The many manifestations of social justice education center the experiences of the marginalized and oppressed to create a more democratic society. In recent years, scholars have begun to argue that privileged students, not the marginalized, should be the target of social justice education, advocating for a pedagogy that puts the onus on the privileged to dismantle white supremacy and other systems of oppression. This teacher action research study uses social and cultural capital theory and critical race theory, specifically critical whiteness studies, to analyze the experiences of high school seniors enrolled in a new social justice literature course in a privileged community in northern New Jersey. Using ethnographic and action research methods, including fieldnotes, interviews, student work artifacts, audio of class discussions, personal reflections, and more, this study explores how privileged students and their teacher navigate an English language arts curriculum that deals with social justice issues. The research questions guiding this study were: 1) How do students in a privileged community experience social justice curriculum and pedagogy in their English class? and 2) How does the teacher experience and make sense of teaching a course dealing with social justice issues within the sociopolitical context of a privileged school district? Findings revealed the complex role of whiteness in a class comprised of mostly White and Asian American students; the effects of personalizing social justice issues for privileged students; the importance of planning for students to reflect on and analyze their personal experiences and conceptions of privilege; and how to foster a classroom environment that allows for the discomfort and vulnerability necessary for real social justice learning to occur. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]