wages of whiteness.pdf

8/18/2019 Wages of whiteness.pdf

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The Wages of iteness

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AcknowledgementsPreface to the Third EditionIntoduction by Katheen Ceaver

PR I ntroducin the ite Woker

IIX

XI

1 On utobography and Theor: Introducion 3 The Pehisto of the hite Woker: Settet Coonialis,

ae and epublicanism befoe 18 1

PR II ace and the Languages of Cass from the evoluonto the Civi War

3 'Neie a Serent Nor a Master Keyords in heanuages of hite abor epuianism 3

hite Slaves, Wage Saves and Fee hite Labor 65

PR II Work, Cute an teness n nusazng merca

Class, Coons and Crowds in ntebelum merica 56 hite Skns, Bak Masks Minstrelsy and "ite oking

Class Formation befoe the Civ Wa 115 Irsh-erican Wokers and ite aial Fomationin e tebeu United States 3 3

Part The Limits of Eancipation and the Fateof Wokng Cass hteness

poue Ne fe an O Habits

Seete WritingsIndex

16

18518


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kw m

hs bk cu t hav be wte whut the hp th atGee Rawc he ece hs wtte wk e w be ceaat vaus s the tet, bt eve e tat e the ayea cvsats w ha, whch ac a cass usuay eey, bt ase sts, ay, we the e a s chse Ge eve cae whse eas we whs, but k back ass thse tas, I w that the est wee suay hs.

aate sch at thweste Uvesy ste aey whte cy a Ge Fecks tw the st eetatwts ac t t States h, a cty thyve seb uae a sut y w esach. I ccta a ca thh ths ect, have as beete eaty the avc ata haJua, Jaes Baett, teve Rss,eae at, e Iatev, Hebet H, Mk Davs, Php FePatck ube, Pa Ga, Yu Rbet Webe Steve WattsFa Rst, che Ge, Ma ya a E aets. Keby

Me, Mak ause a th ate H Rst eusy shae -seac atas Ssa Pe Bes e t y euaeta eas bu as ae hw cbe cte cea schash. M Davs, teve Hatt a Mke ke av beea a sutve e. Reseach asssac Bt Rsa the t t Patca Eest have the te t tk twt ths bk

F esach at the w a hca has c ats the Uves Mss Reseach c a the L ews Fewshp, spte y te Nata Ewet

the Huts. Du y yea esec at the Newbe, bet the esh a ccs Lse Wa,aes Gssa, a

Vll


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AG O ITS

cis Jennin Chel J ohnsonOdim an Ricard Bron The libra staat te Nbrry was a model helpless as as t sta at t Unver

si o Missri ibra hre n dars pai particularly promptattenon o my oen nusual reqests or dissertatios and teses

Oportunties to tst sm o y ias i print ad n presentatnsmade hs a blder book For tose pporuniis I thank the editors oN Potics and o The L and te hisory deparens a Northestern Universit and the Universit o Chicago the Marxit Thorminr at te niversit te estern Cape out rica) te Cnernce orkers' SelOrgaization the Peter Tamoy ecture Seriesat the Unversit Missouri the ells Collouium at the eerr

ibrar and the Amercan Association or Iris Stuies Espeily crucalere the rears Jn ent usan irsch ad Ton Gipin e Ipresented an early version o ts rsearc a a eetng the Cicaoabor Histo Grou

My wie Jan Allman has greay broadned my tougts about racean class drawin on hr n wr on the histr o Ghana an o outhica She has been the best supprter an keenest critic te prjectMy sos Bredan and onva have ve me ch icluing th hopethat the ure does nt belong to whte sprema Rsonsbilit orany errors opinion or act that remain in te tet es t ouryearold

novan

Davd R Roeder


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P E

oca he k o cae oea wa oe ha coud e eaed wih reatie pee, an any of e hooer who aied crane operao wee ica eica Thu i eeed uniey a crae opeao woud ong urie a a ca jo peered or whie woreTha i di reai ujec o coo a, aco reche of pace ado ie, eie o he ua eecee o acim y empoye,

whie woer ad uion Thu i eaig Jui Sei unnn lunnn rca, my iere quickeed whe Sei decied WiiePhii, a Birmigham eewoke who wa agh o r a cae ya whie coworer a e heigh of erori oppoion o e ci righoee in ha ci The accoun e any facinaing queonunanwered, icudig ju why Phiip quicy gae up hi opeaorjo I tued eagery o e edoe, eady o nd e orce and oread oe aou Phiip rearae experiece, u go a urpieThere Phiip wa, u here I wa No ciaon ed o any writenor ora ource o Phip Inead o eaing where o nd ou aouhi, I eae aou e inadequacie of he oo you hod The noeead, deie e ac ha h as nss cocerned a whoyieren cenr o e oe i which Wiie Phiip ied:

Th Phillip incint val conctly at th bhaio of whit tl wok cannot b lain by concpt of 'whitn. Watvhi iolocal blif about ac tlwok po oth ia hatlai thi baio. T ivi of pon ona at ioloical appoach to th ty of whit wok bn by DaRoi in hi W t . . cannot account fo th bhao

val h uch l fo th hito of th Aican wo cla.1


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THE WAGES OF HITNSS

s o nss has tued up, in the een years since itspublicaon, in all so of neected places, and has been malned,

nate, nure, and rase n ll uneeed was. No longaer it appeared, an istorian scarcely older than I took me aside at areceon n a conference hotl to as a atherly queson: 'rent youaaid of aing labors dirt andr in ublic? It was then tt I ewthat the ook - up to that point enjong an almost eerily euphorcreceon of rzes and aterng reews - would eventually be recevedas te conoersial work t had set out to be. My resonse to thequeson made sense insofar as it went, but reected how ltle I hadbeen made to hrough possble cricisms of s ofnss

at that point. The response aso illusated the extent to which I myselfhad not leae some of the lessons te boo tred to teah. I told thequesoner of the sanizing ects of rngng ngs nto lgh and ofe value of the labo movement speang any to ielf - a far moremoran a an seang o oer, at deel queonableracce we hear so enusiascally ressagented I was hardly possble,I also held, o buld a new movemen wthout coming to trms wththe ways in whch the past bears on the present.

But een hang us wen a boo evoe o showng he ossof not quesoning the pecularit of the white worker, of assumingthat such a worer could stand n for labor wthout measurng thedisgurng impact of a comen to whiteness on workers struggles, it took me for me to noce that he dirt launr questonmade labor nto whte laor. Thus the question assumed that falngslent on hstores of racal exclusion proteted he reuton andthe nterests of labor as whole. Workers o color, historically forcedb color bars lmtng ther employmen nto terally dong drlandr, disappeared in the er way that the problem was amed.

s of nss epeaedly aknowledged ts profond debtto W.E.B. Du Bois, whose dea of a whte blndsot named recselyth wy whch th intrsts of some whites can pose as t gnra interest. ut that same blindspot led me to suppose in the sutitleto s that the hstor, however crtcal, of e whte worker thatt oered could somehow chart the mng of th American oringclass generally. My own lnering whte blndspo also led me orspod wih oo much hsanc, and too much civilit, to thequestoners conjurng up the mage of irt laundr.

t tus out, my conces regardng the odd absene of sharly

r rly soses to s nss would be mor than

x


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EE T TE TD EDT

anwere in ue ie he appene iliography sugge heoo gure proineny in wha i now a arge ieraure aeing

h riial y o whiene Inee i i oen oo enral o halierare a reaiey hor an exreey we-ie oo wiha ahy ie an a whie auhor aing a proe o hi own raiaieni i has enoye grea ue in ase an i wiey ie Criishae hereore a i a e ey ex or een e origin o e yo whiene The op ui agaie n oun i he CeleneProphe o a new el The o reen riique y AexanerMarrio in Caal Magazn use he oo o eonae weepingy he ili o uing any Marxis approah o exaine no u whienes u any oneiale opi on all o huan hiso

Thus ags (along wi Noel Ignaie equaly we-noe Hh rsh Bca one praie y Wilia Cinon a Preienapres rieng) is oh oerpraie an oer-ae aoring o heae o he reiewer By oparison e weighie reen hioria wors on whienes y uh hisorian a Alexaner axon anTheoore len see a ies less enral o ung whienesriiay han hey eere o e Moreoer he inaion o heare/enae o h ags nss has ere o unere heoan aupon y oh journali an roesor ha he syo whienes as an hisorial poiial an oral prole i ran newan ha i i an enerprise oneie y whie holars yinouion o he olleon Black n Black rrs n a Mans b 3 are suh y egan lae an erianInian ol nowlege o he whie proe Moreoer uh wrierso oor as Du Boi Cherl arris Vine Deloria Jr Toni Morrionerio Paree Lesie Maron ilo Cherrie Moraga an aoeall Jaes Baln hae proue he os searhing inquiries aneep inighs ino whiene Thu o woner as one reen Jual

ran Hs eay has one how we go ro [he lae LawreneLeine ai Black Culur and Black Cnscss o h ags ns4 i an appoie queon u ony i we o no assue ahe orer an no he laer is rooe in ehni ue

O oure soe o he inaion o he iporane o ags nss y rii preialy oinie wih a eire o en inurn punure an eae oh he oo an he riial uy o

whienes generaly A i wor uh riii ha een e oginee Crae an rel regaring he anger o ineriipina

sholarshi i wears i ignorane o psyhoanalyis alo as a age


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THE WAGES OF HITENESS

of hono It osates dy beteen hnts of a proertantouMasm and a ste dsaoa f hstora materasm atethe

ortures u Boss ourageos poa sa a e e ha he ote Blk Reonsttion mpusby turnn hs enus nto theetan of onsed esons of onenton ber and esh shbboeths eadn ae nd ass o astn hm s a hopeess roantFo eampe n a somemes aute essay Er Foner res f.. Du Boss man epnaton [fo the fue of hte okers ounte th feed ses] s hte orknass adeene to the"ean Assumpton of soa mobt . ak of ass onsous

nss .. not an nesent n asm. The probem th suh a

mseadn s ess that t ets the hoe of ephass ade by Du Bos n Blk Reonstion ong an tha sses he e ay hh the resl of suh a hoe dened the books anaytabane and poa be5

I hae on hosen not to espond systeatay o suh rtsmsof he Wges o iteness houh the bborphy ss seera tesom hh eders an earn my es o the eouo of te rtastudy of hteness boady o defend the book oud an eentet, at a e hen the are teratue of h s a par s ha

needs onsdeaton and een defense. In soe ases those retnto etaaant denunaons of Wges hae hosen o pase ysettn the book aans and boe the res of the shoashp studn hteness partuary that produed outsde of he dspne ofhsto Suh pase an hady be eomed Inetaby aso kesome of the ne oks on the ta study of hteness beter thanothes but the mpesse ane of shoshp aross dspnes thhas been podued reenty n a ne aea of nqu thn themanseam of aadema desees the est spae to rther deeop.

