Whiteness studies

"Whiteness studies is an interdisciplinary arena of inquiry that has developed beginning in the United States, particularly since the late 20th century, and 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. Pioneers in the field include W. E. B. Du Bois ("Jefferson Davis as a Representative of Civilization", 1890; Darkwater, 1920), James Baldwin (The Fire Next Time, 1963), Theodore W. Allen (The Invention of the White Race, 1976, expanded in 1995), Ruth Frankenberg (White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness, 1993), author and literary critic Toni Morrison (Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, 1992) and historian David Roediger (The Wages of Whiteness, 1991). " - Wikipedia, "Whiteness studies"


Du Bois, W.E.B. “The Souls of White Folk,” from Darkwater (1920).

Allen, Theodore W. The Invention of the White Race. (1976)

Morrison, Toni. "Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination." (1992)

Roediger, David. The Wages of Whiteness (1991).

Painter, Nell Irvin. The History of White People (2010). 

Morrison, Toni. The Origin of Others. (2017). 

Morrison, Toni. Mouth of Full Blood (February 2019) - collected essays and speeches written between 1976 and 2013. 

 

White privilege

The term "white privilege"  was popularized in 1988 by Peggy McIntosh [1988].  "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies.”  https://nationalseedproject.org/Key-SEED-Texts/white-privilege-and-male-privilege.

"I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks."

 

 

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References 

• Allen, Theodore W. The Invention of the White Race. (1976)
   
• Du Bois, W.E.B. “The Souls of White Folk,” from Darkwater (1920).
   
• McIntosh, Peggy [1988]. "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies.” https://nationalseedproject.org/Key-SEED-Texts/white-privilege-and-male-privilege.
   
• Morrison, Toni. "Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination." (1992)
   
• Morrison, Toni. The Origin of Others. (2017). 
   
• Morrison, Toni. Mouth of Full Blood (February 2019) - collected essays and speeches written between 1976 and 2013. 
   
• Painter, Nell Irvin. The History of White People (2010).
   
• Roediger, David. The Wages of Whiteness (1991). 
   
• Wikipedia, "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteness_studieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteness_studies." [accessed 27 August, 2019].