The Possessive Investment in Whiteness by George Lipsitz

The Possessive Investment in Whiteness by George Lipsitz

Attacking the common view that whiteness is a meaningless category of identity, Lipsitz shows that public policy and private prejudice insure that whites wind up on top of the social hierarchy. Passionately and clearly written, this wide-ranging book probes into the social and material rewards that accrue to \u0022the possessive investment in whiteness.\u0022 Lipsitz sums up the ways that public policy has virtually excluded communities of color from everything that American society defines as desirable: first-rate education, decent housing, asset accumulation, political power, social status, satisfying work, and even the power it shape and narrate their own history. White supremacy is no thing of the past, no fringe movement. It is a pervasive and pernicious system that restricts the political and cultural agency of African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos every day. Unearned and unacknowledged, race-based advantages, not greater merit or a superior work ethic, account for white privilege. Lipsitz's ultimate point is not to condemn all white people as racists but to challenge everyone to begin a principled examination of personal actions and political commitments. Exposing the system of unfairness is not enough. People of all groups -- but especially white people because they benefit from that system -- have to work toward eradicating the rewards of whiteness.

"If we could only take one book with us into the 21st century, this is the one I would chooseWith lucidity and passion, George Lipsitz reveals that so-called 'color-blind' public policy actually contributes to the maintenance of racism; that white privilege and the demonizing of colored people are two sides of the same coin; and that whiteness is both a huge subsidy as well as a noose around the necks of working-class white folk. His insights into how the color line works in the realm of public policy, politics, and culture, and what we must do to destroy it, can save our lives." Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Yo' Mama's Disfunktional! Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America "George Lipsitz is one of the few historians of the U.S. who commands an audience eager to read what he writes on virtually any subject. What sets his work still more remarkably apart is the discipline never to abuse that trust. ... This book is a case in point. As rigorous as it is creative, this collection combines a firm grasp of the material roots and consequences of white supremacy with striking cultural criticism. Its extensive treatment of Asian American and Latino/a experiences breaks decisively with the tendency of studies of whiteness to reduce race to a black-white binary. Few works on whiteness discuss past and present together with such subtlety, care, and passion." David R. Roediger "[A] valuable resource for middle school, high school, and college level students." -Multicultural Review "Traversing a remarkably broad terrain of American social, political, and cultural history from the colonial period to the present, ... Lipsitz takes a variety of angles on the workings of whiteness... All of these discussions are productive; some of them are dazzling... This is a terrifically important book." -Matthew Frye Jacobson, American Historical Review "The Possessive Investment in Whiteness is the product of painstaking research and rigorous analysis... [Lipsitz's] spirited writing recaptures a fire that has come close to being extinguished in this era." -Brenda Gayle Plummer, The Annals of the American Academy "Lipsitz is best known for showing how popular culture and the changing fortunes of the working class and people of color transformed the United States after World War II. This new book brings together his fierce passion for racial justice with his talent for cultural analysis." -The Progressive

George Lipsitz is Professor of Ethic Studies at UC, San Diego, and the author of A Life in the Struggle: Ivory Perry and the Culture of Opposition (Temple), Rainbow At Midnight: Labor and Culture in the 1940s, Dangerous Crossroads, and Time Passages.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781566396356
ISBN 10	1566396352
Title	The Possessive Investment in Whiteness
Author	George Lipsitz
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Temple University Press,U.S.
Year published	1998-06-30
Number of pages	296
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable