On the Future of Whiteness and White Supremacy

The Evolution of Identity Politics

Eugene Rivers and the responsibility of intellectuals

Literacy access, the law, and racism in the United States: a critique

Chip Smith, The Cost of Privilege: Taking On the System of White Supremacy and Racism (Fayetteville, NC: Camino Press, 2007), 466 pages, paper $19.95.In The Cost of Privilege: Taking On the System of White Supremacy and Racism, Chip Smith has written a historical treatise on white racism in the United States. He provides a well researched, detailed account of the cause and effect of white privilege in the United States. The book effectively examines the influence of racial privilege on a broad range of social relations from an international to a personal level. It targets progressive white people who are consciously anti-racist and provides insights for individual self-reflection and organizational changeThis article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

The sociology of white America: A teaching and learning guide

Translating Race on the French Stage

Revolutionary Suicide

This chapter contends that scholars of language and race have insufficiently attended to the constraints imposed by a pentad of forces that (re)produce racialized hierarchies. These macro-forces include the global capitalist system, the nation-state, political economic stratification, and other forms of socioeconomic inequality. It argues that racism in the United States emerges from the social inequality imposed by global capitalism and the hegemonic influence of institutionalized racism rationalized by ideologies of white supremacy. This emphasis on disclosing the basis for racialization and the deliberate construction and maintenance of racial hierarchies is a critical step in revealing and undermining the historical arc of racist thinking. The terror, violence, and brutality of these systems are not only the macro-contexts within which race and language are produced, but white supremacy comes to depend on the idea of race, and therefore, processes of racialization for its continued propagation.

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Framing Latina/o Immigration, Education, and Activism

The Negro Race and European Civilization - Paul S Reinsch The Psychology of American Race Prejudice - George W Ellis Social Pathology - Stuart Alfred Queen and Jenette Row Gruener Obstacles to Social Participation Black Reconstruction in America - W E B Du Bois An Essay toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America 1860-1880 An American Dilemma - Gunnar Mydral The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy Caste, Class and Race - Oliver Cromwell Cox A Study in Social Dynamics Race and Nationality in American Life - Oscar Handlin The Authoritarian Personality - T W Adorno et al The Idea of Racialism - Louis L Snyder Its Meaning and History Man's Most Dangerous Myth - Ashley Montagu The Fallacy of Race Black Power - Stokely Carmichael and Charles V Hamilton The Politics of Liberation in America Race and Ethnicity - Pierre L van den Berghe A Sociobiological Perspective Racism and the Class Struggle - James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs Further Pages from a Black Worker's Notebook White Racism - Joel Kovel A Psychohistory Racially Separate or Together? - Thomas F Pettigrew A Rap on Race - Margaret Mead and James Baldwin Portraits of White Racism - David T Wellman Essence, Accident and Race - H M Bracken The Cress Theory of Color-Confrontation - Frances Cress Welsing The Declining Significance of Race - William Julius Wilson Blacks and Changing American Institutions Introduction to Black Studies - Maulana Kerenga Reflections on American Racism - Paul M Sniderman and Philip E Tetlock Problems in the Marxist Project of Theorizing Race - E San Juan Jr Blacks and Other Racial Minorities - Joe T Darden The Significance of Color in Inequality Scientific Racism - Charles Leslie Reflections on Peer Review, Science and Ideology There's More to Racism Than Black and White - Elizabeth Martinez Shadows of Race and Class - Raymond S Franklin The Race Relations Problematic - Michael Banton Dysconscious Racism - Joyce E King Ideology, Identity and the Miseducation of Teachers Origins of the Myth of Race - Doug Jenness Talking about Race, Learning about Racism - Beverly Daniel Tatum The Application of Racial Identity Development Theory in the Classroom The Retreat of Scientific Racism - Elazar Barkan Changing Concepts of Race in Britian and the United States between the World Wars When Black First Became Worth Less - Anton L Allahar Conceptualizing Racisms - John Solomos and Les Back Social Theory, Politics and Research The Invention of the White Race - Theodore W Allen Racial Oppression and Social Control The Science and Politics of Racial Research - William H Tucker The Racist Mind - Raphael S Ezekiel Portraits of American Neo-Nazis and Klansmen The Recovery of Race in America - Aaron David Gresson Conclusion