A seond eason not to de on the most sdent but east nt

esn ques of Wges s that on baane the book has been aodeda remakaby knd eepon Sometms ha repton has akn thefom of unomomsn but seous and eome sm on tothe hea f ho poe oks and denn key poa deenesbeteen he authos and mysf6 Some ree essays hae mnaedto be deepy a and aso emnenty fa n the oeae of oththe book and the aer teate7 Othes pooatey sate theta sdy of hteness n ansnaona debaes about ae8

The pary ratn eptn of he ges o teness by

nonhstoans nd by netna shos has md espay

I


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R T T TIRD DITI

dcult or me to adopt a long defensve and combatve tone regardngts treaent. bre nteret searc reveals ctatons n suc eds

as economcs socolnguscs management ethnc studes sportsstudes marrage ad famly studes arcaeolog publc heath nursng geograph antropolog cultural studes tera crtcsmcounselg educaton meda studes poltcal scence mercanstudes psycolog rhetorc urban studes ndustral relaons ackstudes and cnema aongsde those by hstorans.

hose seekng to understand socal derence n Australa FranceCanada Meco reland rtan ndonesa nda e Zealandouth ca and razl have used the book for theoretcal and comparatve purposes Japanese anslaton has just appeared. he boosnuence n legal scolarshp maes Kathleen Cleavers contrbutonto ths volume approprate as ell as gratng. More astonsnghas been ts recepon b such leadng teologans as andeka andCharles Ellott te latter of whom wrote n the Theological Book Reviewthat n an nsttuon anng mnsters [he Wages o iteness]sould be compulsor readng9 n wat must stand as for me temost sockng trbute to the book to date

Fall m oncombatant status n an arrng over Wages stemsfrom sound advce that heard om the mportant hstoran andopponent of empre Wlam Appleman Wllams man ears agoWams urged - m ate end and role model usan Porter ensonoered a salter verson of essentally the same advce that the best a to anser crtcsm s smply to produce new and better work.n part Wllams descrbed a coce about ho e spend our tmechoosn ether to et over ho old wor s (ms)understood ornstead to conceve and carr throug fres projects.

ut Wllamss deeper pont was that new or oers the bestchance to act postvely on what crtcs have taught us. For eample

although Waes was at tmes prased as a stud of the connecton ofmasculnt cass and race the nsucency of ts epsodc attenonto women worers soon became a part of e best of the crtcal lterature especally Dana Franks superb 1998 essa \hte WorngClass Women and te Race Queston10 M Race Labor and Gendern the Language of ntebelum ocal Protest11 does not to defendThe aes of iteness aganst suc persuasve crtques but bproducg ne researc to tnk trough some of te ssues rasedb crtcs. mlarly accounts of racal formaton by Aleen Moreton

Robnso and other mportant antpodean scholars ho probe

111


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THE WAGES F ITENESS

whteness as formed largely throug contact by settlers wth ndgenous others, hae energze ot my reag an my wrg Suc

studies ad a to eead lass and ne hstos of meiaempre and settler colonalsm and to wrte about the pursut of whteness' n Unted States hstor n ther lght Catherne Eagan'smpresse analyss of e ways n whch Wages msses the extent to

whch rsh mmgrats brought racal owledge wth them ncrossng the ocean became a centerpece of my approach to howmmgrants learned US-sle whteness n my study of race n theente centr, Working Toward iteness.

Knowng that most reaers of The Wages o iteness are now

colege studen and young people wantng to understand how race works n the Unted States, want to close by explctly addressnga par of concerns that can magne such readers as hang and that, n fact, encounter n speakng to them. The rst concr growsfrom my preous remarks regarng the ways that emerngscholarshp has revealed the ncompleteness of parts of the book,especally whe gender, mmigraton and empre are concerned.Gven s realt, t mght b argued that a nw dton ought torewrite the book tirely, incorporatng ths recnt work. nestudes appear on a regular and dauntng bass n addton to theauthors mentoned above, the recent works of MoonHo ung, anaNelson, Gerald Hone, Peter Lnebaugh, Marcus Redker, ShelleyStreeby, Paul Foos, Gunther Peck and Robert Lee, as well as olderones by eanne Boydston, Mchael Rogn, Herman Melle and RoTakak, are dspensable sometmes inclne in that drecto.

However, an add-and-x approach to reson in these matters doesnot ute work. Thre s always yet moe new work appeang, mangeach reson dated even as t appeas. More mportany, the real tasks to ly brng gedr and empre nto e conceptualization of a stdy,

not to edng. My current work s much nterested n ndng waysto te thn such an nterpree amework and to parcpate n what tnk ll hae to be collece eorts to understand race acrossnaonal boundaris. he proect of The Wages o iteness, an tscoheson as a short work of nthess, rsearc ad polca engagement,reected derent prores and more paral sons, but oes whosesengs and weaesses can connue to teach us, especally f read ncombnaon wt wors reecng oer approaches. For that reason,except for the correcon of small poraphcal errors, the body of e

book s reproduced here as t rst appeared.


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EE T TE TD EDT

The nal concern speaks to sudents' reactions to Wages. I neverassign the book in classes, but do ear at times from those reading

it in oter courses. If my emails are any guide, an occasioal reactionby students is that the book is down on wite eople' One studentrouble ersel to empasize tat she had no been so se sineshe had to read Malcolm a complaint that I confess to treasuring ver mc. However, neiter te acul wo assign te boo, normany o the tudents wo read it and directly contact me, suggestthat te boo is widely erceived as anti-wite in te sense of beingagainst people wo are categorized as such, though it is of coursenecessarily against whiteness as an ideolog I suspect that part of

the reason or te lack of tis particular critical reaction espiteenergetic attempts by David Horowitz and oters on te right to stiru sdent susicions of witeness studies' lies in te boo's willingness to associate the ideolog o witeness wit te misery o

wite people. "ile it is not nearly so bold, systematic, or successlin doin so as te remarable essays o James Baldwin in The Priceof the Ticket or as andea's Leain to Be ite, i does joi wittose wors in providing some ways to consider not only ow racialideni leads some wites o deal ot miser to oers but also owit leads them to accept miser for hemselves. For some studentsfrom wom I hear, this connection of miser and whiteness is botha revelation and a liberation.

Oters encounter or te rst tme te idea tat rac is a socialconstruction' as tey read The aes o tene Far rom beinghardwired into hmani, witeness is an exception and a latecomerin man istor, a barbari an old onl radually, contingenlyand unevenly among dierent srata of te population Racism tasnot ever tus. Suc eady insigts can lead to te ope among readersthat a mere book an one on te nineteent cenur, not ours

can tell us ow to get past what Baldwin called the lie' of witenessand te miseries attending it en Wae cannot do so, te bookseems bleak. Moreover as Dana rank has obsered based on herteaching, acvist sdents at imes read te boo as insucentlyhopel because it empasizes that wite worng people ave soconsistently .. acted on teir racial interests' tat it is ard to imaginea uccessl workin class coalition tat is not vlnerable to beinundermined by race.14 In contrast to Frank, wo realized tat suchreactions were resent among readers but argued against em,

eodore len found e obections o be no onl nderstandable


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TH WAS OF HITNSS

but correct The Wages o iteness, he argued, posed·a problem bute no hope for its soution15

I have mysef conibuted to the idea that he book is despairing,devoting a fair share of an aeror to the 1999 edition to windysefcricism apoogizing for its undue pessimism' n par, I caredso muc aout aressing te uestion eause in writing ages a sugge amost as muc wit tone as wi ontent Here againu Bois's Black Reconstction was the moel, with its insistence onthe appreciaon of ragedy' as the key to nderstanding the epicstor of failed aliances beeen the white worker and e back worker' during Reonsrction u Bois held profound hope that

1930s acsm cold change the world when he wrote that stor, buthe aso thouht its agic tone conributed to realiin suh hopesAt a me when dreams hat interracial union oranizing could sereas a soution to both race and cass problems in te United States were cresting, u ois seemed oney and goomy on te ricanAerican e He cautioned expicity in his poitial writings andimplicitly Black Reconstction that white blindspots had a way ofimpang even he bestintenioned of interraial, white-led oranizaons On this ew, anracist initiatves, atonomous organizingby peope of coor, and a ertain warness remained necessar

we live through the decine of the large interracial unions formedin te 1930s and 1940s, a curious emptation o again see classdemands as magicaly apabe of uniin raes sometimes resrfaces

To the extent that ending white supremacy is raised as a cenral classdemand there is little wrong with such a ope Bt the tragi histrof the United States and current realites give itte round for hopingtat suc cassconscious arais wi be aggressively raised withoutsarp intea struggles in unions that are oth weak and defensive,an pague by eir own wite indspots'

To say as muh is not to give up on organizng what Thandekacas te wite worker,' and s less is t to take a eak andpessimistc view of the prospects of mobiizing woring peopegeneray Indeed the picture today shold ive rise to anin btdespair stonishin mobiizaions of immirant worers, alon withsiniant ican-merican grassroos support for reparatons havemobiized millions who oranize for democratic rihts as oor and

working peope It is precisey when workers of olor are in motion,as the osin paes of The Wages o ieness sow that white worker

are most like to also ove awa om identing eir iteress


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H H

wit tei ace. Labo is aeady moing n te new centy Bacimmigant aiances wi be citica in detemining ow fa it can go,

and ow wite woes w t nto its moton

N

Daid Roedigeaint Louis, MissouiDecembe, 2006

1 Judth Sten, Running Steel Running America: Race Economic Po and he Declineof Lieraiw Capel Hll 998. For an acute iscusson of e passage, see Herbet Hll, n Ne Poliics, 8 nte 2002) a wunjeunewpolisse3 /il3.hm

Foreword Alexaner Saxon, The Rise and Fa obe ie Repulic Ne Yokan Lonn 003

3 Dad Roeger, e., Back on ie Back Wiers o a it Means o e ieNew ork 1998.

4 Danel Wickberg, 'Heteroseal te Male: me Recent Inversions n mercanCulral Hstory, Joual oAerican HisY une 00 136

See Erc nesen, 'hteness and he Hstorians Imagnatn. Inteational aor and Worki Class Hiso' 60 (Fall 2001 3-32; rc Foner, 'Resonse to rc Arnesen,

n te same ssue an aron m, 'Race, Class and e "heness Teoy IneationalSoialis Revie 46 (MarchArl 006

ee especally Tedore Allen, On Redgers Wages of Vteness, ahtp//clogceseer.org/42/allenhtml, an Rbyn \egma, eness es nd tPltcs f Pecular ounda 6 (Fall 999 50

7 Peer Kolchn, itenes Stes Te New Hstor of Race n Amerca, ouaoAerica Histor 89 une 00: 5473. John Munro, Ros o teness, aoureTraail 4 (Fall 004 192

8 Alastar Bnnett, ite Idenities Inteational Persecie Halow, G 000 drewHaran, 'The Rse and Fall of hiteness Stes, Race and Clas 46 (2004 2238

9 Charles llo, Review of The Wages of Whienes Theological Book Reie 6(Ocober 993 6.

0 Dna Frank, 'e WrkngClass Women and e Race Question, Ineaionaaor and Working lass Histor 54 (998 8001 Reiger, 'Race, Labor an Gener n the Langages of nebellum Socal roest,

n tanley ngerman, ed., The Tes oLaor Stanford 1999, 6887 Reger, 'The Pursut of teness Proer, Terror and xpanson, 790

180 Joual o he Ear euic 19 (ner 999 57900.13 Reger Working Toard ieness o Americas Immians BeOe e. he

Srange Joey om Eis Island o he Suurs Ne York 00.4 Frank, ' Class Wthou Race, Socialis Reie 24 (1995 4301 Allen, On Reges Vages o ieness16 Roeger, Te Rerea from Race an Class, Monh Reie 58 ulyuus

006 401.

