The History of White People

The History of White People

First Edition
Author Nell Irvin Painter
Country United States
Language English
Published 2010 (W. W. Norton & Company)
Media type Print (Hardcover)
Pages 496
ISBN 978-0393049343

The History of White People is a 2010 book by Nell Irvin Painter. In it, Painter explores the idea of whiteness throughout history, beginning with ancient Greece and continuing through the beginning of racial pseudoscience in early modern Europe to 19th- through 21st-century America.

Overview

Among the topics Painter discusses are the way in which formerly non-white groups were designated as white as they assimilated into American life, the racialization of intelligence and of political beliefs, and the relationship between race and conceptions of female beauty. Ralph Waldo Emerson is one figure whose belief in some of these racial theories is discussed.[1][2][3]

“The History of White People” is Nell Irvin Painter's seventh book. Linda Gordon from the New York Times says, “The title of this book is literally accurate, because the book traces characterizations of the lighter-skinned people we call white today”.[4] This book tells the history of white race theory and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s contribution. Chapter ten is dedicated to The Education of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the influence his Aunt Mary Moody Emerson (1774-1863) had on his education after the death of his father Reverend William Emerson. Aunt Mary introduced German romanticism and had great enthusiasm for the 1814 American edition of de Stael’s On Germany which was introduced to Emerson during his years of formal education. From the mid-1830s into the 1840s transcendentalism (the American version of German romanticism) thrived in New England. In 1836 Emerson borrowed from transcendentalism’s emphasis on nature as a “spiritual force” to complete his essay Nature.[5]

It wasn’t until Emerson turned thirty, when he actually crossed the Atlantic to see Europe for himself. During his time spent in Europe, Emerson was able to forge a relationship with Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). The text from the book says, “Carlyle’s writing might have ended there” if Emerson hadn’t industriously endorsed Carlyle’s work. Since Emerson was not fluent in German, “Carlyle became his teacher of transcendentalism” [6] In 1799 Sharon Turner published a popular book titled The History of the Angelo-Saxons, from Their First Appearance above the Elbe, to the Death of Egbert which Emerson owned a copy of and studied generously to “come up with a list of undying traits of the English race" in 1852. Liberty was one of the first among the list of traits. Emerson viewed himself as a “New Englander and therefore a Saxon.” He lectured that Norsemen had turned into Englishmen during the course of a thousand years and that New Englanders were the final product of this process [7]

Emerson published a book in 1856 called English Traits, which is ironically the title of Chapter eleven in Painter’s book. English traits, the book Emerson created was a compilation of lectures he gave to a variety of audiences over the course of ten years. With an abundance of raw material Emerson felt the need to use notes from two of his previous European trips. These notes he possess were “half travelogue, part autobiography, and part historical ethnography.” Armed with all this information Emerson felt he was ready to publish a book on England and the Saxon race. This book sold twenty four thousand copies within three months of being published and was distributed in the United States and Great Britain. This book did well considering the fact that the readers seemed to dismiss the fact that Emerson favored the English/ Saxon race in his writings. [8]

The book English Traits included Emerson “calling attention to the similarities in Americans’ and Englishman’s appearance. More specifically the red and white complexion, blond hair, blue eyes and tall stature.” He noticed that these traits were dissimilar to those of Celts. Whose skin was darker and smaller in stature, influenced Emerson to classify these individuals as Asiatic in origin. In the core chapter of the book called “Race” Emerson “enumerates the three components of the English population: first the Celt, second the German and third the Northmen”[9] Emerson believes that even though the English race is mixed, its “stock” governs its “national destiny. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that the Human Genome Project attempted to answer what the genetic difference between people of different skin colors. The answer is nearly nothing. We share 99.99 percent of the same genetic code.” Race does not influence the results.[10]

Ultimately it was Emerson who linked the American to the Englishman, who is the same as the Saxon and the Norseman. When Emerson is referring to Saxon’s his definition excluded non-Christians and nearly all poor whites and “Native American Indians and African Americans did not count.” Emerson meant white males of a certain socioeconomic standing and excluded slaves and native people entirely.[11] Emerson didn’t believe in the barbaric practice of slavery and disagreed with the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 with the definitive certainty that it was bad for his kind of white people. It was Emerson’s belief that “the sacrifice of the poor, hardworking races like the German’s, the Irish, and the African are for the good of the more advanced races, like the Saxon’s was nothing other than the working out of inevitable—laws of Nature. Fate transformed national opportunism into the destiny of races”[12]

Although Emerson is not an originator of race theory he empowered the movement. Emerson is known for “synthesizing the significant nineteenth and early twentieth century concepts of American whiteness and is given credit as being the philosopher king of American white race theory”[13]

References

  1. ↑ Gordon, Linda (March 25, 2010). "Who’s White?". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ Devlin, Paul (March 28, 2010). "'The History of White People'". San Francisco Chronicle.
  3. ↑ Sanneh, Kelefa (April 12, 2010). "Beyond the Pale". The New Yorker.
  4. ↑ Gordon, L. (2010, March 25). Who's White. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/books/review/Gordon-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0÷
  5. ↑ Painter, N. (2010). The History of White People. In N. I. Painter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
  6. ↑ Painter, N. (2010). The History of White People. In N. I. Painter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc
  7. ↑ Painter, N. (2010). The History of White People. In N. I. Painter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
  8. ↑ Painter, N. (2010). The History of White People. In N. I. Painter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
  9. ↑ Painter, N. (2010). The History of White People. In N. I. Painter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
  10. ↑ Rogers, T. (2010, March 22). "The History of White People": What it means to be white. Retrieved from Salon: http://www.salon.com/2010/03/23/history_of_white_people_nell_irvin_painter/
  11. ↑ Painter, N. (2010). The History of White People. In N. I. Painter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
  12. ↑ Painter, N. (2010). The History of White People. In N. I. Painter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
  13. ↑ Painter, N. (2010). The History of White People. In N. I. Painter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

External links