Invention of the White Race: The Origin of Racial Oppression

Theodore W. Allen's work "The Invention of the White Race" explores the transformation of European colonists into a single new all-inclusive status: that of whites, which is the key to the paradox of American history. Volume One of the two-volume work attempts to escape the white blind spot by looking in the mirror of Irish history for a definition of racial oppression and an explanation of it in terms of social control. Compelling analogies are presented between the history of Anglo-Irish and British rule in Ireland and American White Supremacist oppression of Indians and African-Americans, but the relativity of race is shown in the sea change it entailed.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 800 pages
Publication date: 30 November 2021
Publisher: Verso Books

When the first Africans arrived in Virginia in 1619, the land was entirely devoid of white people. Colonial records indicate that it would take another sixty years before any white individuals would settle in the region. The historical debate surrounding the origin of racial slavery has primarily focused on the status of the Negro in seventeenth-century Virginia and Maryland. However, as Theodore W. Allen argues in this comprehensive work, it is essential to examine the transformation of English, Scottish, Irish, and other European colonists from their diverse positions as servants, tenants, planters, or merchants into a unified new status: that of whites. This key insight holds the key to understanding the paradoxical nature of American history, where a democratic society is built upon race assumptions.

Volume One of this two-volume undertaking aims to break free from the white blind spot that has plagued previous studies on this issue. It achieves this by looking into the mirror of Irish history for a definition of racial oppression and an explanation of this phenomenon in terms of social control, free from the absurdities of classification based solely on skin color. Strong analogies are drawn between the history of Anglo-Irish and British rule in Ireland and American White Supremacist oppression of Indians and African-Americans. However, the relativity of race is evident in the significant change it brought about, as emigrating Irish individuals who despised racial oppression were transformed into White Americans who defended it. The reasons for the differing outcomes of Catholic Emancipation and Negro Emancipation are explored, and an opportunity is provided to demonstrate Allen's distinction between racial and national oppression.

Weight: 750g
Dimension: 233 x 154 x 40 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781839763922