!


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eia, whee the foally neual onept il ihts and the wod ae generally onvey a bla one, to the soal onsof whteness "ith ae emains unommon. hite merians, as a ule,annot see rae in relation to themselves, and ae theefoe oninedthat rasm only poses problems for others. his phenomenon ledNobel prizewinnin author oni orrison to note how ponantit is that solarly onentration on the tarets of rais manaesto avoid any study of the impat raism has on its perpetatos.1 hs

littlenotied blindness, of ouse, doesnt stop at the ede of theampus; a widespead falue a all levels of soiet to aknowledehow whiteness onveys nternal meanings at he same ime it lllsantiblak ntions has for generations helped fustate soialpogams intended o minimize raisms perniious lea By oeina sophistiated analyss of the signiane of raism in the formationof the nneteenhenu white woking lass, h as of nssintrodues a welome interpretation to te emerin shoaship thatineroates whiteness.

Weaing mass ultue, lanuae, and politis into his neo-axistanalysis labo histoian avid R. Roedier draws upon ontempoa work in soial hstor, suh as the study of gende oles, industrialdisipline, and popula epublianism to lai the spei ways in

whih he belef in aial superioit formed he onsiousness of worin men. Roedige does not fous here on the material benetsof white skin priilege, but instead examines the aeny of workinmen themseves in onstutin the meanng o whteness. hsdistintion is uial, beause Roedie shaes the onlusion W.E.B.

Du Bos eahed onernin the deepest inju aused by white

XIX


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TH WAGS OF HITNSS

uprema when he wrote that the coneuence of [racit] thought were a enough or colore people te worl over' ut they were

vn wo when on coni wha i aitu id o th [whie] worker ... He egan to want not comfort for all men ut power overoter men ... He i ot love humanit an he hate nigger'2

The mot turulent warfare an it long-immering coneuencethat chiele the racial narrative of erca' hitor have alotampe the tet of our law an the nature of our lega culture.In part the paionate emrace of white upremacy y mae ofcen n the mdnneteenth centur eplan the falure o thepot-Civl War Recontruction an the utter colape of the legal

framework it erecte to upport the freeom legilate for formerlave. Bu thi ialectic ha grown o intimately emee eneathpulic concioune that it frame American' perception of the

worl without critical eamiaon.nebte to Black Reconcion W.E.B. Du Boi' pioneering ty

o race an cla in the wake of the Civil War Roeiger aopte thetheme of hi work from the fomulation oere by Du Boi that whiene conrre compnaon for eploiative an alienating claelaionhp planing why whte Souhen woke wee willngto accept low pay Du Boi poine out tha th

polcal succss of th oc of acal spaatio whch ovwRcostuco by ug th plat a th poo wht was fac by ts ... cooc sults It ust b b that th

wht goup of labos whl thy cv a low wag w copsat pat by a sot of publc a psychoogca wag. Thy wgv publc fc a ttls of coutsy bcaus thy w wht... Th polc w aw o th ak a th couts pto th vots tat th wth such lc as to couag lawlss

ss ... Thy] woul ath hav a low wag upo whch thy coulk out a xtc tha colo labo wth a ct wag. "tlabo saw v avac of gos a that to th acal pog

• 3atvs ...

Du Boi conclue that nineteenth-centur worker prize whiteneo uch an etent that intea of joining wt lack wth whom theyhare common inteet they perpetuate a white upremact viionhat upporte capitalim an ruine emocra.'

liver Wenell Holme oce remarke that he laer' tak wa


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RDI

not done until he had seen the bith and goth of societ, and bythe farthest stretch of his eason .. [understood] the philosophy of

ts e he lo stule to esto e stiutio of slaver athe subsequent ise of igid acial segegation acoss the Unted Statesunderids ceurieslo cocts ut ithout a publc rasp of hisleacy, te contemporar challenges oiling our cultual and legalinsttutions appear ntactable, in pat because so fe lessons haveeen dra fom the ay the hte racial coscousess as geneateddun the nineteenth cenu. Recognizing ho ineicable thesebeliefs in racial ineriori an superiorit have ecome to ourinsttutions I elcome the povocative examination that he Wages

o ieess contributes.Untl the 18s, e United States as not only a rapidly expandinnation bt also a slaveholding republic In the republican conceptonof a nato compose of small idependent produces, suspicon randeep, both aainst those ith poer and those ho ee poerless.The adcal ideas of republican govenment uing the early nineteenth centur escheed dependency and elevate independece.Francis cott ey ain on the expeience of the War of 181ith Bitain en mercenaies and freed slaves bunt don the hiteHouse, penned this rarely sun verse of 'The Star Spanled ae

No rege could saveThe hireling an the slaveFrom the terror of iht, orthe loom of the grave.

Hirelin as a term of disgace at the time this verse as ritten.Roede arues that the radations of dependenc that hites e

duin te eighteenth centu, such as apprenticeship, indentuedserviude, impressment and convct labor pevented them fomdran a istctios etee an iealized hte orker and apitied or scorned serile lack orker. He assets that acial attitudesthat ere commo durin he eighteenth cenu ere more pomiscuous an contadicto than they gre aeards due to the varetesof unfeeom htes ee experiencin an due to the ourshnof popular denunciations of slave that accompanied he Revolutionar War ea. ut as the class of hielin expanded beteen 1

an 16 he raual tansition into an ecoomy in hich ae


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THE WAGES OF ITENESS

lbo ws widesped geneed poblems o epublicn ideologThe pcul consellion o socil iudes nd deelopmens

h conneced 'whie wh 'woke Roedge gues dd no soidunil he nineteenh ceny By he 180s he pocss h hdeduced nely onehl o the nonslelbo oce o wgedependence nd subjeced i o new oms o cpilist discipline, hdeched is compleon By hen, oo, hose epublicn noions oeconomic independence hd inmed he nionl imginionduing he Reoluion W hd wned Hisoin Godon Wooddesced he wdesped eeling duing he ely nineeenh cenuh eehing hd chnged

. . . [M]ude suicide teft ad obbi becae iceasily cooesponses to te budes tat libe ad te expectations of ain

wee placig o peole Uba ioti becae oe ealent anddestuctie ta it ad been Steet taen ad teate owdiesslabo stikes acial and etic coicts - all inceased geatly afte1800 eica ay ae bee still agely ua sti ageyagiultual but now it was peaps te ost toouglycoecialized ation i te wold6

meics emeging commecil empie in omtion ws something unpecedented

The new pes o poducion nd socl elions ht ose dunghe ucous nsition o cpilism poduced new poliicl hetoich wesled o dene he leed woking condiions, iously clled'wge sle, 'whe sle, o 'ee whie lbo

The clim o epublicn cizenshp nd coesponding sseono mleness, Roedige sses, ws cenl o he nineteenhcenuwokes deotion o whteness Pio o he Ciil W, blcness'lmos peecy pedced lck o he bues o eemn osupse in his, bu Roedige poceeds to demonste tht blckswee peceied hen s 'nicizens - enemies o he socl concThus, he poliicl giion o expnd mle suge to include lleeen ws oned o snuous eos o b ee Blcks omexecising he nchise To pu he disnce beeen he despisedblck woke nd he emeging whie emploed mn, new ems osen such s 'help o 'hid hnd becme cuen, innoionsRoedige demonstes wee inied by he whie wokes, no - s

some hisoins he climed by hei employs Similly, they


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INRODUCTION

epudted the tem mar becue of t octon wth the sve,and epaced it with the Dutch wod bo not yet ncuded n the

189 Webte dction which, ionicy, h he ect emening but not the ame soundhe intiing evoution of the sang tem coo iniiay a count

bumpkin, o a cit cke nto ac u gve a ting to Roedgeanays Duing the 184 Pedenti cmpaign, Day ockettcoonskin cap became the bo of the g Pat, and Democatsdenounced thei vs a coo, who wee attacked by New Yokit Democat as the Fedea ig oon Pa ut te inthe centu, the backface minste chaacte Zp oon pesoned

the steeotpe of an eponsibe, dandied fee back in the Nothy the end of the cent, the 'coon song cae soaed to suchintensit that miions of coies o the sheet music wee sod Inoediges view, the phenomena popuait of this music ae theivi Wa gew fom its abiit to et woingcass whites pojectonto emancipated acks those vaue and action tht boh fascinatedand figtened them Democat attempting to mea the poiticopponents who favoed aboishing sve coined the wod micaiofom two Latin wods icr, meaning to mix, and u, meaning

ce It was intoduced in an 183 pamphet in which Deocatnnuated that suppoting Repubicans woud bing about thefeaed acemxing which was picay ced amalamaio. Theitem tck, and became a stock phae in the poitic hetoic othe day that denounced the ipending mongeization of theUnited tates

n T Wa o i the concept of hvolk doa 8

that socoogist Piee L van den eghe ppied to the eectedgovenment n South ic nd the United States, which ae poiticay democatic fo the maste ace but tannica towads thesubodnate aca goup, paaphaed nto hvolk epubicanim his ideoogica fame, accodng to Roedge, ead ckout of te anks o the poduces, then aow a concentated edownwad aganst the dependent ck, nted of upwd agintthe most powe whites The baic stength o this ideoo,accodng to Roedige, ay in the assuance it povided the whites- who contanty feaed downwd mobi tht no matte whatese the may ose, they coud neve ose the whiteness he attehaf of the nineteenth centu, when the emancipated saves wee

stipped of the poitica gains povided by the ivi Wa amendments

111


24/222

THE WAGES OF HTENESS

nd Civil Rights Ats reeives little ttention in this book lthoughit ws during this er tht the heenvolk republi ws onsolidted.

en ongress gree to en the militr ouption o te eeteConederte sttes in 1877, it signled the nl bndonment o hereorms initited during th poswr Reonstrution nd theresurgene o white Southern Demorts. Southern leisltuesourts n viilnte groups imposed pternlisti regimes thtredued Blk iiens to disenrnhised segreged pesnrwith ew venues towrd eonomi or olitil sinine. Roedierdeveos his nlsis o the populr ommitmen to white supremto show h even suh ndmenl trnsormtion o soie s

the emniption o our million enslved Blk people id notdiminish the ingrined pereption o their inerorit. But Roedigerexplins 'emniption mde or muh more onsistent nd drmtihnges in how ... workers oneived o hemelve'

he ere propritin o whiteness b Irish immigrnts povdesthe rdgmti se stud or Roedigers theor. It ws n openquestion in the mind o nineteenhentur white Protestnts whetherthese Celi immigrnts belonged to te whte re. he were viliedsegregte nd sted s ava, imian, nd bial e mperve

dng the Irish Ctolis who ooed into meri in the wke othe Gret Fmine to dene themselves s white - despite thei hedo the Brish nd their North erin desendn ws tht publind pshologil wge t whiteness promised desperte workerssggling o nd their w through n indusiliing world th heldthem in ontempt.