This guide accompanies the following article: Matthew W. Hughey, ‘The Janus Face of Whiteness: Toward a Cultural Sociology of White Nationalism and White Antiracism’, Sociology Compass 3/6 (2009): 920–936, 10.1111/j.1751‐9020.2009.00244.x Author’s introduction Over the past 20 years, the study of white racial identity has received in‐depth, interdisciplinary attention. Under sociological scrutiny, the study of whiteness has traversed quite a few stages: from understandings of whiteness as a category replete with social privileges, as a mere reflection of non‐racial (often class‐based) dynamics, to its most recent turn that emphasizes the contextual and intersectional heterogeneity of whiteness. Because of the increased attention to context and political disputes, the study of whiteness has never been more amenable to cultural analysis than it is today. Hence, an emphasis on different white racial formations that span a political spectrum – from conservative to liberal and racist to antiracist – is now dominant. In this vein, white nationalists and white antiracists represent the distinct polarities of contemporary inquisitions into white racial identity. Motivated by this academic milieu, this guide offers an overview of the major scholarship that address white nationalism & white antiracism, appropriate online materials, and examples from a sample syllabus. Together, these resources aim to assist in understanding the general processes and contexts that produce ‘whiteness’ and imbue it with meaning, the social relationships and practices in which white racial identity identities become embedded, and how whiteness simultaneously possesses material and symbolic privileges alongside diverse and seemingly antagonistic experiences. Author recommends The complexity of whiteness McDermott, Monica and Frank L. Samson 2005. ‘White Racial and Ethnic Identity in the United States.’ Annual Review of Sociology 31 : 245–61. Any contemporary apprentice of the sociological study of white racial identity should read this essay. Monica McDermott and her student Frank Samson combine to provide a robust overview of the literature. They walk the tightrope of balancing both a broad coverage of the literature with the depth that key studies necessitate. In so doing, they put a finger on the key dilemma of studying white racial identity today: ‘Navigating between the long‐term staying power of white privilege and the multifarious manifestations of the experience of whiteness remains the task of the next era of research on white racial and ethnic identity’ (2005: 256). Duster, Troy 2001. ‘The ‘Morphing’ Properties of Whiteness.’ Pp. 113–33 in The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness , edited by E. B. Rasmussen, E. Klinenberg, I. J. Nexica and M. Wray. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. In this essay – part of a larger volume on whiteness that I also recommend – Duster synthesizes disparate approaches to the study of whiteness. Demonstrating how some scholars understand white racial identity as a contextual and cognitive category (‘fluid’), while some frame whiteness as a structural and fixed category of material privileges (‘frozen’), Duster asks ‘who is right?’ He answers via the metaphor of whiteness‐as‐water. In one moment, whiteness can morph into vapor as a contextual and unstable identity, while the next moment it can instantly transform into a harsh and unyielding form of ice‐like privilege. Duster’s essay is an excellent retort for those who argue that we should move ‘beyond’ race to the utopian realm of color‐blind individualism. Duster demonstrates, although the example of the supposedly egalitarian New Deal, that while race is socially constructed, the legacy of racism remains a historically reproduced and real social fact – denying the existence of race perpetuates racial inequality. Duster closes the chapter with a personal anecdote that grounds the historical example in modern, interactional, and everyday life. Perry, Pamela 2002. Shades of White: White Kids and Racial Identities in High School . Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Perry gives us two ethnographic studies in one – that of two northern California high schools: one located in a predominantly white, if economically diverse, suburb, the other situated in a multiracial urban community. Perry persistently and systematically probes the complexities of white racial identity in the practices and discourses of the youth attending these high schools. She finds that whites in the predominantly white, suburban high school do not see themselves as a unique race and take their racial identity for granted – they understand distinctly white practices as normative rather than as constitutive of a subjective worldview. In contrast, the whites at the multiracial, urban high school possess a more critical and comparative view of race and their own place in the racial order. In sum, Perry argues that whiteness is a set of complex, contradictory, and multiple subject positions. Wray, Matt. 2006. Not Quite White: White Trash and the Boundaries of Whiteness . Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Matt Wray brings the tools of cultural sociology viz‐á‐viz ‘symbolic boundaries’ to the interrogation of the moniker White Trash . Wray problematizes this relatively normalized term to question its origins and how it persists. Drawing upon literary texts, folklore, diaries, medical articles, and social scientific analyses from the early 1700s to the turn of the 20th century, Wray documents the multiple meanings that were projected onto poor rural whites in the United States. Of particular import, Wray demonstrates how white supremacist ideas about class and region became dominant through public health campaigns and eugenic reformations. Impoverished whites found themselves the targets of officials and activists who framed them as ‘filthy’ or “feebleminded,” and thus a threat to the purity and supremacy of the white race. This text is particularly informative for its demonstration of how white supremacist logic was not only focused on racial ‘otherness’ but used the axes of class and location to directly demarcate and attack those seen as ‘white’ yet somehow racially deficient and unworthy. Winant, Howard 2004. ‘Behind Blue Eyes: Whiteness and Contemporary U.S. Racial Politics.’ Pp. 3–16 in Off White: Readings on Race, Power, and Society , edited by Michelle Fine, Lois Weis, Linda C. Powell and April Burns. New York, NY: Routledge. In applying his now classic approach formulated in concert with Michael Omi ( Racial Formations , 1986), Howard Winant applies the ‘racial projects’ thesis to whites: ‘I think it would be beneficial to attempt to sort out alternative conceptions of whiteness, along with the politics that both flow from and inform these conceptions. … focusing on five key racial projects, which I term, far right, new right, neoconservative, neoliberal, and new abolitionist ’ (2004: 6). Hence, Winant maps a theory of white identity formation onto a bifurcated ‘culture war.’ Labeling this phenomenon ‘racial dualism as politics,’ Winant advances a paradigm in which whiteness is undergoing ‘a profound political crisis.’ Winant’s essay is especially important for those that wish to emphasize the heterogeneity of white racial identity, as he provides Weberian‐like ‘ideal types’ for the comprehension of the racial‐political landscape. Hughey, Matthew W. (forthcoming 2010). ‘Navigating the (Dis)similarities of White Racial Identities: The Conceptual Framework of “Hegemonic Whiteness.”’ Ethnic & Racial Studies. In this work, I build upon many of the aforementioned studies. Like Pamela Perry (2002) I dive into two ethnographic sites, but of much different breed. To interrogate how whiteness might be akin to ‘vapor and ice’ (Duster 2001) and to provide a robust answer to the dilemma of the ‘long‐term staying power of

