Description: A critical engagement with the origins, power, and elusiveness of white privilege
Brief description: Stephen Middleton is professor emeritus of history at Mississippi State University and founding director of the university's African American Studies Program. He is author of The Black Laws: Race and the Legal Process in Ohio, 1787-1860 and coeditor of The Construction of Whiteness: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Race Formation and the Meaning of a White Identity, the latter published by University Press of Mississippi.
Review Quotes: The development of studies of 'whiteness' has reshaped how scholars think about race and class. Adding to an intriguing and challenging field of study, this volume of essays presents the major recent scholarship on the ideology of racial identity in American history. With brilliance and great perception, this collection provides a multidisciplinary approach (history, English, law, communication, sociology, and more) that broadens the focus beyond a mere commentary on generalized culture and legalities. Grappling with forces and factors affecting the creation and meaning of whiteness, this in-depth examination uncovers the deeply intertwined relationship between racial identity and politics. The surprising juxtaposition of ideas pulls the reader into an emotional landscape that covers over 200 years of US History. These are sweeping ideas, bracing and challenging. They mercilessly expose the complexity and tension endemic in racial identity.--Orville Vernon Burton, author of The Age of Lincoln: A History