he nlsis in The Wae o iene strts om position Blksholr hve long rtiulted the re problem is white problem.Roeiger elieves te tritionl theoretil pproh o bor historwill ontinue to perpetue n oversimplied view o re in whihwhiteness is onsidered ntur unti it reognizes the w workerspripte in te retion o their own ril identit. Now thtthe neoMist perspetive whih sees workers s historil torsmng teir own oies n reng eir wn ulur ormsdomintes the stud o the working lss this shoud be lerNonetheless th new lbor histo sems relutnt to cowledgethe prtiiption o the workers in the onstrution o witesupemc nd witeness linging o vrious orms o the ssump

on ht coomic lons oducd rst tttudes. Rodr is

V


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NN

ritia of the referene Marxist historians give ass ove rae, onthe grounds that it as greater objetive vaidit and terefore ore

politial iortane i not

to draw reise lines separating rae and ass but to draw inesonneting rae and ass' e argues for a reonetuaiation ofthe study of ass that wi reognie the way rae operates to eatelass onsiousness

Rae as deonstrated a ower to oarize everone ProfessorLani Guinier as obsered that Aerians have earned to see raeas an isse of bae and unishent'6 She notes that within the

poaried iate of our oitia debate, there sees to be no ongerany will to do ore than bae rae for our robes Soe see theagnue o e robes a e souos as so oee,they believe the soutions the probe thin the anaysisRoediger brings to the eaning of whiteness wi have lasting ree vane if his insights iuinate the rearabe ower of rais toerpetuate itsef f, as e argues, the newy foring woring assof the nineteenth entur too whiteness as a eans of respondingto fears of deendeny and angis over te iosition of aitaist

disine, does that redit a resrgene of wite sureay toounter fears triggered by the siraing risis over gobaization, down ward obiit, and iigrant worers? Whee an te oor, the worngass wite, Bas, Latinos and others nd oon ground,Guinier ass, if we annot reognize our oetive sefinteest?Ceary, the spurious wages that white rais aid og ago ontinueto bedevi deoray and diinis our huant

N

New aven, Connetiut

ebruar 200

o Morrso laying in he Dark Whiene an he iera aginaionmrdge 992,

WB Du Bos he Wrld and Aica An Inqui ino he ar Wch ica halaye in Worl io e Yok 9, 2 Quoed belo 2

3 WB u Bos lack Reoncion in America e Yor 9 93 ,

000


26/222

TH WAGS OF ITNSS

4 Ibid.5 Mark D. Howe, e., The Occasional Speeches of Oliver Wende Holmes, Cambrge,

M 1962,2.6 ron S. Woo, The dal of the Amecan Revolution, New York 1992,30137 See below, 988 Pierre L. van den Berghe, Race and Rac, New York 1978,126.9 See below, 59-60

10 The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constittion, rae in 1865,abolished slaverthroughout the United States, and authorized Congress to pass appropriate legislaton toenforce its provisions. The Civil ighs Act of 866 was passed over President Johnson's veto, garanteeing citzenship to all persons bo in the United States and authorizingcrmn penaes or scrmnaor conuct owars e newy eancpae czens. n1868 he Fourteen Aendment to te Consttion was raed, eiminating questionsabout the consttonali of he 1866 Civl Rghts Act. The Enforcement Act of 1870and the Ku Klux lan Act of 1871 gave federal courts he ahori to interene in te vilante acons of Southe mobs who terrorize eed Blacks to subjugate tem to whiteconol, and the Fieenth Aendment, rated 1870,prevented states om denyingBlac men e right to vote. 1875 Congress passed another Cil Rights Act, barringracial discriinaon in public accomodaons, which e United States Supreme Courfound unconstonal in 1883,paving e way for its 1896 decision Ples v. Ferson,163 U.S. 537,that found no constuonal bar to racial segregaon under he principleof separate but equal.'

11 See below, 1751 See Ralph Ellison, Beang that Boy,' in Shadow and Act, New York 1964, 99-

100; W.E.B. Du Bois, The Wor and Aica, Chapter 2; James Baldwin, The Pce of theicket, New York 1985, 66, 8789,251.

13 See below, 10

14 See arbara J Fields, Ideolo and Race in erican Histor,' J MorganKousser an James M. Mcherson, eds., Region, ce ad Recostction, New York 198,150-51,168-69. Fields concludes that, unlike class wich can asser its economic realitindependent of social consciousness, race has only a spurios objecvit, us the toconcepts are not equivalent. She writes that race became he ideological medium through

whch mercans coonted quesons of soverei and power .. and despite the changesit has undergone .. remains a predominant ideoloical medim because e manner ofslaver's unraveling had lasng consequences for the relatons of whites to other whites, no less than for tose of whites to blacks.'

1 See below, 1116 Lani Guinier, Beyond nner Take l: Democracy's Conversaton The Nation,

Januar 3,1995,85


27/222

Iuci the ite ke

e reait te et an the ersistence ofte eusion of wite supremacy in tis coun

causes any rea concept o eucation to be asremote a as muc to be feare as cange or

eeom itself'

J ames BalwinTe Pre of te Tet 1985)


28/222


29/222

O Abpy :

h I was t t sl bca pssbl t ht Lttl La ptcha, a st (a l vht a, th las bst pla as I t th caval wth h hs was a s accptac, bt as wwa t h as th stas as M w pc a

l that h was t spps t hav a I was t spps tw h ha hs , h tl cspatall, s a th s kw ths at that th was attac Blacs a st s b h N s w a Blac N v thsall Gaa qa a a t whch w w p Lcal ll hl that laws ba Blac b tw a sw t th val that , ts tl b attach at last as ch t ts a as t ts apalha

v a allwht tw ac was v abst la absltl l Ga acst a ta a w lsssatchs Ish ss bt ss lttl acst ll s c tw th ces chac b chat E, a, ,/atc a b t t c tas a st bats sptW la that l a hts w t alwas a w aast ,s W la t t la Last s a bab. la t sav t b sttatsl qc was b ch W l t t b clths that w a bht eal a blacs w cs thhl cs

M ths al ca a th halBlack c wh thh a Msssspp vs t, a w sp ls ach s a

3


30/222

TH AGS OF HITSS

agig Cair eigbrd I te eary sities, te i rig e-et cae t Cair ad s did a rius ite bacas Decisie

y id 's pit f ie as e deisi f te it faters e as adistat reae I aed unce' t se Cair's siig p raterta itegrate it Sie tere ere fe ite ds t pay it ad it asuthikabe t pay t ac, tis deeat r cii rigts seeed eru aied at me I as ced that Back kids y age ere caegigautri in a very appeain ay tey crssed streets i f agite drivers it a deiberate speed ad smeies rater ess

t te te e ts ade e retik racis My amiy, arers ad ay te un supprters ad ir cers i quar

rig, teepne rk, printing, teacig and pipettig, ed n dubtsbut te supreay, ad I ke aracis trug juir igs Racia attudes did vary seat, ever My fatr's famiyed t te retiet racis f te isuar Gera sa tw yte's side, y auts Cair ere far re pe i teir seatnadictr deuciats f Backs efare ad f Backs taigur' jbs But they as ad a sa paterna streak, epressed especiaytard a desc cae fr a afday er tw wee ad wpeased everye (icuding, I ater gured ut erse by epeaedyreferng t e f y cusis as pet gdig fr a ite gir' tte rst si f i rigts ac, suc paterais aised r udGean en e red upn amy argumns, my patna aGeman) reatives ated the idea tat e Irs eritage y maternaeaties as a Back e, as te ack Iris' ad resuted interixig wit sipwreked saes

ate as y esa year i sc I repeated t y cassateste arguents I'd eard m te reaes in Cair Ba paid ntaes and therefre ugt t vte e disseted pia, but ted f ais sed se sigt ra We a ated Bacs i te

abstrat, but ur greatest ees ere te Bak stars te grat StLus Cardinas baseba teams te sixies Te ste, as e as tetaet, payers ike u rck, b Gibs and Curt d asreerenced Mre udny, e adired Muaad i as urgneran's nest spman e stened t Cuck Berr and TiaTurer, bt based e St uis area, tug nt yet t Mies Dais,b a fe ies up te rad A e us becae r as Mtusic, especiay Skey Rbis sa siga f rebei i igsco as t ae te car radi barig usic St uis's su sta

tin TZ

ese stes did t suppat acism Mst te were deied

4


31/222

EY

prepoca B ey i opn e possibii o anracis an y owexpeiences pushe me in a irecion Te cit o Cairo coue to

ecie now i y nce as ayor I ha eveope the habit o goigo chrc a e sma Cahoc chrc or ac ere origiay becasethat churchs whte prest race hough mass ha the tme tha it ooa te wie curc This Bac paris auay became a center o cviighs ac in Caio, an I increasing was mae o wone whetewhte wee g te tow, as they ha the swmmg poo ore oho o o whe supremacy The commo som i my hoetow eha was ipossibe o ae bses, o en o rive hough owowas S Lous a earby c eusaiig a becomig amost woy Bac But ree ays a wee, oe o pay pubic pa enis i Stous I roe the bus rough Eas S Lous ith o ciets butpeasan oes My bes iens mong s payers wr aso ck sen o Dc ui hur shes coach acism increasingy ust maeo sense o me

In y nior year o h scoo 96869, George Waace swepvoes in the schoo's oc pesienia ecio ae a suet' oatig speech which ecare to a assemby o sue have othigaist iggers ver eica sou own one' My seior year wasuc set i counseors' an pricipas ' oces because a ew o us

raise he ssue o racsm he schoo ewspape beore i was cesorea ate a uergou paper Whe the stuen govemet voteo se oey o he Bac Unie Fon i Caro, a he boke oose e ere hreaene h puson, some o e rebeious su woha spoe most vocieousy o Waace oy or maybe o becameu best supportes

U ver eceny I wou have sippe a this auobogaphicaaera, sure ta my eas o race a he whie worig cass ew outo coscious eecio base o hisoica research Bu much o ha

reecon e bac to wha y eary years ih have augh e he oeo ace i enig how whi wores oo o ony at Bacs bu attemseves; e peasiveess o ace; he compex mxure o ae aess a ogig i the racis ough o whie worers the reoshipbeee ace a ec My ow youh expeeces a ty ereo ve eren, excep oucome om ose o may we wogcss s at the tme cou ave gven e he cea hees o isboo Bu te re s o expaiig how whe a why whiteness'became so mpor o he orkers o reqire coscious reecona sorca reserc


32/222

T AG OF ITN

s d e te Pobe

y queso t ge eigtee ws wy ies wte to be wite wy 't te wo edes sie te ist titio s -ise ost of te itelletl tools use but i te i it as ot lee to pess fo sers to te uestio of hy te ite orkng lsssettes for beig wite y e o aswe to te ite proble' anigore e expltoy powe of istoil terilis but nether doesasm as prsly horid onsistly lp us ocus on th centralissue of wy so y orkers d theslvs s ite

