white guilt

American  

[hwahyt gilt, wahyt] / ˈʰwaɪt ˌgɪlt, ˈwaɪt /

noun

1. the feelings of shame and remorse some white people experience when they recognize the legacy of racism and racial injustice and perceive the ways they have benefited from it.

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Etymology

Origin of white guilt

First recorded in 1965–70

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

white guilt

I think many of them would be blown away because they’ve been fed a distorted caricature of feminism and racial justice as based in man-hating and white guilt.

From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2024

He suspects his gluten intolerance is internalized white guilt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2024

“I told her white guilt is showing up in all this leniency,” Hughes, who is Black, told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an interview last week.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 15, 2023

Listen to a comedian’s riffing on white guilt, a guide for coping with anxiety, a history of dressmakers during the Holocaust and a speculative tale by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

From New York Times ● Sep. 29, 2021

A project like this runs the risk, as Fentress acknowledges, of indulging white guilt through a form of “negative nostalgia.”

From Slate ● Nov. 7, 2019

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