The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics

The phrase, “the possessive investment of whiteness,” is generative in the sense that Lipsitz considers it first as a social fiction but also as a fact of American society that has material consequences. This concept runs in tandem with “asset accumulation,” the opportunities for which are reserved for white people who benefit from the advantages of the possessive investment in whiteness. The “cash value” of whiteness comes in from the basic advantages in securing housing, education, and employment, which are unavailable to Black people. The possessive investment in whiteness is about protecting the privileges of white people while simultaneously depriving the same opportunities of asset accumulation and upward mobility to people of color. Lipsitz argues that the net worth of a Black person reflects the history of discrimination as past opportunities that were denied obstruct present opportunities for asset accumulation.

Liberal individualism is a philosophical viewpoint that people are autonomous individuals who are entitled to live according to their own judgment. Individuals should be free to exercise their rights with minimal interference from the state. The state should act with complete neutrality rather than with moral purpose and use coercion only to keep individuals from coercing others. Individual autonomy should be balanced with the recognition and respect for the individual autonomy of others.