Lifting the White Veil: An Exploration of White American Culture in a Multiracial Context [Hardcover]

Jeff Hitchcock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2003

Lifting the White Veil is a highly readable, information packed, personable and engaging work. One might imagine there is little to say about the experience of being white in America. Hitchcock not only proves this false, he shows why looking at white culture is a necessary step in fostering a multiracial society.

The book draws upon contemporary scholarly thought from a range of disciplines, including history, psychology, sociology, and literary studies. But the author retains a common touch, adding his personal observations and experiences, fusing an informative fact-based presentation with some old-fashioned self-revelation and story telling.

Lifting the White Veil is an uplifting, thought-provoking and hopeful book that will point white Americans in new and fruitful directions, both in terms of self-understanding and in terms of moving toward the actualization of a multiracial society in the United States.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Testimonials

In Lifting the White Veil Jeff Hitchcock provides an insightful, challenging and much needed roadmap for moving towards a multiracial society. -- Paul Kivel -- (Author of Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice)

From the classroom to the corporate board room this is a must read. Lifting the White Veil by Jeff Hitchcock provides a straight forward, no nonsense, no guilt, no blame book to help white people understand and explore what it means to be White in America. This bold and comprehensive book is a major contribution and critical tool for us all to better understand one of the unspoken aspects of race and race relations today -- being white. -- Judith H. Katz, Ed. D. -- (Executive Vice President, Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, and author of White Awareness: Handbook for Anti-Racism Training, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1978, 2003)

Rather than preach, Hitchcock shares frank and often brutally honest reflections on his own struggles with racism. In doing so, he eloquently drives home the point that an examination of white culture is, while at times painful, possible and worthwhile for all white Americans. -- Kathleen Korgen, Ph.D. -- (Author of From Black to Biracial, Praeger 1998, 1999)

Jeff Hitchcock has performed an invaluable service with this volume, for persons at all levels of anti-racist experience. By presenting the often difficult-to-discuss issues of racism and racial identity in clear, concise language, he has provided newcomers to these subjects with a critical starting point; and for those more versed in the dialogue of race, he has reminded us why these matters are so important. -- Tim Wise -- (Antiracist activist, essayist, advisor to Fisk University Race Relations Institute)

From the Inside Flap

Race--a provocative issue--is often confusing and almost always controversial, particularly to white people. Here, author and white studies expert Jeff Hitchcock explores how cultural practices of the past can no longer guide white Americans who want to truly experience living in a multiracial society.

The first chapter sets the tone for the book by opening with a riddle: Logic says if A is different from B, then B is different from A. When it comes to race, people of color are different from white people, but white people are not different from anything. At least that's what our contemporary thinking leads us to believe. The author goes on to suggest that there is a discrepancy between dreams of racial togetherness and the reality of racial experience--or the lack thereof.

Part I continues with a discussion on the definition of a multiracial society. Hitchcock points out a fascinating fact: Simple math demonstrates that in four generations, if race made no difference in the selection of marriage partners, the number of purely white people in the United States would go from 70 percent to 1 percent. Further chapters discuss "remedial education for white folk" and how color-blindness is used to avoid discussing race.

Part II provides an overview of the first 250 years of European settlement within the United States. The author discuses a series of "problems" the culture encountered and shows how solutions evolved into the current definition of whiteness. Chapter 6 provides some perspective on slavery and ownership of culture: "Rather than bloodlines, we can speak of ancestors as those who came before us in the past and shaped our way of life. Their connection to us may not be by direct genealogical descent, but in creating the cultural surroundings into which we are born, usually in association with those from whom we are directly descended, these people in fact have created us as the people we are."

The author looks ahead to the near future at some of the issues and possible developments of white studies in Part III. He discusses the first National Conference on Whiteness and White American Culture and examines other trends of a new, anti-racist white consciousness. He also provides additional resources for further study.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 262 pages
• Publisher: Crandall Dostie & Douglass Books (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971901708
• ISBN-13: 978-0971901704
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,377,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Towards an Engaged, Productive Multiracial Society, February 3, 2004

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lifting the White Veil: An Exploration of White American Culture in a Multiracial Context (Hardcover)

Lifting the White Veil is a powerful and effective exploration of the dominant "white" culture in the United States. The book carefully explains what the culture is (something that those who participate in it are often at a loss to describe), how it unintentionally excludes many of those whom individuals would probably approve of and relate to, and suggests alternative paths to creating a racially cohesive society. I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to reach out to participate in the many rich cultures that our country provides.

