Customer Reviews

The Invention of the White Race Vol II

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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.

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!

A meticulously researched, extremely important (although painful to read) book. I highly recommend it.

The problem with his argument is that he makes generalized motives the norm after researching a few examples. It's naive to go with the premise of White workers and Black slaves going against the power structure, united we stand, etc. by itself. Historically, there are financial motives that were far stronger than "brothers in bondage" motives. The companies in the north were being bested by their southern brethren. The north could not use slaves and suffered financially, therefore created a general sympathy for the slave movement. The humanitarian issue did not come until much later, generally. For those that were always humanitarians, the John Browns, etc. They were the minority of Whites in the north, not the majority. The correlation might as well not even exist.

While begining my quest to read this, I came across the obvious conclusion that this was a argument stuctured with bias and mis-information. The basis to his term 'white race' admits to redefining the term 'race' as a social term, instead of genetic, and 'white' as that which "relates to a pattern of oppression". This is just the begining of his lucid belief in redefinition. Upon reading this, one is to either simply forget American and World History, or completely ignore it. His claims are backed by single occurances or random information(such as quotes), as his theory on Anglo-Saxon white supremacy upon the Irish as racial oppression can only be concluded by his previous claim. If the 'white race' applies as a distiction of ruling class America, then why did the ruling class of America abolish slavery? Should I just forget that slavery was legal in only HALF of The United States since its inception? Should I forget that the Civil War was a direct consequence of slavery? Should I forget that the 13th through 15th Amendments were passed into law by a white Anglo-Saxon Ruling Class(The branches of gov. at the time)? Should I just forget that slavery has existed since recorded history(Egyptians and the Hebrews). Should I forget that the largest empire in history, the British Empire, abolished slavery? Should I forget that the Civil Rights Act was passed by LBJ, a man of the 'white race'? If I'm to believe this I should.