Expectation and Exclusion: An Introduction to Whiteness, White Supremacy, and Resistance in Oregon History

Abstract

In this introduction to the Oregon Historical Quarterly's Winter 2019 special on the history of White supremacy and resistance in Oregon, Dr. Carmen P. Thompson discusses the concept of Whiteness — “an expectation (sometimes an unconscious expectation) that the government will maintain laws and policies generally benefitting White people.” Through the interdisciplinary field of Critical Whiteness Studies, scholars, including Thompson, have explored the concept of Whiteness and “exposed a racialized system that overall, has been detrimental to the masses.” Thompson provides an analysis of critical scholarship in the field and makes connections between the articles in this issue and “two core characteristics of Whiteness that are present in Oregon's White supremacist history — expectation and exclusion.”