Description
Book SynopsisHabits of Whiteness: A Pragmatist Reconstruction, second edition, offers a revised and updated look at the concept of whiteness in the United States. Lauded when it was first published and even more relevant today, Habits of Whiteness offers a distinctive way to talk about race and racism by focusing on racial habits and how to change them. Author Terrance MacMullan examines how the concept of racial whiteness has undermined attempts to create a truly democratic society in the United States. By getting to the core of the racism that lives on in unrecognized habits, MacMullan argues that it is possible for white people to recognize the distance between their color-blind ideals and their actual behavior. Revitalizing the work of W. E. B. Du Bois and John Dewey, MacMullan demonstrates how it is possible to reconstruct racial habits and close fissures between people. This second edition of Habits of Whiteness also contains a new introduction, which looks closely at race relations during
Trade ReviewIn his autobiography, Malcolm X issued a challenge to 'well-meaning' whites to work within their own communities to solve the problem of racism. A growing body of scholarship by white theorists on white privilege reflects an effort to do just this. In Habits of Whiteness, MacMullan (Eastern Washington Univ.) brings a fresh perspective to this ongoing discussion. In seeking to answer the question of why racism lingers in a society where the vast majority of whites profess a belief in the equality of all races, MacMullan employs John Dewey's pragmatic model to identify racism as a habit. As such, it is a 'pre-reflective cognitive or behavioral practice'—natural and invisible. The work of Du Bois, whom MacMullan considers a pragmatist, provides the basis for his substantive critique of white racism. MacMullan's aim, however, is not merely to identify the nature of the problem, but to offer hope of a resolution. Dewey's interactionist model of knowledge allows MacMullan to posit a reconstruction of the habits of whiteness, replacing them with positive contributions to the world—unique 'cultural gifts' identified by Du Bois as possessed by each race, including whites. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above.
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Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction to the New Edition
Introduction: "¡¿Que Haces Gringuito?!"
Part 1. History
1. Bacon's Rebellion and the Advent of Whiteness
2. The Draft Riots of 1863 and the Defense of White Privilege
Part 2. Pragmatist Tools
3. John Dewey and Inquiry
4. Race as Deweyan Habit
5. Du Bois and the Gift of Race
6. Du Bois's Critique of Whiteness
Part 3. Contemporary Problems and Debates
7. Whiteness in Post–Civil Rights America
8. Contemporary Debates on Whiteness
Part 4. Reconstructing Whiteness
9. Habits of Whiteness
10. Whiteness Reconstructed
Conclusion: Gifts beyond the Pale
Notes
Bibliography
Index
