First published 2010
Historian Nell Irvin Painter examines how the concept of whiteness developed throughout Western history. She begins with ancient civilizations and follows the creation of racial categories through economic, political, and scientific motivations. Painter demonstrates how eighteenth-century American identity became linked to white skin as a symbol of beauty, intelligence, and power. She reveals how major American thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson argued that only Anglo Saxons could be truly American. The book tracks how definitions of whiteness and American identity shifted over centuries. Painter fills a gap in historical literature by focusing on white racial identity rather than nonwhite experiences. She argues that race is a human construction whose meaning has changed throughout history. The work includes 70 illustrations and features prominent historical figures who shaped these racial concepts.
Genres: biography, history, academic, american-history
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction
Setting: America, Western
Period: 18th-Century, 20th-Century
512 pages · Hardcover · W. W. Norton & Company