas to current social issues and students' lived experience. The courses Annie will begin teaching at ��ɫ�� include "Individual and Society" (an introduction to sociological social psychology); "Introduction to Sociology"; and "Race and Ethnicity". Additionally - we look forward to supporting Dr. Ferguson's research in race, identity and emotions, transformative justice, and social movements, as well as contributing to the education and growth of our students.

Annie Ferguson in the desert

��ɫ�� Department of Sociology Welcomes Reece Torres as Assistant Professor

mea100 — Sat, 17 May 2025 04:32:01 +0000

��ɫ�� Department of Sociology Welcomes Reece Torres as Assistant Professor

Friday, May 16, 2025

mea100 Sat, 05/17/2025 - 00:32

Sociology News

The SUNY-��ɫ�� Department of Sociology is pleased to announce that Dr. Reece Torres will be moving from his position as a SUNY PRODiG Fellow (2023-2025) into a full-time tenure-track line as an Assistant Professor of Sociology, effective August 2025.

Dr. Torres epitomizes the teacher-scholar so valued by the department and the college. He is a seasoned and passionate teacher whose research informs his classes.The courses he will continue to teach include "Social Problems and Public Policy"; "Contemporary Sociological Theory"; and "Race, Prisons, and Policing". Besides his talent as a teacher and his contributions as a colleague, we look forward to seeing Dr. Torres continue his research focused on issues of race, gender and society.

Reece Torres in his office

��ɫ�� Department of Sociology Welcomes Reece Torres as Assistant Professor

mea100 — Fri, 16 May 2025 16:58:28 +0000

��ɫ�� Department of Sociology Welcomes Reece Torres as Assistant Professor

Friday, May 16, 2025

mea100 Fri, 05/16/2025 - 12:58

Sociology News

Professor Torres in his office

Sociology Professors at 2nd Annual Professor Recognition Awards Hosted by the Student Association Academic Affairs Committee

mea100 — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 17:42:36 +0000

Sociology Professors at 2nd Annual Professor Recognition Awards Hosted by the Student Association Academic Affairs Committee

Thursday, May 1, 2025

mea100 Fri, 02/07/2025 - 12:42

Sociology News

Sociology Professors at 2nd Annual Professor Recognition Awards Hosted by the Student Association Academic Affairs Committee

The Sociology Department at ��ɫ�� is home to exceptional professors with passions for their subject area and molding the next generation of sociologists. The student body agreed, voting to honor four Sociology professors (the most from any department) for excellency in teaching and mentorship.

From Left: Anne F. Eisenberg, Lisa Meyer, Reece Torres, Amy Braksmajer

��ɫ�� Names Presidential Scholars for 2024–25

rime — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 18:50:10 +0000

��ɫ�� Names Presidential Scholars for 2024–25 rime Fri, 11/01/2024 - 14:50

Six Students Win Prestigious Gilman Scholarships

rime — Wed, 22 May 2024 19:30:04 +0000

Six Students Win Prestigious Gilman Scholarships rime Wed, 05/22/2024 - 15:30

Q&A with PRODiG Fellow and Sociologist Reece Torres

rime — Fri, 03 May 2024 15:49:38 +0000

Q&A with PRODiG Fellow and Sociologist Reece Torres rime Fri, 05/03/2024 - 11:49

Sociology

White Gatekeeping: How Emotions and Internalized White Supremacy Impact White Antiracism

Summary

Abstract

Main research question

What the research builds on

What the research add to the discussion

Implications for society

Implications for research

Funding source

Annie Ferguson

Office Hours

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Publications

Interests

Congratulations, Class of 2025!

Sociology Department Welcomes New Assistant Professor, Annie Ferguson

��ɫ���� Department of Sociology Welcomes Reece Torres as Assistant Professor

��ɫ���� Department of Sociology Welcomes Reece Torres as Assistant Professor

Sociology Professors at 2nd Annual Professor Recognition Awards Hosted by the Student Association Academic Affairs Committee

Sociology Professors at 2nd Annual Professor Recognition Awards Hosted by the Student Association Academic Affairs Committee

��ɫ���� Names Presidential Scholars for 2024–25

Six Students Win Prestigious Gilman Scholarships

Q&A with PRODiG Fellow and Sociologist Reece Torres

��ɫ�� Department of Sociology Welcomes Reece Torres as Assistant Professor

��ɫ�� Department of Sociology Welcomes Reece Torres as Assistant Professor

��ɫ�� Names Presidential Scholars for 2024–25