Making Whiteness is a profoundly important work that explains how and why whiteness came to be such a crucial; embattled--and distorting--component of twentieth-century American identity. In intricately textured detail and with passionately mastered analysis; Grace Elizabeth Hale shows how; when faced with the active citizenship of their ex-slaves after the Civil War; white southerners re-established their dominance through a cultural system based on violence and physical separation. And in a bold and transformative analysis of the meaning of segregation for the nation as a whole; she explains how white southerners' creation of modern "whiteness" was; beginning in the 1920s; taken up by the rest of the nation as a way of enforcing a new social hierarchy while at the same time creating the illusion of a national; egalitarian; consumerist democracy.By showing the very recent historical "making" of contemporary American whiteness and by examining how the culture of segregation; in all its murderous contradictions; was lived; Hale makes it possible to imagine a future outside it. Her vision holds out the difficult promise of a truly democratic American identity whose possibilities are no longer limited and disfigured by race.
#735 in Books Truman Capote 1994-02-01 1994-02-01Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.97 x .76 x 5.16l; .58 #File Name: 0679745580343 pagesGreat book!
Review
391 of 420 people found the following review helpful. Truman Capote's MasterpieceBy Allen SmallingOne of the most significant non-fiction writings of the mid-1960s that still holds an honored place today in American letters. In late 1959 the entire Herbert Clutter family of rural Kansas -- Mr. and Mrs. Clutter and their two youngest children Nancy and Kenyon -- were slaughtered for no particular reason except that the two drifters who sought them out had received bad advice about the alleged riches Mr. Clutter kept in his office safe; but didn't. What might have been merely a downcast saga of the "outs" tangling with the "ins" becomes an amazingly gripping story in author Truman Capote's virtuoso writing; that took years to research; write and edit. In my opinion only purists quibble over whether this book should be classed as non-fiction or fiction; it IS non-fiction; but because some of Capote's narrative techniques were new at the time; IN COLD BLOOD ever since then has straddled "best-of" lists to its overall detriment. Ignore that chatter and read this masterpiece for what it is.Note: Capote's research assistant out in rural Kansas was none other than (Nelle) Harper Lee; who wrote TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Legendary WritingBy SpeedbyrdTruman Capote struck a jackpot with his factual account of the murders of the 4 members of the Clutter family of 1950's Kansas. The chilling story chronicles the planning of the crime by two society rejects; the crime itself and the ensuing chase and capture of the perpetrators. The story continues through their trial and eventual execution. This tale bears out that violent crime is not limited to big cities. This well researched dramatic account of a heinous crime is a must read.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great book by a legendBy Joe HollowayCapote is a master at his craft. It is very easy to intend to spend 30 minutes and get lost for hours.
