Whiteness studies is the study of the structures that produce white privilege; the examination of what whiteness is when analyzed as a race, a culture, and within the context of systemic racism; and the exploration of other social phenomena generated by the societal compositions, perceptions, and group behaviors of white people. It is an interdisciplinary arena of inquiry that has developed beginning in the United States from white trash studies and critical race studies, particularly since the late 20th century. It is focused on what proponents describe as the cultural, historical, and sociological aspects of people identified as white, and the social construction of "whiteness" as an ideology tied to social status.