Wites of olo v oe raise te issue srply perps beuse

tey ve ad to Tere is long trition atng bk t lst to CrlBiggs's wi of sixt yers go of Bl poig out tt re i teUS s ot egro proble' but poble og wites is trdio s explored te ost of iteess to ite orkes it EB DuBois rg t s bd eoug to ve te oseuees of [rist]tougt fll upo oloed people te orld over but te ed it seve ose we oe osiders wt tis ttude i to e [ite]woke is i iel ws storte e beg to wt ot oort for ll but por ovr oter e e did ot lov umanid e ted iggers' O s Jes Bld put it s log s you think

youe wite tees o ope for yo' or does tis dio revolvesolely roud e plitil probles iteess rises Te it proble te uesto of wy d o ites re e onlusio t teirwhiteess s eigl is itelletl eve rsi problefo Blk writes like Rlp Elliso wo obsees Soute ites ot wlk tlk sig oeive of ls o jusie ik of se love tefily or eeo tout espoig to te presee of groes' Mosteetly epowee by t Ti Moiso lls te suessl ssutt feiist sholrsip [de] o tdiiol litery disourses'

ovelists d rts like orrison Hazl Crby Bll ooks ad Coouso av tellngly ntrrogad onep o tess uso rdse reades t il ideties re ot oly lk tio s tiveeri nd so o; tey are ls it To iore ite enii is toreduble i egeoy by talizing it

Te i boy of wri by ite is i e United Stts asbo ulie' witeess ovesiplie e Tese eaesses e ft tt e lgely eroue e weesses o bo erilibelis eooservs were e is oere ve iited teuee of e very rel ist oibuios to te sty of e Teel st otibutos re oroughly prestd i Brbar ilds's

6


33/222

UBIGHY HEY

provocatve Ieolo an Race in American stor' Fiels arges thatrace cannot be seen as a biolocal or physical act a thng) but must be

seen as a noon tat is poounly an in its vey essence ieological'Race or Fiels is then enrely socially an historically consucte as aneology i a way that class is ot Because people eally o w notown lan an workplaces class has objectve' imensions Moreover raceis constucte iereny across me by people the same social classa ieen at the same me b people whose class posons erThese later points not peculiar to Fiels but epresse by her wth conserable oce an eloquence unerpin this book They implictly call orhistorical stuies that ocus on the racism o a class as well as o a society

But wth certain eceptions writers in the Maist traition have

not oe acte on such insights he point at race is create hollyiolocally an hstorcally hle clas s not holly so cate haoen been boie own to e oon that class (or e economc') ismore rea moe namental more basic or moe mpot than aceboth in political terms an in tes o hstorical analysis Thus thepioneerng Black socologist lve Comwell Co wites e shall assume that economic relaons orm e bass o moern race relaons'This view which inorme an eorme the practice o e socialistmovement ung its heyay n he US leas in Co's case to the poical

conclusion that Blac an hites shoul look to classbase revolution asthe soluon to racism Co obsees here will be no more cackers" gg" ae a ocialist evo ecase the social cessi othose es wll hav been emove'

That rosy ew o a literal corresponence been racim an socialnecessity' an o the possibii o an uambigous revolutionay soluonto acsm is laely one But th iea that class shoul be politicallyprilege has not as is wtnesse by the outpouring o recent le anlelibeal agmets that the Black eeom movement must now couchits appals in tems o class raer than race No has the prleng oclass ove race any means gven way ithin Marist an neoMaisthistorical analysis ven Fiels avers At times she nicely balances theieological creao o racal atues wth thei maniest an ngoingimportance an thei (albeit ieolocal) e he writes It ollows thatthere can be no unerstann the problems arisin om slaver an itsestrucon whch ignoes their acial orm recoizing that race is anieoloca noton an that not all ht mricans hl the same ieology oes not mean ismissing racial qustions as illusor or ural' Butshoy theeae we lea that uig Recosucton howeve uch

the Republicans ma have perceive te siuaon through the veil a


34/222

THE WAGES OF HITENESS

cial deolog, heir sraon h eedmn hd othing t do whcolo.' Insead, t usatons w tos tat a . . . pped agan

d ga, wd, w ss ocss o omaon as ed o nduc m ad wm unokn tmake dscpln wok . . . for a wa. '6 Rc dsaas no · threit' of las

Tese are ic bu mpon mats. It s crtanly u t racsmmus e s in clas and economic cnex Cox was ih qey i Beke: Eroeans i o sa th ne to cecbuees lery, as dmnd ogan ad ots ave so, aocool ad and owship poded e ctxt o th megnc osong whe acial conscousness in early Vrna.7 T book will argue

that workg clas ormaon and t systeac devlopmn o sns wines wen and in nd for th US wi wokng class. ontess, e lein of class over ac s ot alwas pduc o mannl. To st rc wtin socal formas s absouty css, bu teduce ac to class s damagng. I, o us ng ld aist mags,racism is a lare, lowhangng branch of tre at s roed in cass reas, w ust sanl nd uss bnc s nt thse as th roo, ta peopl may or on m nto t nch thanthe roots, and that t bst way o shak roos my at mes b y

gabn e branc.es tnic elnan o why he dtiona Mis i mphasizn class ovr rac s not usel a n ode fr ang up consdraon of btt sats. O a poblm w adioaas aroach t wha ake a is cenl ask pong out conomc dmnon acsm s aread n y s n t camanam. I a ue eanless way, t c pm' s csstntyeduce to one o class. For xapl, wn th outspk acs andorm Ku l la lad Dad Dk won st h Lousanlelaure n ay

989on eert commentato aot cam on

he mong news sws t announce ta unemymnt wa hg nDke' nl e n eee e ee ed econc eane ahe n acim. ewe wre u ae heexoc noon ha, wen wh workes eac o unmploymnt y ctg a pomt wt supras h prm t t ar pram,ty a acn on class terms, rate th as wokng css ra Such angmn s to b td o e Tda' sow, ut a a e mustn wa o erenae el sngy om suc nayss. Smay, swo nong at bo nolbealsm ad costs ag tat c

is n (or o o o e) e ie' u ecmc goh y

8


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O ATOBOGY AD TORY

eparable om ace wl ove conc at only eem to revove roundrace

econd problem th adtional Mat aalye of race that,ile rg o ow he ca dmenon of racm, they ave ended tococenae on he lng ca role n perpeang racal oppreon,and o cat whe woker a dpe, even rto oe. Communtpa leader Eal Broder accont of ack Johnone experece hepacinhue unon trggle of 9 9 ggle n wch e wokncla wa deepl pt by race prode one reven, eeme, example:

... al obstaces to u and soiarity cam not om either group of workersthemslves, ut rom h nems o th woring cass - om captast press,om the bosss, o th ourgos pocans ... an om the reaconary A.of L ocado.9

Co ecoe t vew theorecal langage. Racm, he arge, eocoatdna concomitan of e racal epotave pracce of a lngcla a capalc oce r agan, n wrtn of the m Cow ytem he Soh, e explan ha ever egregation barer a barrer p upeee he nd blck people er eloe. o le dd

a he eploer o antaned hoe barrer. The worker, thew, arely eceve and occaonally ret rac dea and pracce bave o role n etng hoe pracce

he noai perpectve tat ave e pat ent year coeo domnae e d of he workn ca, perone n the US by er-be Guan ad n Bran by EP Tompon, houd hep all noqeion an heor ha od a racm mpy ce o he clacte om e commandng egh a hc creaed e newlabor hor, watever t eaee, ha made the emendo pocaland analcal conrbon of hown ta worker, eve durg perod

of rm l ca hegemony, are orcal acor ho make (con-raed) choce and create her ow cltral form.

Howee, fo reaon I have ed to epore elehere, e new aborhtor a eate o epore work ca wene ad epremac a ceao, n par, o the whte worng cla elf. Fewhitoran woud adopt an outook that mpy characterze am, aCommn pa car G Hal oe, a onopoly aa debeaeaeg perpo 2 Some have, ongy I hink even getedhat aptal an the tate o not foter racm, or hat capta doe not

pro o racm ad act to ee racm ended13 Bt oveme awaom conpratora ew of racm ad toar a conderao o he

9


36/222

TE WAES O TESS

agency o the woking class in the soca conscton o ac have notested n many cassspecc sdes acs e vaabe genea h-

toes o acsm, especay ose by Geog ec and asGsse, ey many n dence m poca eas, ntectas andscenss14 Eqay se sies ac and ppa c gneay dnot exploe e diclt qesin o specic oe e woking cassn ceang popa clal eaments o ace no te specc eanngso acsm n popa ce o woes. Ses ngng ac and aotogehe, inclding e pioneeing wok o Hebet Hil and Philip ne,many stay on the tean o ade nion pactces gang ace.6 Whenthe moatns o whte wong class i accepg acs ae cn-sdeed, ely smple ecnomc expanations hngng n advantages owte sn iege' n he abo aet too easy pevai17

o ae te es o sticay minded econs and scogstswly sasng n pdng altenate nteetans e sg-metaon' tees Mchae Reich, Davd Gdn, ca Ewadsand othes mae e se pont that acsm bents te captast class,bt at mes n langag s cae t avd any cspa att s ca tey a nt eng a eo acs bt a pca bs-vaon abot acsm. Rec, o example, wtes, Captalsts benet oaca ivisins whee o not they have day olecey pac

ced acial scmnaon. The othe maj sciocnmc mode discssing acis emphasizs split labo maets, which e seen as vexingto capital and as beneng dominant wokes' against cheap abo' tts theo at best eains te ests, not te ns, w wngcass pvege da onaic, te ost pnen est splt bmakets, ls tat the mnant wkes' dd not gna gan epstn by acay excsst ve bt ath by stcaaccdent' . Tpcaly, neite seentaon he n spt ab maketeies e te possbiy at acism cmes ot ab and bw

ete ntetans e possb that acs s t a atte beadaone, bt is n addon a way in which wht woes have ce t loat e wo.8

Tee ae sgns, in e ongoing w sc scls as Gwendon Rbn D. Kelley, Ec Anesen, Dan L, Jseph tte,les Janews, Rog oot, Mcae ney, ane senbegand, abov , Aexande San, tat weg a w sca andc st o c nd bo my bgg ta waeas opened b scoas n socal hsto t std gd, plaepblicanis and the oes abo cont an dsa scpline inclass omaon, example make possible a mo sopisted

0


37/222

ON AOIOH D HO

sdes o orng cas racm Indeed y begn e sgso e ne abor or ad hn a broad adon. In any ay

repreens an aemp o appy o he eon o race reao choarshp ha akes e agenc o orkng ca peope eroy. I see orkng cass heness a a genere penomenon parcay eresga epressn mae ongng an he pe an pre o repubcacenshp among men. To he exen ha ca rage dey oer space ad sbjec mae aky epenng on ecoar accus sppeened by pmar researc es o he rch oo oeseparaed bodes o horca rng on cas and on race n he nedaes

Bu ome o he od probes od n e ork o Oer ox srecr reen abor orograpy erap mo ero he co ec o omacze member o he e okng css by oposng he probem o y ey came o conder emees h adh ha ress. A he Back hsoan Ne n Pane has ecenyemarked

Th [US bo hton] on p t p thm n honbEpnm n to t gh t nthn EpnAmcn wok t n c m cm

ogh Chtm mnt mo n htoy of th Amcn wong ctn 1

aer's obseaons brng ncey back o e sppesse qeson ohee an e nee or ar o reconcepaze he dy oace an ca. Tere can be no assmpon a he eess o hehe okng cass desere expoaon ony hen e beg o dscsshe hso o ace eaos abor ogazaons. Rahe, ace as a ames been a cca acor n e hso o S ca ormaon.

