This essay seeks to shed light on historical formation of identities and racialized thinking in America. Using a sociohistorical approach, article explores many ways in which ideologies are ingrained in thinking and actions of both and Americans today. Arguably, despite much progress, society as a whole-Black and White, economically, culturally, politically-has grown so completely apart by a continuously crippling divide that what was once laboriously manufactured, namely race, is now pervasively perceived as natural. Race is not only real, but also illusory. Not only is it common sense; it is also common nonsense. Not only does it establish our identity; it also denies our identity. Not only does it allocate resources, power, and privilege; it also provides means for challenging that allocation. Race not only naturalizes, but also socializes. (Winant, 1997, p. 90) Almost 500 years have passed since first African slaves were brought to North America, almost 400 since first Africans were introduced as slaves into English colony of Jamestown. Color as much as place of origin played a decisive role in conquest and exploitation of North America. Yet, it was not until late 18th century that a term which had until then rarely been used-race-was elevated as one major symbol and mode of human group differentiation applied extensively to non-European groups (Smedley, 1999, p. 39). As a concept for conveying presumed qualities and degrees of human difference, race was developed by English long after introduction of various forms of forced labor, worst among them mass enslavement of Africans (p. 40). Generations of people we now commonly describe as White or Black did not arrive here as Whites or Blacks, were not called such, and had no concept of what these terms meant or would come to denote in future. They came here with an identity grounded in place, culture, and socioeconomic status, not skin color. In fact, many of people who are generally considered today-such as Irish or Italians-were at first denied privilege of belonging to race, in some cases for generations. In short, no one ever was or is or outside of a culture that defines us as such (for further discussion on uniquely North formation of idea of race, see Smedley, 1999, and Allen, 1997). Certainly ever since founding of United States, however, race has been what oral historian Terkel (1992) calls an American obsession. To be sure, DuBois (1903/1995) was correct when he argued that the problem of 20th century is problem of color line (p. 54). However, color and race had been problems of 19th and much of 18th centuries as well, and, as historian Franklin (1995) argues, will continue to be problem of 21st century. In words of sociologist Winant (1997), Americans have been and continue to be more afflicted with anxiety and uncertainty over race than [they] are over any other social or political issue (p. 22). Indeed, he argues, racial conflict is very archetype of discord in North America, primordial conflict that has in many ways structured all others (p. 22). In a country in which supremacist norm continues to be White, effect for African Americans is that they still have to live a double identity: being and being American. During much of 20th century, Blacks fought for integration and Civil Rights Era even generated a fleeting moment during which movement activists could envision something like a beloved community. It embodied a goal, most famously expressed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) in which people would be judged not by color of their skin, but by content of their character. From today's perspective, it is hard to say whether we are just as far, or perhaps even further, away from King's dream than when it was expressed in 1963. …
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Jan 1, 2011
Rachel B. Herrmann 
Open Access
