Abstract
Despite efforts to increase racial awareness, Whites continue to display limitations in their ability to acknowledge their racist transgressions when confronted. Seemingly open-minded Whites continue to display what many authors have defined as “racial microaggressions” yet display an unwillingness to explore the antecedents to their behavior once challenged. What are the mechanisms that Whites utilize that prevent them from being open to considering underlying motivations of their behaviors? Failure to acknowledge the invisible Whiteness of being, the myth of meritocracy, and the associated privileges that come from White superiority play a significant role in preventing the establishment of empathic connections with people of color. Using the metaphor of a computer root program, which remains hidden from the operating system, designed to conceal itself from the overall operating system, a set of racist behaviors, representing a “racist root kit” are highlighted that can serve as an explanation for the difficulties Whites have when confronted with their behavior.
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