Overview

Matthew Frye Jacobson argues in this text about America's racial odyssey, that race resides not in nature but in the contingencies of politics and culture. In ever-changing racial categories we glimpse the competing theories of history and collective destiny by which power has been organized and contested in the USA. Looking at the field of ""whiteness studies"" and linking it to traditional historical inquiry, Jacobson shows that in the USA, nation of immigrants, ""race"" has been at the core of civic assimilation: ethnic minorities in becoming American were reracialized to become Caucasian. He provides a counter-history of how nationality groups such as the Irish or Greeks became Americans as racial groups like Celts or Mediterraneans became Caucasian. Jacobson tracks race as a conception and perception, emphasizing the importance of knowing not only how we label one another but also how we see one another, and how that racialized vision has largely been transformed in the 20th century.

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Reviews

Matthew Frye Jacobson's analysis of the European immigrant experiences, American racial classifications and their fluidity over time is a valuable addition to the flourishing genre of whiteness studies in the fields of labour and working-class history...Racial categories and perceptions, Jacobson argues, are cultural and political fabrications, reflections of power relationships in a society that has periodically needed to construct (and reconstruct) an American and white identity out of an increasingly polyglot European immigrant population... Whiteness of a Different Color is a subtle and sensitive exegesis and deconstruction of the immigrant experience in American culture. -- John White Times Higher Education Supplement Whiteness of a Different Color tells us about the varying, and inevitably failing, attempts to come to terms with the concept of whiteness, which, despite its vicissitude and inconclusiveness, was, and still is, one of the most important notions in American political culture...True to his identities as historian and American Studies scholar, Jacobson's sources are tremendously varied, ranging from novels, films, print journals, to legal records, colonial charters, and state constitutions...The book's argument is most convincing.--Christiane Harzig International Review of Social History Jacobson's important book helps to fill an important gap in the literature about the history of European immigrants assuming different racial identities in the United States...Because of its broad sweep of history, Jacobson is able to reveal previously ignored ways in which anti-racism coalitions have succeeded without yielding to assimilationist ideology.--Louis Anthes H-Net Reviews Jacobson builds a history of how the category of whiteness plays in American history...His goal is to demystify, and the tone he takes does exactly that. Wry and often sarcastic, his bite is sharpened by his ability to pick out the dark, unintentional humor from his sources.--Willoughby Mariano New Haven Advocate In this fascinating book, Jacobson traces the development of racial identity in America. Between the 1840s and the 1920s, racial differences and hierarchy between Anglo-Saxons and other white ethnic groups were given great significance. White ethnics were generally considered as distinct and inferior to the original Anglo Saxon immigrants...[ Whiteness of a Different Color ] explodes the myth of the American melting pot. Jacobson demonstrates how white racial inclusion was inextricably linked with the exclusion of non-whites and, interestingly, how their widely-recognised whiteness is partly due to the presence of non-white groups...This is a thought-provoking account of an often overlooked topic.--Claire Xanthos The Voice Jacobson has written a provocative, nuanced account of American race formation and especially of the way in which many American immigrants from Europe were cast initially as nonwhites in the late 19th century...Using a variety of sources, including film and fiction, Jacobson concludes that whiteness is clearly a socially constructed category infinitely malleable as a political tool. This historical survey is highly recommended for all libraries.--Anthony O. Edmonds Library Journal [Matthew Frye Jacobson's] analysis of the European immigrant experiences, American racial classifications and their fluidity over time is a valuable addition to the flourishing genre of whiteness studies in the fields of labour and working-class history...Racial categories and perceptions, Jacobson argues, are cultural and political fabrications, reflections of power relationships in a society that has periodically needed to construct (and reconstruct) an American and white identity out of an increasingly polyglot European immigrant population... Whiteness of a Different Color is a subtle and sensitive exegesis and deconstruction of the immigrant experience in American culture.--John White Times Higher Education Supplement

