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

Example Sentences

But beneath her white guilt she’s ultimately just as attached to the creature comforts of American wealth as the rest of her family.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2025

“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

It's like when you talk about white guilt, I don't see it as white guilt at all.

From Salon • Dec. 10, 2021

A student can write, say, ‘My parents were doctors in Nigeria, but they had to start all over in the United States,’ and that story doesn’t invoke white guilt.

From New York Times • Aug. 28, 2019

Both are annoying in their own special way, but the latter motivation grates in particular, because neither white guilt nor self-flagellation are ultimately very productive.

From Slate • Apr. 2, 2019