Philanthropy as whiteness: toward racially just philanthropic practices

• Date: 26 January 2024
• Pages: 516-530
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-06-2023-0202
• Published date: 26 January 2024
• Author: Charity P. Scott,Nicole Rodriguez Leach

Philanthropy as whiteness:

toward racially just

philanthropic practices

Charity P. Scott

L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs,

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA, and

Nicole Rodriguez Leach

John Glenn College of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University,

Columbus, Ohio, USA

Abstract

Purpose –Exploring how racism continues to persist throughout public and nonprofit organizations is central

to undoing persistent society-wide injustices in the United States and around the globe. The authors provide

two cases for identifying and understanding the ways in which philanthropy’s whiteness does harm to K–12

students and communities of color.

Design/methodology/approach –In this article, the authors draw on critical race theory and critical

whiteness studies, specifically Cheryl Harris’work to expose the whiteness of philanthropy, not as a racial

identity, but in the way that philanthropy is performed. The authors characterize one of the property functions

of whiteness, the right to exclude, as working through two mechanisms: neoliberal exclusion and overt

exclusion. Drawing on this construction of the right to exclude, the authors present two cases: the Bill &

Melinda Gates Foundation and the City Fund.

Findings –Whether intentional or not, the Gates Foundation and the City Fund each exclude communities of

color in several ways: from changes to schools and districts, parents’experiences navigating school enrollment

due to these changes, to academic assessments and political lobbying.

Originality/value –These cases provide a way for researchers and practitioners to see how organizations in real

timereify the extantracial hierarchyso as to disrupt suchorganizationalprocesses andpractices for racialjustice.

Keywords Critical race theory, Critical whiteness studied, Whiteness as property, Philanthropy,

Nonprofit organizations, K–12 education

Paper type Conceptual paper

Introduction

Recent trends in philanthropic giving suggest increasing attention to issues of racial justice

(Di Mento, 2020;Dorsey et al., 2020;Washington, 2023). Even so, there is a significant

mismatch between racial justice rhetoric and philanthropic practice and funding allocations

(Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity, 2021). While there is a tradition of recognizing

philanthropy’s paternalistic nature (Reich, 2018;Salamon, 1987;Walker, 2015), studies of

structural power imbalances due to racism remain scarce in the nonprofit literature (Coule

et al., 2022). The purpose of this conceptual analysis is to show how critical race theory (CRT)

and critical whiteness studies, specifically the property functions of whiteness, can contribute

to nonprofit research and the practice of philanthropy. Other fields have long applied and

advanced critical perspectives to surface the problems associated with philanthropy’s

cooptation of racial justice rhetoric and behaviors that maintain the status quo and enact

whiteness (Francis, 2019;Marquez, 2003;Scott, 2009;Scott et al., 2020). Research has shown

EDI

43,3

516

The authors thank the reviewers and editors for your suggestions and feedback which strengthened our

conceptual framework and overall article. The authors also thank Dr Erynn Beaton for her time

facilitating an independent study during the summer of 2020, from which this article was born.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 21 June 2023

Revised 4 November 2023

Accepted 4 November 2023

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 43 No. 3, 2024

pp. 516-530

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-06-2023-0202