This chapter begins with a review of the history of anti-Asian racism in the United States. Beginning in the mid-19th century, Asian immigrants played a vital role in the development of the country. However, Asian Americans have faced a long legacy of exclusion and inequality, particularly during periods of economic recession, disease outbreaks, or war throughout US history. Adopting the framework of “othering,” this chapter analyzes the major events in US history related to Asian Americans, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Immigration Act of 1924, the Japanese internment camps during World War II, and the anti-Asian immigration policies adopted by the Trump administration. Through this, the authors illustrate how historic racism and xenophobia at both individual and institutional levels have operated to marginalize Asian Americans and reproduce inequality, and they demonstrate the common roots of racism that lie in White supremacy.

On January 20th, 2009, the United States entered a new era in terms of race relations in the country. The hopes of many Americans were not to be fulfilled and many believe race relations are worse now. The reason is the legacy of race is integral to the American nation. The Religion of White Supremacy in the United States traces this legacy to show how race is defined by more than beliefs or acts of injustice. What this book reveals is that white supremacy is a religion in the United States. This book is a theo-historical account of race in the United States that argues that white supremacy functions through the Protestant Christian tradition. The Religion of White Supremacy in the United States is an interdisciplinary work of Critical Whiteness Studies, American History, and Theology to build a narrative in which the religion of white supremacy dominates U.S. culture and society. In this way, the racial tensions during the Obama era become sensible and inevitable in a nation that finds ultimacy in white supremacy.