If you are like me, you've wondered what "white culture" studies are all about. Are they a closet attempt to re-establish "white supremacy" beliefs? In Lifting the White Veil, I found out that white culture studies are really about creating a more effective multiracial society that will benefit everyone.

Although I felt like I had a good background in race-based sociology (having taken courses in the subject in both college and graduate school . . . and having been informed by many friends from other cultures about my cultural biases and limitations), I learned a lot . . . and was glad that I did.

What the title refers to is that a dominant culture is usually invisible to those who participate in it, and limits their vision of what is going on around them. All such cultures are constricting though to other contiguous cultures, and we cannot understand those constrictions without understanding more about all cultures . . . including the dominant one.

The author argues for a future in which white culture continues, but is no longer the dominant one that all others must kowtow to. Instead, he hopes that a multiracial culture will develop that will be superior to any existing culture.

Jeff Hitchcock is the co-founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of White American Culture, a multiracial organization. As a self-described "white American," he brings his own experiences to this study . . . which include being married to Ms. Charley Flint, a black feminist sociologist and raising their two children of color. The book's greatest strength for me was that Mr. Hitchcook openly describes the evolution of his own "white" and "multiracial" awarenesses while sharing some of the experiences that his multiracial family has had in the "white" culture.

We are headed to a more multiracial society in the future as the percentage of those who are born from "nonwhite" races grows. It would make a lot of sense to know how to make the most of this experience. My own epiphany on the subject came when I took my sons to a Los Angeles Dodger game some years ago on "Hispanic Day" and found ourselves in the middle of enthusiastic Spanish-speaking fans in the left field bleachers. We had a wonderful time, and found it interesting to be in the minority in a large crowd for the first time in our lives. That epiphany is repeated whenever we are in Hawaii where people of many races live together without any one group being the majority. Most recently I was reminded of my epiphany at my father's funeral where most of his mourners were people from "nonwhite" communities . . . something that would have pleased him.

For those who are not familiar with the history of racial culture in the United States, the book has a good summary description of how our concepts of race have changed over time. The book goes on to describe the latest sociological research and thinking on the subject of how to create a more just and engaged multiracial society.

Be forewarned, however, that the book starts with a "tough love" lesson that will drive off casual readers. The book is much friendlier after that . . . if you don't mind finding out that you don't really have much multiracial experience.

As I finished the book, I came away with a desire to know the other cultures in America much better. I'm sure you will have the same reaction.

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for the ages...., October 4, 2009

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E. John - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lifting the White Veil: An Exploration of White American Culture in a Multiracial Context (Hardcover)

I love the way this book calls on white people to celebrate their accomplishments while becoming aware of the way the game is rigged in their favor. The book seems gentle while revealing hard facts of racial life in America. I say it "seems gentle" because, as an African American woman, I can't judge for white people whether something is harsh or not; I can only look at the skill, minute detail and care with which Jeff Hitchcock builds the case and admire the way he takes baby steps toward a monumental conclusion.

I hope many, many people in America read this book, especially white people. I have assigned parts of the book to be read by my class at Northwest Indian College. I think the book sheds light on the backlash we see to the Obama presidency. White guilt runs deep and makes for irrational, sometimes violent, behavior.

I pray that whites will confront their own guilt and deal with it carefully and gently as Hitchcock does so that we can live together as a more peaceful multiracial society.

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, Interesting, Important, May 21, 2008

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elizag (mohawk valley ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lifting the White Veil: An Exploration of White American Culture in a Multiracial Context (Hardcover)

This book really does lift the white veil for any reading willing to admit that there is one--that the way whitefolks see the world is very filtered by white privilege, the idea that we are at the center. Hitchcock's analysis and insights are strinkingly original, while drawing upon studies and classic texts. He intersperses the analytical writing with real-life stories, some from his own experience, some observed. An important well-written book.