The History of White People

By: Nell Irvin Painter

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson

A mind-expanding and myth-destroying exploration of notions of white race—not merely a skin color but also a signal of power, prestige, and beauty to be withheld and granted selectively. Ever since the Enlightenment, race theory and its inevitable partner, racism, have followed a crooked road, constructed by dominant peoples to justify their domination of others. Filling a huge gap in historical literature that long focused on the non-white, eminent historian Nell Irvin Painter guides us through more than two thousand years of Western civilization, tracing not only the invention of the idea of race but also the frequent worship of “whiteness” for economic, social, scientific, and political ends.

Our story begins in Greek and Roman antiquity, where the concept of race did not exist, only geography and the opportunity to conquer and enslave others. Not until the eighteenth century did an obsession with whiteness flourish, with the German invention of the notion of Caucasian beauty. This theory made northern Europeans into “Saxons,” “Anglo-Saxons,” and “Teutons,” envisioned as uniquely handsome natural rulers. Here was a worldview congenial to northern Europeans bent on empire. There followed an explosion of theories of race, now focusing on racial temperament as well as skin color. Spread by such intellectuals as Madame de Stael and Thomas Carlyle, white race theory soon reached North America with a vengeance.

Its chief spokesman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, did the most to label Anglo-Saxons—icons of beauty and virtue—as the only true Americans. It was an ideal that excluded not only blacks but also all ethnic groups not of Protestant, northern European background. The Irish and Native Americans were out and, later, so were the Chinese, Jews, Italians, Slavs, and Greeks—all deemed racially alien. Did immigrations threaten the very existence of America? Americans were assumed to be white, but who among poor immigrants could become truly American?

A tortured and convoluted series of scientific explorations developed—theories intended to keep Anglo-Saxons at the top: the ever-popular measurement of skulls, the powerful eugenics movement, and highly biased intelligence tests—all designed to keep working people out and down. As Painter reveals, power—supported by economics, science, and politics—continued to drive exclusionary notions of whiteness until, deep into the twentieth century, political realities enlarged the category of truly American.

A story filled with towering historical figures, The History of White People forcefully reminds us that the concept of one white race is a recent invention. The meaning, importance, and realty of this all-too-human thesis of race have buckled under the weight of a long and rich unfolding of events.

©2010 Nell Irvin Painter (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

a good learn

I learned from this book which is all you really want to do from a book. but it bounced around a lot

Insightful

If reveals all of the biases and fallacies that some hold as fact. Deal with people based on their conduct and not your perceptions and learnt prejudices.

wonderfully done!

This book does a a phenomenal job of pulling together pertinent authorship research and presentation of race and ethnicity not only from America but from its Global ancestry. How the author was able to tie in very important works of literature, science, religion, and sociology together to explicate the issue and presence of race today in America was fantastic! Great book!!

It's past time to wake up

Very enlightening, comprehensive and thought provoking. All of society could surely benefit from it's message

A not-so-well-known history...

Dr. Irvin Painter wrote a very interesting historical account of how 'whites' came to be, but in historical, anthropological, scientific, and sociocultural contexts. I was surprised at how scientific racism somehow escaped the rigors of peer review and all but devoid of facts such as the phrenology craze and how it took root through confirmation bias and though the scientific method was missing, it was still accepted.

Further, the 'Only in America ' idea rears the ugly side of its head when constant attempts to categorize 'others' by virtue of intellectual capacity fell on its face when the Stanford'-Binet (Bibet-Simon) intelligence tests in the military revealed that many so-called dumb negroes actually scored higher than many southern whites who took the exam, yet this darling bit of information was withheld from the public for a time through congressional means because a Kentucky senator was embarrassed.

I enjoyed this book because the author used factual evidence to shed light on long-held stereotypes and how the construct of race had socioeconomic and sociopolitical roots, yet absent are any biological data to support how skin color causes greatness or poverty. Though many aren't willing to acknowledge, let alone accept it, much of human progress (if you can really label it as such) has been to the credit AND blame of white men. Their quest for social, political, and economic dominion is dreadfully apparent in the abysmal lack of accountability and unfairness in society. I hope this book provides insight to all who dare to read it, believe me, the insight is well worth your time reading this book.

unbiased history

do not underestimate this book. provides great knowledge for understanding today's racial context and climate

beautifully written

love the way it talks from talked from Julius Caesar to Barack Obama..

couldn't ask for anything better!

Read it twice, and I want to read it again.
The content was complete, and the different voices that matched the source of the content kept it interesting.

Absolutely Fascinating

Easy to listen to despite being mind bending on one hand and somehow obvious on the other. Should be required reading/study.

Informative but a bit pretentious

There's some really interesting stuff in this book but there are also long digressions that feel like the author just wanted everyone to know that they knew that information.