The Creation of Whiteness

Tim Wise, author and lecturer on whiteness

Just as our current concepts of race and racism were created for a specific purpose, whiteness too was created for a reason. Until I started on my anti-racism journey, I just assumed that race was biologically determined, that racism was inevitable and inherent in the human experience, and that whiteness was ALSO innate and constant throughout history. But that’s not true!

Whiteness was created specifically to prevent poor white workers from aligning with enslaved Africans to rise up against land-owning, wealthy white people.

Poor white people have continued to be pitted against people of color throughout American history; the word “hillbilly” actually refers to white coal miners who attempted to secure better working conditions for themselves by aligning with Black workers.

Here are some more resources that cover the history and creation of whiteness, and how it still shows up today.

If You Prefer Video:

For years, acclaimed author and speaker Tim Wise has been electrifying audiences on the college lecture circuit with his deeply personal take on whiteness and white privilege. In this spellbinding lecture, the author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son offers a unique, inside-out view of race and racism in America. Expertly overcoming the defensiveness that often surrounds these issues, Wise provides a non-confrontational explanation of white privilege and the damage it does not only to people of color, but to white people as well.

If You Like To Listen:

Scene on Radio’s second podcast season is focused on whiteness. You can listen to it here.

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