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Resumo

The author explores how white youth interpret and produce racial ideologies in the United States from middle childhood (ages 10–13) to adolescence (ages 14–17). In Wave 1, interviews and ethnographic observations were conducted with 36 child participants living in three distinct 'racial contexts of childhood' or racialized social environments. Four years later, in Wave 2, interviews were conducted with a subset of the initial youth participants. Findings show that as these young people became older, they became more confident and committed to their ideological positions on race. Furthermore, their views became more polarized from one another. This research extends existing theories claiming that white childhood is a key period of the life course during which racial ideological positions are established and solidified. This study also helps bridge the gap between research focused on how very young children begin to think about race and research focused on how young adults defend and maintain their ideological positions on race. Overall, this work suggests theoretically that white racial socialization processes in childhood play a powerful role in shaping whites' racial ideological positions throughout the rest of their lives.

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