Damn. This woman beat me to it

It's almost a perfect response to the "Texas Textbook Massacre": Nell Irvin Painter's book, The History of White People, details the rise and reign of whiteness as we know it. Newsweek's Raina Kelley reviews this book, saying, "This book has no problem telling you that everything you think you know about what Western civilization is based on is actually distortion of fact and inflated ego dreams."

Boom. There it is. America was not founded on honorable principles of integration and melting pot social policies. Rather, racial taxonomies have legitimized oppression and exploitation of nonwhites. As Painter says, "Any nation founded by slaveholders finds justification for its class system, and American slavery made the inherent inferiority of black people a foundational belief."

Painter traces racial categories from ancient times to the present, explaining that what constitutes "white" has changed over time. Although Jews and Slavs were at one time outside the bounds of whiteness, they are now lumped with others into one big white group. But as Painter explains in an NPR interview, the definition of whiteness may change, but the point of racial categories--"to put people down"--holds steady.

Also of note--Painter explains why white people don't want to give up the power of whiteness, let alone acknowledge it: If whites did so, they'd have to "admit the chanciness of privilege," which would, I believe, bring feelings of guilt and an uncomfortable obligation to level the playing field.

It's a story that needs to be told, that's for sure. American history--and world history for that matter--are not as we know it. Will this book be a less-than-leisurely read for many? Absolutely. Am I concerned that the potential for cognitive dissonance will steer away readers? Definitely. Without even opening the book, I share Raina Kelley's concern that Painter's more academic, textbook style approach won't "captivate the masses or much media attention." That being said, Painter's book is a step in the right direction. If subsequent authors have to simplify the content for the less scholarly reader, so be it. At least Painter has begun to unravel the web of whiteness that clouds our perceptions of past and present.

Read an excerpt of The History of White People here.

Photo Credit: Robin Holland/Bill Moyers’ Journal