The History of White People

What a read. Painter's work about the concept of whiteness as both historical canard and force is just fascinating. It's also hard to read in the sense that it's constantly hitting you with anachronistic arguements for “race science”–it takes a toll. It's just so tiring to experience the same story of contemporary racism play out over and over again. It took me over a year to finish but it's worth it. The origins of even contemporary attitudes towards whiteness are appallingly arbitrary and owe a large burden to the previous “successes” of craniometry.

Painter's patient prose depicts a history of controlling and expanding “whiteness” that's appalling and yet understandable for how effective it was even among the elites. In fact, it's the scientists and men of power that frequently star in the Yakety Sax pursuit of weaponized whiteness.

My only suggestion is that the title of this book could more appropriately termed “The Invention of Whiteness.”