HIS 3045 - The Evolution of Whiteness

3 cr

Contemporary U.S. society employs a pentagonal classification system when categorizing individuals on the basis of race: white/black/brown/yellow/red. But this has not always been the case. As late as the early twentieth century, for example, most people assumed that there were dozens (if not hundreds) of races, and it was generally felt that groups like the Irish, the Jews, and the Italians did not belong to the “white” race. The aim of this course is to explore the historical evolution, and social construction, of the white race in the U.S., and trace the process by which various ethnic groups were granted, or demanded, entry into that privileged caste.
Spring 2013, Spring 2016