Ess ois

The ass oeed he precedng seco sugges ha, a es eS e mo preng ak or oan o race and ca no o dapece e epaag race an ca b o dra ne conecg raceand ca. We can ge s aenon o o ace an ca epeneraeom sera soces or exampe, e be o Sa a's andexnde axo' o, ad o a een rece e o raca

oo0 bu n boy o hough as ha o E.B. Du Bos oa ueag e amcs ndee aeccs o ace ad css n

1 1


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HE WAGES O IEESS

U. D Bos wo as a Marxs b aso brog addona prspc-vs o sdy of rac an cass. H was whn broad Back

naonais radon ha Srlg Scky has so w porayd andfro a rao gad a prspcv ny crica of or-sp cass aaysis. H k Ton Morriso LR Jas JasBawn a ohr ac caArca sds o whprob cary saw ss as ara b rss as raa as probac n ca ora a poca rs. Fnay DBos joyd h advana of a crca apprcaon of M Wbrshogh o ac ad sas ad an ab o borrow crcay froWb as w as o h Mas radon.22

s D Boss Bck Recscti coay cra arrproocav horca as x rac ad cass by dsg. Backcoscon s for D Bos h ky o h sor of 'or U] aborovn. Th book s organid arod h acs of workrs bhos works nco for D os racay win raca caoris: hrs capr s nd 'Th Back orkr ad h scod 'T Workr. i abor os o s rc a rsis racs idas bbracs adops ad a s rdrosy acs pon os das Thpob is no s ha hi workig cass is a crica csanpad io racs bt ha cos o hk of isf an s

s as wh23D Bois rards h dciso of workrs o d hss by hr

whiss as dsadab in rs o shorr advanas I sois and pacs h args sch advaags showd p pay packswr h was of whi navbor skd workrs wr hh bohcopd w os of Backs and by wod sndards.2 B va for hwh wokrs D Bos sdd os cosy was as h ps n a bran ndspnsa foraon a v w hy rcivd a ow way w] copnsa in par y a ... pbic ad psychoogica wag.

H D Bos o ony pass sas b x o whc sswas bod p ih ra soca ais. H cos:

They were ven publc deference . because tey were white They were admitted eely ith all classes of white people, to publ nctions [and] publicpa he poce wee an om the ank and he co ependen onther votes eated them wi lenienc Ther votes selected pubc ofcalsand while ths had small eect upon he economc suaon t had great eectupon her personal eant Wite schoohouses were the best te comuni and cosicuously laced and cost anyere o tice t ten es

coloed scools2

1


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ON OOHY ND THORY

A important as the specics are here, stl more important is e ideathat the pleasures of wteness could nction as a wage for whte

orkers That s, stas and prleges onferred by race ould be used tomake up for aienatin and exploitative cass relationshps, North andSouth ite workers could, and did, dene and accept their class posi-tios by ashoning idenes as not saves ad as not Backs

en the did so, Du Bos ared, he ages of whteness oentrne ut to be spurious ericas Supreme Advenre or thathuman eedom which would release he human spirit om ower ust formere meat, an set it ee to dream and sng ave way to a racsm thataused capitalism to be] adopted, forwarded and approved by whiteabor and that runed demoracy Race feeling and the bene conferred by whiteess made white Southern workers forget eir pracicallyidenial terests wih he Blak poor ad acept sted lies for tm-selves an for those more oppressed than themselves.6

Du Bis arged that hite supremacy underned not just workngcass uni but the ver o o many hte workers e connectedracism amon whtes w a isain for ar work itsef, a seeking of sas-acon o the job and a desire to evade rather than conont eoiaionDu Bois hed hat this would have been a beter an more classconsciousnaon and orld had he herge of slave and racism not led he work

ing lass to prize hieness though these are posiions that som neo-Masts and postMarxsts hae ricie as essenalist, ey nonethelessseem to me a moe tat takes us a on step towar seeing he wtenessof e whte wokr in the broad ontext of cass formaon rathe than inte narrw connes o ob competion8 Likewse, e tone ere strivesto emuae that o B Reoto and thus to be more tragic hanangr

t d Mthodsn ts broadest strokes, his book ares at whiteness was a way inwhich white workers responded to a fear of dependency on wage laborand to the necessities of caiaist wok discipline he US workingclas mared, princpaly in the orth, within a saveoding repulic,the heritge of te Revolon made ndepnden a powel masuinepeona dea Bu save aor an reing wage abor proerated inthe new naton One way to make peace with the latter was to dieren-tate it sharp om te forer hough irect comparisons eeenbodage n wage abor were tre out whte saver, te rang cr


40/222

THE WAG OF TESS

of ee labor' unerstanay prove mo duab n popua fo an-tebellum whte woers speially i the North the same me he

we won lass isplne an made aous by fea of epnenybean urin its formaion o onst an ima of the Blak populationas oter' as embon the peinustrial oti arelss sle of ifehe e wre h an e f hs ha a rns fr Ishrian imrant wors vn as th whitenss' ofthese ve worers ws uner ispute

es f pein s suests t the st sx yes fthe nineeenth ent were e formav peio of worn sswhiteness' at least in th North thouh obviously lie habits of minan pattes of setler olonialist oppression of Nativ Ameians form animportan ar f th prhist of worin ass whitness The Ciar an palarly th blows s by Blaks on bhaf of ei oedom uin h wa alle pde in whiteness into qustion Howvwhteness was by that me ly stabli an wll poise rmain enal value foune in Du Bois' phrse nt jst n ni xploi-taon' but on raial follore' 29

erms of meto and even is sy is its dbts to DuBois to the labor historians most inune by ent in estorophy o slavr It paay sks to us t surs ta av

n th sy of slave follor humo song and anae withth same subtlet as have awn in an Stlin Stey30 Thanalysis of whiteness as e pot of spi lsss' ttempts o omto tms wi thei lass never simply eonmi probems b oet-in thir lonns onto a espise ra ws dily out f eoeaw's losin haptes in F d t p Th k f hk in wih a obs ism f th svntnth-and ihtnntur loEuropan bouoisi1 's llyunaowle ebt is to he Feuin dion ow siila debt

espeially o e wok of Fanz Fanon and Joel ov who forelyisist the eed fo iale and ateais pphes hin hepsyhoanal amewo Just as the ti f whi wealth pusheBlas do' Kovel wites so must h presen of ead blaboes hav xert a onnual smultion to th onnued psuit ofabsae mone2 I wor of boh Rw nd ov poon esies onto otes is vr far om bein n idalis ntepis

eaus I have emphasize onstion of ient ruh ohernssan he oen us hanes n lanae as plex ne of a anlass pereptons ths stuy miht apa to bar ha inunes ompsrals iea heors fa os not o s xp n ma

4


41/222

O TOBIO D TO

ng use of he older deas o Ma Bahtn, deas rdiscovred byposscrasm. th cern mportant exceptons, apts o aply

posscrasm o sor av ondrd o oy cas y aozso panlly abou whether docunts and langage ca revea ayingabo as, b also bcas y ar roe o eamn e eraco b ' a a e or or he a a ageneratio ns dere meanns exs.33 Bakh, o th oer hand,hods a ay gven momen . . . langae s sated no only inonusc dalecs . . . bu aso - and for us hs s e ssna on oanages whch are socodeolocal Manng s hus aways uaceed ad socaly coesed, bu s ner abse nor nconnctw soca rlaos Ided, or Ba ad or suc brlla moder,

b o poscrals, sdens of anguage as Rayond llams andArche Gre, he amg o lagage aords meang.34

The po a agage s ad ye mea av o carrd a is early o y a bre eamle. he socas wrr admarme worker San Wer recas ha he 190s ad 190 a e oro Sa Facsco, h dms o h osng wchs o h dcs o spswer calld niggerheads by ck seame. thn o years of te ouse ofhe Secod orld War, he lonshor orkorce n Sa Fracsco wno ag ony a ny icnAmercan mnor o a Back major.

hough he non represenng he dec seamen conue o ecueBack merca mers, he seame acoweded h resc oac losorme y cha r ana. he s becam heads.35 Te ca srs sel sgalld a ew s of socaras nd raca as Ts mags were ere or he weseame n a Jm Crow non, e we logsoreme an eado, ad h Black lonsorm. Gyss mh w av a silaoer w sc a smle loca ame elds sch colexi, wecan aproach dscssio of a dverse working populaon denn andre erms sc as hieng, maste, bss, white sve, cn seant adee hie or wh cosrab repdao u aso wh ecemen

Nots

1 r Briggs uer Noes on [e] Nego uesion in Souern ee Srikes 'h Cmu 8 u 12): 3 EB Du Bos h W ad Aca A nt thar a a d rld , ew or 16 121 aes Bawin as hespoke n he abou s fe h Pr f th ckt See aso Badwin Dar as' n sh /th t, New or 666

2 alh Eisonhadw and Act,

Nw ork 172 116 Coo Fuso as quoe bBellooks resenng henes Seeng ngs o Desre ta 2 March 8 3 Toni

1 5


42/222

THE GES OF TENSS

Morson, 'nspeakable hings nspoken: e roAmerian resene AmerianLiterature, Michigan Qer Ri' 28 nter 1989 esp. 2- and 8 See also ManningMarble, Beyond te Raceass Dilemma, Ntion 232 (11 pril 981 42

Baaa ields, 'deolo and Rce in erian Histoy, in . Morgan Kousser andJames M McPeon, eds, Reion, ce ad Recoon, Ne York 1982, 143 See alsoAand Sxtons inoducon to The Re and FaU ofthe Wite Republic, London 1990, as o rce, s a pocs e ttcentu S; che Om d Howardnat, RJ tio n the nted St, ew or 1988, 6269 Over Cromwe Co,Cte, C a Re: A ty in al ams, Ne York 1 970 (1 94, 3 1 9-0 Can C.Hrnton, ex an Rs in Amca, York 1 965, 7 5

4 Herbe M. unter an Sameer . ham, es, ce, Cs and he rld ysthe cio Oliver C. C, New Yor 1987, 31, nd Cox, ce Retio Emen and oalnam eoit 196, 6

5 See, for example, te or o Wlliam nius Wlson, . he Deinin icanceofce, hicago 1978, an he dvanaged he Inne Ci, he ndercls and PublicPol, Chicago 1987 dolph L. Reed, Jr., The e Jacon hen0en, Ne aven, on.

1986 aen Wnker, 'Civil Rights cholars ay Economi Equai udes Minories,Chronic oHigh ucation, 29 Nomber 1989, I I 6 Fies, deoo and Race, 165 7 . Cox ce Retio, 6 Edmund rgan, Amecan e, Amen ree h

Oral oConil Amera, e York 1975 8 For example, Wner, ' ivil Rhs Sholas, I I an alter E lliams, he

tate Agit Bc, e ork 9829 Earl Browder, 'Some Eerences in Organizing e Nego re, he Com

muni, Janua 190, 4010 o Ce, Clas an e, 470; Hunter an braham, Race, Cla and the rld yst,

24-251 1 See ad R. Roeiger, 'hat as So reat about Herbert uan? Labou/Le

avail 2 png 1989 255-61 and 'Labor te

in Rae and orking assHisto, in Mike Davis and Michael Spner, eds, Reshapin the Le Pular lesin e 980, London 1988, 287-308

2 Gu Hall as quoted in E. San Juan, r., 'Probems in te Maist Proje oheorizingRae, Rethking 2 (Smer 1989) 59

1 See, for example, Wlsons Deinin icance Race and Ena onaih, 'vanced Capitalism and Bak-ite Reaons in the United States, Ameican ooicalRi 41 (Ferar 1978 .

