Topic: Danielle Bainbridge

1 chapters across the catalog

24: Handle with Care
• 44:27 - 50:50

24: Handle with Care

Historical Alchemy of Whiteness and Racial Categorization

Historian Danielle Bainbridge explains how the definition of "white" in the United States shifted in the 1920s to include previously separate groups like Celts, Slavs, and Hebrews. This expansion was designed to shore up a cultural majority against other racial groups and immigrants. The concept of whiteness is presented as a marker of kinship and power that has historically been fluid, as seen in the lineages of figures like Barack Obama.