"""Whiteness of a Different Color"" tells us about the varying, and inevitably failing, attempts to come to terms with the concept of ""whiteness,"" which, despite its vicissitude and inconclusiveness, was, and still is, one of the most important notions in American political culture...True to his ""identities"" as historian and American Studies scholar, Jacobson's sources are tremendously varied, ranging from novels, films, print journals, to legal records, colonial charters, and state constitutions...The book's argument is most convincing.--Christiane Harzig ""International Review of Social History "" [Matthew Frye Jacobson's] analysis of the European immigrant experiences, American racial classifications and ""their fluidity over time"" is a valuable addition to the flourishing genre of ""whiteness studies"" in the fields of labour and working-class history...Racial categories and perceptions, Jacobson argues, are cultural and political fabrications, reflections of power relationships in a society that has periodically needed to construct (and reconstruct) an ""American"" and ""white"" identity out of an increasingly polyglot European immigrant population...""Whiteness of a Different Color"" is a subtle and sensitive exegesis and deconstruction of the immigrant experience in American culture.--John White ""Times Higher Education Supplement "" In this fascinating book, Jacobson traces the development of racial identity in America. Between the 1840s and the 1920s, racial differences and hierarchy between Anglo-Saxons and other white ethnic groups were given great significance. ""White ethnics"" were generally considered as distinct and inferior to the original Anglo Saxon immigrants...[""Whiteness of a Different Color""] explodes the myth of the American melting pot. Jacobson demonstrates how white racial inclusion was inextricably linked with the exclusion of non-whites and, interestingly, how their widely-recognised whiteness is partly due to the presence of non-white groups...This is a thought-provoking account of an often overlooked topic.--Claire Xanthos ""The Voice "" Jacobson builds a history of how the category of ""whiteness"" plays in American history...His goal is to demystify, and the tone he takes does exactly that. Wry and often sarcastic, his bite is sharpened by his ability to pick out the dark, unintentional humor from his sources.--Willoughby Mariano ""New Haven Advocate "" Jacobson has written a provocative, nuanced account of American race formation and especially of the way in which many American immigrants from Europe were cast initially as ""nonwhites"" in the late 19th century...Using a variety of sources, including film and fiction, Jacobson concludes that whiteness is clearly a socially constructed category infinitely malleable as a political tool. This historical survey is highly recommended for all libraries.--Anthony O. Edmonds ""Library Journal "" Jacobson's important book helps to fill an important gap in the literature about the history of European immigrants assuming different racial identities in the United States...Because of its broad sweep of history, Jacobson is able to reveal previously ignored ways in which anti-racism coalitions have succeeded without yielding to assimilationist ideology.--Louis Anthes ""H-Net Reviews "" ÝMatthew Frye Jacobson's¨ analysis of the European immigrant experiences, American racial classifications and ""their fluidity over time"" is a valuable addition to the flourishing genre of ""whiteness studies"" in the fields of labour and working-class history...Racial categories and perceptions, Jacobson argues, are cultural and political fabrications, reflections of power relationships in a society that has periodically needed to construct (and reconstruct) an ""American"" and ""white"" identity out of an increasingly polyglot European immigrant population...""Whiteness of a Different Color"" is a subtle and sensitive exegesis and deconstruction of the immigrant experience in American culture. -- John White ""Times Higher Education Supplement"""

[Matthew Frye Jacobson's] analysis of the European immigrant experiences, American racial classifications and their fluidity over time is a valuable addition to the flourishing genre of whiteness studies in the fields of labour and working-class history...Racial categories and perceptions, Jacobson argues, are cultural and political fabrications, reflections of power relationships in a society that has periodically needed to construct (and reconstruct) an American and white identity out of an increasingly polyglot European immigrant population... Whiteness of a Different Color is a subtle and sensitive exegesis and deconstruction of the immigrant experience in American culture. -- John White Times Higher Education Supplement

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