In this article, the author develops a theory of white racial identity as a political alliance. He argues that a racial identity is inherently a social relationship that is immersed in institutional and everyday power arrangements and that formulating a racial identity is an inherently political process that involves the articulation of politically committed relationships, which are alliances. Using examples from academic literature and personal experience, the author illustrates how racial identity is articulated within the constant tension between historical and institutional structures and human agency. The implications are twofold. First, whites must acknowledge and take responsibility for the historically derived systems of privilege that place them into alliances with each other. Second, whites must also understand that reformulating a racial identity entails the development of social relationships that, because they are racial in nature, are inherently political. This means that constructing a white racial identity is a form of political action that requires a conscious effort to develop an anti-racist identity that embraces the possibility and need for social justice.
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