OHQ vol. 120, no. 4 356 © 2019 Oregon Historical Society Note from the Editors THE PRIMARY GOAL of this issue is to help readers understand White supremacy — what it means, what it has meant, and how it has presented itself in Oregon history. White supremacy is not just the Klu Klux Klan donning robes or burning crosses, but it can be. It is not just an individual act of racial discrimination, although it can be that, too. White supremacy is a collective set of codes, spoken and unspoken, explicit and implied, that society enforces through its institutions, governments, and legal structures in order to keep those deemed as White on top and every other racial group below them — with specific emphasis, in the United States, on keeping Black people at the bottom. White supremacy is a system by which American society was initially, and continues to be, organized. Social organizing systems are imperceptible . They make a certain way of doing things seem fundamental, thereby normalizing that practice. Historical methodologies that trace change, continuities , turning points, and flash points are important tools that historians use to make sense of historical phenomena that otherwise are difficult to articulate. The authors of the articles and essays in this special issue make use of these methods to understand Oregon's history of White supremacy, its manifestation in everyday life, and the ways people have resisted it. This historical investigation was prompted by current events. On May 26, 2017, a White man verbally attacked two young women, one wearing a hijab, on the light-rail system in Portland, Oregon. Three men intervened, and the attacker killed Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai-Meche, while severely injuring Micah Fletcher.1 Shortly thereafter, the Oregon Historical Quarterly's (OHQ) Editorial Advisory Board gathered for its semiannual meeting, where board member Dr. Carmen Thompson suggested that, as a scholarly publication housed in the state's historical society, OHQ could offer a complex, contextualized investigation of the history of White supremacy in our state. All agreed that the effort would be worthwhile. The ensuing work engaged dozens of scholars and community leaders and resulted from collaborative decision-making among the journal's editorial staff and guest editors, Thompson and Dr. Darrell Millner. Over a dozen authors drew on lifetimes by Carmen P. Thompson Thompson, Note from the Editors 357 of scholarship and spent over a year writing, revising, and responding to editorial suggestions, fact-checking questions, and layout drafts. This special issue is not neutral on the subject of White supremacy. It does not put blame onto readers who are labeled as "White," but it is meant as a call to self-reflection. Millner, in one of our editorial meetings, put it best when he said: "We are not responsible for the past, but we are responsible for our relationship to the past." We challenge all readers to look both inward and outward at the legacies and vestiges of what racial labeling has meant, and continues to mean, for people who are not White and for those who are. History, as revealed in this issue, demonstrates that White supremacy is subtle. It is historical, it is organic, and it is alive and well in the twenty-first century. In America, being White has long been the standard, the norm, the universal image and framework through which the nation's institutions have been conceptualized. Conversely, those who are not White know and sense that the perspectives of Whites are the standard. In the same way, someone with a disability knows that the world is designed around people with a certain ability, or women know that our society offers greater opportunity for people who are labeled as male, or someone who is not heterosexual knows that heterosexuality is assumed. It is the same way with White skin and supremacy in America. With this in mind, the editors and staff of this special issue of OHQ ask you, as you partake of this scholarship on Oregon's White supremacist history, to keep an open mind. 1. See Jim Ryan, "2 killed in stabbing on MAX train in Northeast Portland as man directs slurs at Muslim women, police say," Oregonian, May 26, 2017, updated...

The removal of monuments and the renaming of places have become major flashpoints of social and political contestation over the past decade. In the United States, there has been a surge in the removal of neo-Confederate statues, monuments and place names as well as a dethroning of statues of Christopher Columbus and other prominent figures who organised and committed Indigenous genocide. The iconoclasms of these two movements—for the removal of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous monuments—are often portrayed as separate struggles. However, this clean delineation of the commemorative landscape between those features that embody anti-Blackness and anti-Indigeneity obscures how both are informed by the ideology of white supremacy and emplace it in the built environment. Campaigns for the removal of monumental objects such as the Equestrian Statue of Theodore Roosevelt outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York demonstrate the intersectionality of commemorative struggles and the potential for solidarity between Black and Indigenous peoples. While recognising the distinct struggles of Black and Indigenous communities, this chapter argues that the intimacies, resonances and collaborations to dismantle white supremacy and settler-colonial monumentality can open spaces to nurture the possibilities for intersectional solidarity.