The Invention of the White Race
“A powerful and polemical study.” (Times Literary Supplement)“A monumental study of the birth of racism in the American South which makes truly new and convincing points about one of the most critical problems in US history … a highly original and seminal work.” (David Roediger, author ofThe Wages of Whiteness)“A must read for all social justice activists, teachers, and scholars.” (Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author ofRed Dirt: Growing Up Okie)“Allen transforms the reader’s understanding of race and racial oppression from what mainstream history often portrays as an unfortunate sideshow in U.S. history, to a central feature in the construction of U.S. (and indeed global) capitalism. Allen destroys any notion that ‘race’ is a biological category but instead locates it in the realm of a construction aimed at oppressionandsocial control. This is more than a look at history; it is a foundation for a path toward social justice.” (Bill Fletcher Jr., coauthor ofSolidarity Divided)“Decades before people made careers ‘undoing racism,’ Ted Allen was working on this trailblazing study, which has become required reading.” (Noel Ignatiev, coeditor ofRace Traitor, author of How the Irish Became White)“A realtour de force, a welcome return to empiricism in the subfield of race studies, and a timely reintroduction of class into the discourse on American exceptionalism.” (Times Higher Education Supplement)“As magisterial and comprehensive as the day it was first published, Theodore Allen’sThe Invention of the White Racecontinues to set the intellectual, analytical and rhetorical standard when it comes to understanding the real roots of white supremacy, its intrinsic connection to the class system, and the way in which persons committed to justice and equity might move society to a different reality.” (Tim Wise, author ofWhite Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son)“One of the most important books of U.S. history ever written. It illuminates the origins of the largest single obstacle to progressive change and working-class power in the U.S.: racism and white supremacy.” (Joe Berry, author ofReclaiming the Ivory Tower)“A must read for educators, scholars and social change activists – now more than ever! Ted Allen’s writings illuminate the centrality of how white supremacy continues to work in maintaining a powerless American working class.” (Tami Gold, director ofRFK in the Land of ApartheidandMy Country Occupied in Slave Plantation Societies)“Few books are capable of carrying the profound weight of being deemed to be a classic – this is surely one. Indeed, if one has to read one book to provide a foundation for understanding the contemporary U.S. – read this one.” (Gerald Horne, author ofNegro Comrades of the Crown)“A richly researched and highly suggestive analysis … Indispensable for readers interested in the disposition of power in Ireland, in the genesis of racial oppression in the U.S., or in the fluidity of ‘race’ and the historic vicissitudes of ‘whiteness.’” (Choice)“The most important book on the origin of racism in what was to become the United States – and more important now perhaps than when it was first released in the mid nineties.” (Gregory Meyerson, coeditor ofCultural Logic)“The Invention of the White Raceis an important work for its meticulously researched materials and its insights into colonial history. Its themes and perspectives should be made available to all scholars … A classic without which no future American history will be written.” (Audrey Smedley, author ofRace in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview)