Birth of a White Nation: The Invention of White People and Its Relevance Today

by Jacqueline Battalora

Overview

Birth of a White Nation is a fascinating book on race in America that begins with an exploration of the moment in time when "white people," as a separate and distinct group of humanity, were invented through legislation and the enactment of laws. The book provides a thorough examination of the underlying reasons as well as the ways in which "white people" were created. It also explains how the creation of this distinction divided laborers and ultimately served the interests of the elite. The book goes on to examine how foundational law and policy in the U.S. were used to institutionalize the practice of "white people" holding positions of power. Finally, the book demonstrates how the social construction and legal enactment of "white people" has ultimately compromised the humanity of those so labeled. Jacqueline Battalora was born in Edinburg, Scotland and lived in Antwerp, Belgium for six years before her family relocated to Victoria, Texas. It was this experience of attending high school and middle school in Victoria that informed her understanding of race in America. While she is currently a lawyer and professor of sociology and criminal justice at Saint Xavier University, she is also a former Chicago Police officer. She holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and has been engaged in anti-racist training since the mid 1990s. Publisher's website: http: //sbpra.com/JacquelineBattalora

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781622127221
Publisher:	Strategic Book Publishing
Publication date:	02/27/2013
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	154
Sales rank:	247,906
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.36(d)

About the Author

Jacqueline Battalora is an attorney and Professor of Sociology at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. In addition to this book, Battalora is an editor of the journal Understanding & Dismantling Privilege and she frequently develops and delivers lectures and training that advance the understanding of the construction of race and its impact today

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations viii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: Birth of a White Nation 1

1 Before the Invention of White People 11

2 White People: The Creation 24

3 How "Whites" Became a Success 39

4 The Americanization of Whites 51

5 Contingent Whites and Inbetween People: Mexicans and Irish in the U.S. 68

6 Whiteness 85

7 Deconstructing Whiteness 97

Afterword: Why Would Whites Work to Dismantle Whiteness? 103

Index 113

Editorial Reviews

Drawing on history and law, Birth of a White Nation reveals how, when, where, and why a group called "white people" was first created in colonial North America. This origin story of white-body supremacy examines how a core organizing feature of U.S society came to be. Birth of a White Nation is an important read for anyone who seeks to understand the key developments that have kept us—and continue to keep us—from being a united nation.
Resmaa Menakem, author of My Grandmother’s Hands and Rock the Boat

The past is never separate from the present, and if we do not know the past and cannot trace it into the present, we are left with deeply problematic explanations for current conditions. In a cultural moment of white nationalism on the rise and the explicit expression of white superiority permissible, it is imperative that we understand race as a relatively new human invention. We cannot unmake racism if we don’t know how we made race. Dr. Battalora provides an accessible foundation for the antiracism project. Her work has been indispensable to mine.
Robin DiAngelo, Ph.D., author of White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism

Do you want to understand the history of the term "white people" in the United States and how it has shaped our laws and identities? Read Birth of a White Nation by Jacqueline Battalora. A clearly written and illuminating book.
Rosemary Radford Ruether, author of 34 books including Sexism and God Talk

From the Publisher