Race and Ethnonational Violence

Establishes slavery as the overwhelming force of race relations in the United States, both before and after the Civil War that instilled racial identity into everyday life as the primary social fact of existence. Focusing on the Civil War period and Reconstruction, and then twentieth century labor movement, we see how racism shaped cultural attitudes, economic relations, and reactionary social character. Overall, the chapter argues that white supremacy also legitimated gender and economic domination to such an extent that racism bound white people so thoroughly to a supremacist identity that lower income whites supported policies and attitudes that worked against their own economic interests and quality of life. Also examines how people of all races fought against white supremacy, and how this supported a progressive character.