14 George Fredrion, The Bck ge in i Mind: he D A-AmcanCharater an tiny 8794, ew York 191 homas Gosset, Race h Hto an dea in Ameca, New ork 1983

15 Among the best su works a illiam L Van Debg, lave and Race in Americanopur Cre, Maison, Ws. 1984, and Josph osn, ao he Rse and Decline ofan

An Jeste New York 198616 Pip Foner, Ornized ab and the Bck ker Ne York 1976 bert Hill,Rce Ethnic in Oganiz Labr adison, is 198 Aexaner Stons he Rse Fa ofthe Wi Replic is pathban ecpon hee.

1 7 Roeiger, 'Labor in te Sn, passim.18 Omi and Wnant cial ation, 037 Mihael Reih, l neqal A Polii

ca&1c rneton, 98 , 268- , qote om 26 Rei also p 268allows tt sklld workers my ga m cil iscriminaon but soves is poblem forhis theor y pacing slled worers among 'high inome htes Bonaich, · 'dvanedapitlism and lackite Raons, 3 5

19 Nl rin Painter, 'French heories Aerian Sengs Some houghts onTransferabili,oual mn Hto 1 Sprig 989 93

20 Stu H, 'Re, uaon Socis Scud i Dianc, UNES Sool Theo: Rce d C/ma/ a a a

1 6


43/222

O OO D O

oton esp 7-69 Sxo, Hisorica xpaaos o acial quali, rxt ptv (Summr 979): 46-6 See also Coltte Guillami, ace d Nure: Sysemo Marks', n (a 9 ): 2-44

Stelig Stckey, v Clr tonlt o n t onton oB mrNw York, 97

2 2 See Georg Fredickso, on o R Htorl rpv on vR n ol nql Middlow, Co. 9 rbet Apteker, ed., Corrponn o B Bo Amers, Mss. 973-7 :67 and 3:44-

3 .. Du ois, Bl R(ron n Unt tt 860-880 N York 9779) 727 ad passim

4 bid., 3 and 633342 bid., 7-726 bid., 3 d 700 7 ois, Bl Ront( 73 347 63334 d 77 See also ois,

Dies, Mob ad Scab, Limed', C 9 (Marc 92): 23362 Sea Wilez, Agaist Excepoalism: lss Cosciousss ad America

Lbor Momet, nttonl Lbor n Worn Cl Ho 26 (all 9) esp 3 Sealso Norma Geas, x-Marxism ou Subsace: ig a eply o Lacla ad oe' L R 69 (Mayu 9): 4346 ad Corl West g arsm',ont Rv 3 (ebua 9) for some goo sese o essealsm.

9 D os, on obo o Con e 94 3 Sckey, lv Cltr Larece Li, Bl Cltr n Bl oon

omrn ol ot om l to rm Ne or 9773 Georg ack, rom non to n n o t B Commnty

Wstport, Co. 972 es. 2-47 For e specic debt is book oes o aick, see mNoes o Wor Clss acism', ot [Scod Series] 7 (Summer 99) 66ack's (ad my) dbt, to Hgl, is also obios

32 Koel, t R oto Ne York 97 97 See also ratz aoBl Wt Ne York 967

3 3 excepos iclud work by e group cred o joural blt i di ad Joa Wallc Scott, nr n t olt oHto York 9

34 Mael Holquis d Cal merso, eds, D mnton or . B tn, i, e. 9 esp. 77 See also amod illiams, Kor Abl Cltr n o e York 976 ad Ace Gree's ortcoi stdies o

n ad of obb3 Sta Weir, leter o e autor, 3 May 99

1


44/222


45/222

2

The Prehstory of te iteWrk: Stlr Colonasm, Race

nd puba bo 1800

e elecios are wo or los ese days, e og paers of ewe worker receie considerale aeo I popular usae, e ere wrker oe preses wieness (ad aleess, as i coseraie

Docras' cals for abadog special iess' ad rerin e paro polics appeali o e aerage worker ' a le of arge alssy os ac a aae wok' s ceasgly BlackLao, a ad/or feale Mos fascinaig are socologs Dadale's rece oseraos o e selfidecaio of we worersale wries a e New ersey ceical works as sdied prefero all ess worg ' (and lowr iddle class' r ddleclass' we descri er cosmpo paers Te prase ongmen spea a oce, Halle oseres, of a class ideni and of a ender

ide B is acal sage also sgess a de, a idecaion of eess ad wor so sog a i eed o ee be spokeTa is, e wie ceial workers do no describe as worng me'Blac wo do siilar jobs ad wo are ore lkely o e LO es a a we ecal workrs' egors a caor isisead see as arally' wie, and Back workers ecoe inders'wo are sol sspeced of bein loafers' as well 1

Pas aalss' o co o w wokr' as lkwslided isoras e es work rigig oeher race, slae ad prel War labo as eded o focs arrowy o wer a wy wie

worng eople sppord or opposed aslaer iiaes Te d of


46/222

HE WAE O HE

work aaogos o Dad Brio Dass briia sdis of h owhich sc of sar ad of a aboiiois criq o sarad wag abor a or dfsib pracic for h AgoAricaborgois s rais o b do h rspc o savs ic oh cosciosss of US workig cass. Nor do w ha a sdy ofic workrs aaoos o dd Moras obig ac-co of h ways i which sar shapd whi pros of racdo ad wok i cooia rgiia Ad y w kow ha o 'whisa o abor ab whi worrs cod o bg oece eelve w reerece e ac lave a creaigy o idoo of rac. If as Das shows h discors of sarad aboio shapd ha of bor rfor i idihcr

Bai whch hd o sas w shod o b srprsd ha a siarrocss occrrd i S which hd for iio.2

is book o oy iws h wh workr as a hsorica phoowhos ris ds aaio aso as o of rahr rc oi Tharg is ha h words ht ad orkr (or or o aaogosrs ik ht bor, ht sav ad a hos of or phisicsas cocig rac ad cass bca aigy aird oy i hitth cr. hy bca paird drig a i i whch UdSas whos cis wr gh by hir roioar cor ad

rbica idoo o c bo oiica ad cooic idpdc,bca a ao i which b 860 roh haf osa bor forcwas dd o wag abor ad sbjc o w fors of caiais abordscipi.3 hs sahodig ric whr idpdc was pridb whr scay aog Norh arsas i was aso hrad hbodag of Bac srd as a ochso by whch dpdc addadao wr asrd. Racia forao ad cass foraio wrhs bod o a ach ohr a r Howr hs pocssook ac oy ar h Roio ad ary dsra capiaiscooc chas had cobid o ds h copcaig isss ofArica poica 'sa o Briai ad of arios fors of owagddc aog whs. h wi workr arrid i h aryih cr a arria coicidig a cosdrab ris ipopar racis i h rba Norh.

his is o o say ha h sh ad ighh cris wr apriod of oracia opia i Arica. Nor s i o say ha arisas adaborrs i hs ary yars wr cssariy ss iky ha ohrAricas o w soci racia rs. Isad s o ar awhar acis ads wr rs hr wr by ad ar o co-

was o coc whiss h a dfs of os ddc as

2 0


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a workr The varitie of eoomi epee whie a Blak alo he perpo of ate ria a ovrly inp madquaios o color an seili problemaic The an o pennrlationhip i no prmi ark comparions been wae labor aslav Morovr only w he in politizao of the eoluoar enerao i e ieal of inpnen iself ake on i ll anmanysie force among h 'lowr orrs n whe mrica This chapr hror iscuss h 'prhior o th whi woke I xplores heimporanc of stlr colonialism an atBlack aues i creang apopular ese of whine in colnial erica Bu i also show whyh coul no he colonial prio moi ok in he ame way thai woul in nieeh cur an how he Reoluto hlpe o

chang cial manig o whie by rang nw poibiliti which woul b raliz during th accelera ormaton o he workngcas n nnn cn nn mchanc wth ht.

t Strs d Rd Idis

Th erm ht aro a a sinaion for Europan plorrs ras

a ler who am io conac wih ria an he indieouspeope of h erca A uch appar vn bfoe pemanenBritish semen in Norh mrica I early usas i eria srva much o iinish uropan elers om ave ericans as oisngush ican om Europeans5 Thus he pehso f he whiworkr begi wih h stler image of Nav ricans Moreovrh ima dveloped by olon ratoaliz dipoio o Namrican om h lan ha a sron connecio o work an o icipline l oo hl ha mprovin sexually abanon 'lazynia were failin o 'husband or 'subue h reoures Go haprovide an hus houl forfi hoe resoure Work an whenessjoi i h arum for ipoeio Selr hehr or no heywork arr or mor eaily ha Naive ericans cam o oierhmlves 'hardworkin whi in counrpoin o heir imainao ofnian sls o li

By he early nineeenth cen he small an winling nmbers oNave mercans espially in he Norea wher he laboring ad arianal whie populaion wa coenra mad irc experinc withInians less han common Howevr aniInan racism an oner

mhs ha consierabl saying powr Herman Mellle saronically

1


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THE ES OF HTEESS

put it, ndian rapine hang mosty ceased though region where it onceprevailed . . . Indianhang has not i like degree ceased w it.'

iaon' connued to dene isel as a negato o svage' ineed to invent svage in order to dene itsl. te' ttudes towardmanliness, land se, seuali, and indidalis nd olence were in-ece b real conas wh, an anci ideas ao, Naveericn Workn eole cerainl di not esae hese aties, eveni hey no nealize e in eact he sme wa as oer socialgroups. oreover, e queson of esion to lands ocui Na-e n eed ont o e d on o cularinterest to worng eople through e Revoluon an ear Reulicaand Jconian ears Land was, as we shall see, a centrl ise in the ear

abor movement, an isue that many organiers cloel connected to thpossiilie o economic indeendece i the Unite States. No srpris-ingl, antIndian hought laed a hge role in he evelopmen ofAmericn Rcia goSonism, he articlar ran of whieness'ha Reinld Horsman ha convninl arue was ineecal asen-ant n e US 18507

