On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, Martin Luther King declared his dream of a racially integrated, non-discriminatory American society. Some three centuries before, that dream had in many ways been a reality, since white skin privilege was recognized neither in law nor in the social practices of the labouring classes. But by the early decades of the eighteenth century, racial oppression would be the norm in the plantation colonies, and African Americans would continue to suffer under its yoke for more than two centuries. In this second volume of his acclaimed study of the origins of racial oppression, Theodore Allen explores the ways in which African bond-laborers were turned into chattel slaves and were differentiated from their fellow proletarians of European origin. Rocked by the solidarity across racial lines exhibited by the rebellious labouring classes in the wake of the famous Bacon's Rebellion, the plantation Bourgeoisie sought a solution to its labor problems in the creation of a buffer social control stratum of poor whites, who enjoyed little enough privilege in colonial society beyond that of their skin color, which protected them from the enslavement visited upon Africans and African Americans. Such was, as Allen puts it, 'the invention of the white race,' that 'peculiar institution' which continues to haunt social relations in the US down to the present. Allen's two volumes are essential reading for students of US history and politics.
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A monumental study of the birth of racism in the American South ... a highly original and seminal work. -- David Roediger, editor of Black on White: Black Writers on What It Means to Be White
A powerful and polemical study. -- Times Literary Supplement
A powerful and polemical study. -- Times Literary Supplement
From the Author
Here is an instance where less is more. "Origin" has the desired specificity, as in Darwin's title The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, and Engels' The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State. In choosing this sub-title, I meant it to be consistent with the argument of the book, which shows class struggle to have been the origin of racial oppression, rather than ascribing racial oppression to "natural" and/or pre-American "prejudices" as proposed by Carl Degler and Winthrop Jordan, for example. Ted Allen, twallen1@ix.netcom.com, June 9, 1997.
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26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Farce of White Identity,
By jonathan scott (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Invention of the White Race Vol II (Paperback)
Theodore Allen's second volume of The Invention of the White Race, which focuses on Anglo America (his first volume focused on English/British religio-racial oppression in Ireland), is simply spectacular. He brings back the lost art of empirical research from below (in distinction to merely "writing history from below"). His work in the archives of the continental colonies is arduous; and the rewards are reaped by his readers as they are aquainted with heroic men and women of the American working classes, both African American and European American. They are heroes because they resisted oppression without reference to skin color. In fact, the power of Allen's second volume is his substantiation of the thesis that white identity was invented by the Anglo-American ruling class to keep social control of the masses of poor and propertyless workers. If this sounds simplistic, read the book, because the way the rich planters achieved this invention is far from simple. Allen's work should be mandatory reading in all fields of the humanities: English, Philosophy, History, Sociology, and Psychology. Even though the discipline of history in the US academy is afraid of Allen's work, one day his two volumes will be read by millions of people. I think this is true because of the explanatory power of his research and argumentation. I've always wanted to know: Why do workers in the US oppress other workers (white workers oppressing black workers)? Does this happen anywhere else in the world, because I can't think of a single situation. What makes the US so psychotic and weird? Is it white identity? Where did white identity come from? Why is there so little class consciousness among American workers? Answers to these questions can be found in Allen's two volumes, especially in volume two where the US is the focus.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome,
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This review is from: The Invention of the White Race Vol II (Paperback)
This is the work of a true People's Scholar. If you ever want to learn about the unspoken, unmentionable power structure of the US and its role in creating the concept of Whiteness and therefore Blackness, you must read this book. Every page is a delight!
4 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well worth reading,
By A Customer
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This review is from: The Invention of the White Race Vol II (Paperback)
A meticulously researched, extremely important (although painful to read) book. I highly recommend it.
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