Analysis Of The Book The Wages Of Whiteness - 1426 Words

David R. Roediger displays the history of how the theory of â€Å"whiteness† has evolved throughout the years in America in his book, The Wages of Whiteness. According to Roediger, â€Å"whiteness† is much a constructed identity as â€Å"blackness† or any other. He argues that this idea of â€Å"whiteness† has absolutely nothing to do with the advantage of the economy, but that it is a psychological racial stereotype that was created by white men themselves. He claims that it is definitely true that racism should be set in class and economic contexts, also stating that â€Å"this book will argue that working class formation and the systematic development of a sense of whiteness, went hand in hand for the U.S white working class.† Roediger basically lays out the fact that â€Å"working class ‘whiteness’ and â€Å"white supremacy† are ideological and psychological creations of the white working class itself. Roediger starts off by dating back all the way to the 1800’s, Colonial days. He says, [in popular usage that the term ‘worker’ often presumed whiteness and (maleness)]. And that conservative democrats wanted to abandon ‘special interests’ and return to the party to policies that appealed to the average worker, which was increasingly black, Latino, Asian and/or female. White men were automatically assumed to be ‘average workers’, this class of workers were just assumed to be ‘naturally’ white and reached the social persona that existed amongst different races, and if a black man came along he’d beShow MoreRelatedWhiteness as a Field of Study2712 Words   |  11 PagesCaptain Ahab’s eulogy of whiteness shows that the word â€Å"white† implies more than a chromatic description. â€Å"White† is an untenable perfection that has haunted the American psyche since colonial times. The idea of â€Å"white spiritual superiority † can only be enforced by a terrorist politico-legal system, based on brutalizing the non-whites and creating a national fantasy. A national fantasy defined by Lauren Berlant as the means â€Å"to designate how national culture becomes local through the images, narrativesRead MoreCultural Marxist George Lipsitz In The Possessive Investment1698 Words   |  7 Pagesin The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics consolidates both the structural theory of institutional racism and the political cultural ideology and conception of racism history in the context of political changes in the Untied States. Lipsitz is not the first historian to analyze critical racism theory, but he is the first to extend the analysis into the late twentieth century. Traditional historiographies of whiteness in the United States emphasize theRead More Poverty, Racism, and Literacy Essay2294 Words   |  10 Pagesjobs for the poor who are able to improve their literacy skills (Hornbeck and Salamon 1991). However, the U.S. economy currently does not produce enough jobs that pay sufficiently well to create pathways out of poverty (Wilson 1996). Job loss and low wages are unequally distributed across races/ethnicities, with Blacks and Hispanics more likely to lose employment than Whites and more likely to be hired for service work than for better-paying jobs (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2002). Auerbach (1992)Read MoreBeauty And Its Effect On Society3337 Words   |  14 Pagesthe white beauty ideal – possessing pale skin, long, straight hair, and chiseled facial features – displays the prevailing influences on societal calculations of human value. According to Cheryl Harris, beauty operates with the conception that â€Å"whiteness is property† (ibid). Furthermore, in this economic context, women’s bodies are manipulable commodities objectified for consumption. The entire beauty industry is built on the foundational principle that women should alter their bodies through makeupRead MoreBarbara Ehrenreich s Nickel And Dimed2236 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America was the first book of its type that I’ve ever read, a real life analysis of what its like to â€Å"live in poverty,† working minimum wage jobs trying to make ends meet day in and day out. It was an intriguing story of how a woman with plenty went on to document how she lived without and I found that Ehrenreich’s commentary throughout the book offered a refreshing perspective to the usual conversation that surrounds poverty; she neverRead MorePolitical Economy : An Influential Textbook By Alfred Marshall Essay2152 Words   |  9 Pagesthe subject, advocated economics for brevity and with the hope of the term becoming the recognised name of a science. Today, political economy, where it is not used as a synonym for economics, may refer to very different things, including Marxian analysis, applied public-choice approaches emanating from the Chicago school and the Virginia school, or simply the advice given by economists to the government or public on general economic policy or on specific proposals. A rapidly growing mainstream literatureRead MoreAnalysis Of Alexie s Poem Alexie 2924 Words   |  12 Pagesthat there are 566 federally recognized tribes. He doesn’t even give any specific detail about his own tribe, the Spokane, which he most often uses as the background of his characters, instead creating his own generalizations. Through a Marxist analysis of his works Ten Little Indians, I will explore the question: Is Sherman Alexie is terrible at his job? It is clear that Alexie intends for everyone, particularly the youth of America, to benefit from his writing. He strives to get readers beyondRead MoreI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou6502 Words   |  27 PagesAnalysis: Chapters 1–5 The lines from the poem Maya cannot finish, â€Å"What are you looking at me for? I didn’t come to stay . . .† capture two of the most significant issues she struggles with in her childhood and young adulthood: feeling ugly and awkward and never feeling attached to one place. First, Maya imagines that though people judge her unfairly by her awkward looks, they will be surprised one day when her true self emerges. At the time, she hopes that she will emerge as if in a fairy-taleRead MoreRole of African Elites in Dismantling Decolonization5146 Words   |  21 PagesNgugi claim that African literature exists in a historical continuum. For example, neocolonialism prevails today in Africa because of the continuation after independence of the economic, political and social practices established by colonialism. An analysis of the economic, political and social contradictions created by colonialism is, therefore, necessary in understanding and effectively countering neocolonia lism. For the contradictions created by colonialism are still realities in contemporary AfricaRead MoreProblems Faced by Coir Industry Indis11436 Words   |  46 Pagesespecially through search for new fact in any branch of knowledge† Research Design A research design could be defined as the blue print specifying every stage of action in the course of research. It is the arrangement of condition for collection and analysis and interpretation of data manner that aims to relevant data to researcher. As the objective of the clear, the design adopted is descriptive research design. Population And Sample Size Population is the aggregate of all units with specific characteristics