But desie the maies importance o anInian racis i ahion-ing he elpercepon o white ercan Indian wer ot ltelye conterpoint against whc Euroerican workers cod dene

themselve a white. er the ailure o earl aems o reuce hesavaes o cili' eslang he, i eae lear ha e ra ofwheIndian ontact outside e ae would rn on lad nd onquet, not on labor. By e ime that signicnt nmer o mericnscame to grips wth wage laor hose ve ercans who did reainwere in an case on consingl cegorize, lell at lest, s olored'or even muato', somees ecause he ha xe morenumerous Black populaons and somees even when the had not. Infol sage, the interesng te ed apeared in he 18 Os as adescripon o Naive mercans rough racial lanag origiall ap-plied to the more familiar lack olaon.8

ven on a mc lel, whout wdespread direc whtenia conact Nave ericans see poorl as fois agas whi whies coldmeasre emselve as workers omparisons with Black slaves or evenote ee' Blc we teptg rcily ece wte hdened ese op as serie hus, b considring range o comarsons wth Bacs in weighng his stats s whte worker, e whelaorng man cod arte a selimage hat, deendin on hs won,emphasized eier hs pride in inepedence or his ears of rown

deenden. Bu the yVsoril Nave American ale was seen2


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H HY H H

as indpndn so much so ha he was used oddly enough as smbol ohe mercan Reoluo no us a he oson Tea Par bu by manypolcal caroonss of he day. Any semac socal consrucon o hewe worker's poson ha used he Nae ercan as he oher'would erefore hae had o ke peole of color s a model aher hanas a nege reference pon. Ths mage would no cach on n an waymore wdespread han he gong nae' o a ew whes n he r ade

In he coex of he esern lad queson, workers who dd reecon Indas shared he general propens of colonal seler oulaons omze he numers of naes n conesed areas and he amou oland o hch hey could lay clam. The dea ha he ndan was dsappearg made hm less aalale as a yardsck aans whch whe labor

could measure s own poson. One nneeenhcenr mnsrel book,or eample ncluded an elaborae skech ed Races' ll o puns tnn on tncton n rc oc ctor or rThe shor sngle pun on Nae Amercans smply observed, TheIndan's race s neary .' For a arey of reasons, he we workercould meanglly speak of beng a wages slae bu no of beng a wageIa'. He could complan of hang o work ke a nger' bu no oha o work lke an Indan'

t ovr Bck

If he whe worker' deeloped as a selconscous socal caegor manlyby comparng hmself o lacks, we mgh ask wheher hs rocess do en n he seeneenh cenu aher han he nneeenh. Indee,hrop Jordan's ll and eloquen v k races t root oercan racsm efore Jamesown showng ha he anmus warhngs ad people who ere dark was already a powerl orce n heBrsh orldew. heher he package o Amercan aes' owar

race ae rse o a lllown and coheren deolog of racsm able toshape whe supremacs acions beore 100 remans a maer o shadebae among hsorans. o oo do he elaed quesons of weheracsm made or a relaely speedy and unconsdered embrace slaery mecas, or wheher slaer gradually eoled dre maly bsocal esos and aor demands among whes and was less he resulha he cause of acs audes. 1 1 These ssues are dcl enoughwhen consderng edence drawn om he records le by he polcalleaders heologans and nellecuals he sources mos aore by lead

ng sorans of racal hough. Far ess suded and robably a more


50/222

TE GES OF IEESS

copx s h qson of ow fr non w coonss adcorny dvdd word no rac rs nd d nrna wspra Apn o w svnnh d ncnw rcan as owar Backs 'fro boo p provdsaos prfc sron of Barbra dss con a rca ds ar 'proscos crrs sos coxsn q cryw r sn opposs Nonss ovra pc s carno o js rrn ay anBck ds as poran parsof prso b no sor of w workr

e le d n s bn 67 nd 8 h'owr sors of ws appar o v bn psny ckn n rcaconscosnss. rps hy d nvr y bbd h w

spracs ads of arr soc dscrbd by Jordn Or pr-haps as Adn Vn s ssd y ca s racss b sowd'sns of rodn prjdc on bcon] or faar Back nnd won 3 n any cs raca ns wr on drwn q wavrny boo of soc Bfor 180 rn 'ddy d wasbrac and sard no ony dsr for nd b so soca occasonssodr n rbllon and sos sa hosod. Nor andSo w ndnrd sns d s wh Back (nd vn Inn) sns or svs n c broh xa crny o wh

scp bcs s or r copanon ws or ky o b soppd andqsond an or s ws GS. Rows n sdy of Back dfndans nd crnl cors n la ncn Phadpha arsa ' owr csss of bo racs on ccpd c or on rs ofqa c or rady an dd r soca brs. Row sowspoor ws arborn Back v sns dncn Bac and as nn n f of braca p cr. Svn Rosswrs sdyof Rvoonar dpa sows c frs o b nxos obos fa s pacs n wc no ony wh sans b w jor-nn arsns xd y w AcnArcns. 5 Mjor rb svrvos sc s a n Nw York n 1 and Gabrs Rbon nRcond n 100 ncdd w parcps n ary r rvosc d sppor was sad o co o 'vr poor ws.

B donad a ncn con fsvas sc as h Nro Elcon Da cbrons d n scor of NwEnland cs and Pnksr fss n Nw York nd Nw Jrsyhs vn ray worrd aors no s bcs o sablparcpon by ' owr cass o . . or own copxon s JasNwa of Lnn asscss p Idd xd owr cass nr-

nn roo yar wr coon n Nw York and Back


51/222

nuence on whte oua entetanent wa ake 1 7Soe aan ot eouenty Benjan Fanln defended no ony

e ae' gt to eedo but ao te nteeca abe of Bac Ite Reoutiona ea and te e eay Reubc atan geeay aea to ae faoed abolon of lae n te Noth and een to aeebte oe uneae n Maand abou 'oal dfancng eeBac d the ooon o Back atan aong uban ca wokewee geate than they woud ee be agan n Padea 1 ecent odentabe Back ae occuatio n a Na ae fo 1 weeaana and n Shane te' New ok t eeac a ug ecent of ae ee Back ead of oueod ed atana job n 1 00a ooon that wa to decne by a fout wthn the next decade

e many adaton of uneedo aong wte ade t dcut todaw at ne beeen any deaze ee whte woke ad a ted ocned ee k we nene eue eent aentce conct abo fa tenanc wage abo an conation owage abo an ee ang ade o a contnuu o oeon aongwite coue (nottandng catteed eeence to whteenaeent' n coona cout cae) tat contnuu dd not extend tote extee of cattel ae a wa ncted on eoe of coo Butnete ee weeng and unabgou dtnction beeen taion n

fe and nd of wok aoate fo wte and toe to be conned toBlac yet obe ne coud occaoay nd attet to ake ucha dtncton a n te coent a aona ecant ad to haeade to te Ea of Edgont n 1 40 wee ee ae Negoe awhte Man dee to wok [n the ed ang you e me Slae d or e Neoe? ' But n genea we aete o whte (nojut ndente) wee caed ses and h ae te wa ued wthajecte ike perpeua and eo to decbe ae h uage whchwou ecoe aboutey ntoeabe to eoye whte wthin theedecae e te Reouon eected te fact that n abohot een

teent and eghteentcen eca te wok of ae nd tat ofwte eant wee itualy ntecangeabe n ot aea

None of t to ague tat wong eoe n te eenteen andeghteenth centue wee not awae of ace o that tey wee nlng toue whte ueac when t coud wok to te adantage Raca atttude d beae ocuouy and coext wt e oote u theegaltaan Fann coud ao hoe to ake eca a and tPeoe ad code wtene (n whch he egade een the wathyGean a nucent) a the oeon of y ont' 24 Sa

the acexng whte o Vgna' gdy uude' the 10 wee

2 5


52/222

TH AGS O HTSS

aer a ere of eoom, poa ad demoraphc hage, reed othe caue of whte u. a were equet laveholder deedthe were he arg avehog oup New York C through790.5

But mot plae, ad the pot a for preet purpoe, uhatept to oect a cooue of whtee wth a ooue ofa a a worker faed There wa erta a log ado, eered ew or ad hareto, of proteg agat the ue of ave aborbeaue 'oe muh mpoverht white worker, a a late eveteeh opa pu Bu ough hae o ag o compeewit lave labor wa expree poradall ma e ad town, tought a uphl bale a ew ae, whe worker ucceeded gag

publc pole upporg ther dema for lt o ompeo omave, bu eforeme wa uner. It ulear how muc of tago wa racal baed. Some appeal eem to coae 'ave adBlak, mplg all for olor bar agat ee Black a well But therewere alo orgazed opla about e empomet of outer, ad'older ot urprg, worer red o ehae ther poo helabor market The dd o b makg appeal a our Mae wheSubet or b whatever other log ha a hae o worg O hewo, a Jorda put , at mpreve about the edee o

eoomc ompo th Bac ocaoal araer aedwth he rght of powerl laveholder to ue her proper a hehed, hag o ompellg evdee hat the were beter o ompeg agat whe deed eat tha aga ave, a perhaphopel o oe da aqurg a lave themeve, mot arta otudo work relavel ope labor arket6 Eve ae e Revoluto, heaboto of aver he orh aot be regarded a mple wa aa tor for whe worer eeg to mt abor ompetio.

A bref duo f New York Ct ater, a group o atpcaloloial worker who d maage to beome whe worker, llmate

the dferee bewee epod agtao or labor marke avaagebaed o racal appeal ad a elmage that brought together rae, workad tzeip The arer, who traported oote oehorecart, moopozed ther trae beaue the were, aer 169 leed bhe c goveme a 'eeme. h mucpal govee er aceng fee ad omplae wth relato om the artme hecarme receved protecto aga omptto om a, uuallarmbaed, aborer ad got e rght o voe eecto ad proeto om beg ezed b pre gag for mpremet a alor Baed o

Duh ad delg Brtih tradtio of eemahp, thi ceg

6


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THE PRHISORY OF WI WR

arrangement ered rih cal the pprtn ulate lyalplcal uppr y cnerrng eeman' ta The ytem extended,ae Lele' Reellin f 899 eneigh ade and ecame agncan way t dee cla dn and AnglDutc eninAmng te carter parcularly, eemanhp became he centerpiec aprdel delg I cmned cl rigts, a trade ad we uprema, hat lac were neer allwed eeman at Mreer, and in cntatwth her New Y C ccupan, he caren ere ale ueclr ar lelatn paed een bere he eemanhp perd, prbably t cement e eeen he yung nglh regime and Duch carer and her plitcal per keep a m beng hred u acarter. rer ere nt nly nulaed m cmpetn m the c'

large Blak ppulat, and m merchan wnng lae, u they cudand dd hre lacks a helper, payng a mall actn f whe helper'wags a mm pag oy acoo. c so wne, cc entement and b ue had cm n ad ere umedup by ne rd man28 The ercan Relun uld help creaean Amerca n whch many mre wrng eemen' wuld e temped tdene hmele agant lave

Poic v, t td d Rubic iDurng he ed ntene lczan urunding the mercanRelutn meaphric uage f a t decrbe he pltcal plght fwhte abundd The allun t the plitcal laer' f whie wree and me berer cmpared wie ndenured era lae,thugh t ran genrally did nt pnly mak uch cmparnhemele ut the plethra f metaphr dd n ye al h r fhe wht rer a a rm elidencain n e Uned ateInead, he cnant reerence uneedm amng whte pk f a

tuatin n hch whitene and ndependenc were n rmly cn-nected. wa lackne ye lly linked wh erude u he uc-ce f he Relutin in preadng ndependenc a a real nd a andeal amng whe and ailure n a ddreng lack ppren helped change all ha

the rherc glercan eeder, a Marcu Cunliepn , the ppte "lert a "laer . 29 ercan cntenly nerpreted e de f he rth and her eneme a lt enlae ee peple There are bu r men n he wrld,

a la

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