About the book
For at least two centuries, argues Mark Smith, white southerners used all of their senses — not just their eyes — to construct racial difference and define race. His provocative analysis, extending from the colonial period to the mid-twentieth century, shows how whites of all classes used the artificial binary of “black” and “white” to justify slavery and erect the political, legal, and social structure of segregation.
Based on painstaking research, How Race Is Made is a highly original, always frank, and often disturbing book. After enslaved Africans were initially brought to America, the offspring of black and white sexual relationships (consensual and forced) complicated the purely visual sense of racial typing. As mixed-race people became more and more common and as antebellum race-based slavery and then postbellum racial segregation became central to southern society, white southerners asserted that they could rely on their other senses — touch, smell, sound, and taste — to identify who was “white” and who was not. Sensory racial stereotypes were invented and irrational, but at every turn, Smith shows, these constructions of race, immune to logic, signified difference and perpetuated inequality.
Smith argues that the history of southern race relations and the construction of racial difference on which that history is built cannot be understood fully on the basis of sight alone. In order to come to terms with the South’s past and present, Smith says, we must explore the sensory dynamics underpinning the deeply emotional construction of race. How Race Is Made takes a bold step toward that understanding.
Editions of How Race Is Made
- Hardcover
- ISBN 9780807830024
- Paperback
- ISBN 9780807859254
- EBook
- ISBN 9780807877272
- PDF
- ISBN 9798890878717
Read an Excerpt
For at least two centuries, argues Mark Smith, white southerners used all of their senses — not just their eyes — to construct racial difference and define race. His provocative analysis, extending from the colonial period to the mid-twentieth century, shows how whites of all classes used the artificial binary of “black” and “white” to justify slavery and erect the political, legal, and social structure of segregation.
Based on painstaking research, How Race Is Made is a highly original, always frank, and often disturbing book. After enslaved Africans were initially brought to America, the offspring of black and white sexual relationships (consensual and forced) complicated the purely visual sense of racial typing. As mixed-race people became more and more common and as antebellum race-based slavery and then postbellum racial segregation became central to southern society, white southerners asserted that they could rely on their other senses — touch, smell, sound, and taste — to identify who was “white” and who was not. Sensory racial stereotypes were invented and irrational, but at every turn, Smith shows, these constructions of race, immune to logic, signified difference and perpetuated inequality.
Smith argues that the history of southern race relations and the construction of racial difference on which that history is built cannot be understood fully on the basis of sight alone. In order to come to terms with the South’s past and present, Smith says, we must explore the sensory dynamics underpinning the deeply emotional construction of race. How Race Is Made takes a bold step toward that understanding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is How Race Is Made about?
For at least two centuries, argues Mark Smith, white southerners used all of their senses — not just their eyes — to construct racial difference and define race. His provocative analysis, extending from the colonial period to the mid-twentieth century, shows how whites of all classes used the artificial binary of “black” and “white” to justify slavery and erect the political, legal, and social structure of segregation.
Based on painstaking research, How Race Is Made is a highly original, always frank, and often disturbing book. After enslaved Africans were initially brought to America, the offspring of black and white sexual relationships (consensual and forced) complicated the purely visual sense of racial typing. As mixed-race people became more and more common and as antebellum race-based slavery and then postbellum racial segregation became central to southern society, white southerners asserted that they could rely on their other senses — touch, smell, sound, and taste — to identify who was “white” and who was not. Sensory racial stereotypes were invented and irrational, but at every turn, Smith shows, these constructions of race, immune to logic, signified difference and perpetuated inequality.
Smith argues that the history of southern race relations and the construction of racial difference on which that history is built cannot be understood fully on the basis of sight alone. In order to come to terms with the South’s past and present, Smith says, we must explore the sensory dynamics underpinning the deeply emotional construction of race. How Race Is Made takes a bold step toward that understanding.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in How Race Is Made?
Society and Social Sciences > Society and culture: general > Social and ethical issues > Social discrimination and social justice
Where can I read a sample of How Race Is Made?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780807830024
How long is How Race Is Made and how many pages does it have?
How Race Is Made has 208 page(s)
Who is/are the Author/s of the book How Race Is Made?
Mark M. Smith
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
How Race Is Made is available as hardcover(ISBN 9780807830024) and paperback(ISBN 9780807859254) and ebook(ISBN 9780807877272) and pdf(ISBN 9798890878717)
Where can I buy How Race Is Made online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy How Race Is Made from below
Where can I buy How Race Is Made?