“I Like People… Who Are Like Me”: Attitudes of Southern White Conservative Males on Diversity
Faculty Advisor Name
Dr. Edward Brantmeier
Department
Department of Learning, Technology and Leadership Education
Description
In America, racism, discrimination, and white supremacy are systemic. This is seen more prominently in the South given their history of intolerance. This has led to diversity training being ineffective towards Southern white conservative men in society and at the workplace. This paper aims to understand Southern white conservative men’s attitudes toward diversity to inform diversity training practitioners on better methods of training. It also sought entry points and a path forward in diversity training in this demographic. The literature pointed to this demographic to having a binary thinking pertaining to diversity, a lack of empathy pertaining to diversity, and potentially blatant racial bias, meaning the use of stereotypes and derogatory names. Focus group studies were done with four individuals in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Focus groups were chosen as previous studies discussing sensitive topics showed that focus groups would prove successful in gathering information on these topics. There were three focus groups conducted, all with the same individuals in a church in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Data was collected and analyzed. It was found that their attitudes toward diversity involved hatred for new ideals, an us versus them mentality, and a superiority complex. The subthemes are as followed, for hatred of new ideals, there was generational villainization, LGBTQ+ public presence, and disdain for political correctness. For An Us versus them Mentality, there was perceived gender differences, perceived difference among ethnicities, and perceptions of aggression against southern white conservative men. For a superiority complex, there was a belief in Anglo-Christian superiority, they embraced the myth of meritocracy and wanted assimilation. This matched the pre-existing pieces of literature assertions. The only outliner was the lack of blatant racial bias as the use of stereotypes were conflated with other demographics and no derogatory names were used. Additionally, diversity training focused on factual truth and empathy with an emphasis on lived experiences was suggested as it may lead to transformational change.
“I Like People… Who Are Like Me”: Attitudes of Southern White Conservative Males on Diversity
In America, racism, discrimination, and white supremacy are systemic. This is seen more prominently in the South given their history of intolerance. This has led to diversity training being ineffective towards Southern white conservative men in society and at the workplace. This paper aims to understand Southern white conservative men’s attitudes toward diversity to inform diversity training practitioners on better methods of training. It also sought entry points and a path forward in diversity training in this demographic. The literature pointed to this demographic to having a binary thinking pertaining to diversity, a lack of empathy pertaining to diversity, and potentially blatant racial bias, meaning the use of stereotypes and derogatory names. Focus group studies were done with four individuals in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Focus groups were chosen as previous studies discussing sensitive topics showed that focus groups would prove successful in gathering information on these topics. There were three focus groups conducted, all with the same individuals in a church in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Data was collected and analyzed. It was found that their attitudes toward diversity involved hatred for new ideals, an us versus them mentality, and a superiority complex. The subthemes are as followed, for hatred of new ideals, there was generational villainization, LGBTQ+ public presence, and disdain for political correctness. For An Us versus them Mentality, there was perceived gender differences, perceived difference among ethnicities, and perceptions of aggression against southern white conservative men. For a superiority complex, there was a belief in Anglo-Christian superiority, they embraced the myth of meritocracy and wanted assimilation. This matched the pre-existing pieces of literature assertions. The only outliner was the lack of blatant racial bias as the use of stereotypes were conflated with other demographics and no derogatory names were used. Additionally, diversity training focused on factual truth and empathy with an emphasis on lived experiences was suggested as it may lead to transformational change.
