What White Looks Like

In the burgeoning field of whiteness studies, What White Looks Like takes a unique approach to the subject by collecting the ideas of African-American philosophers. George Yancy has brought together a group of thinkers who address the problematic issues of whiteness as a category requiring serious analysis. What does white look like when viewed through philosophical training and African-American experience? In this volume, Robert Birt asks if whites can live whiteness authentically. Janine Jones examines what it means to be a goodwill white. Joy James tells of beating her addiction to white supremacy, while Arnold Farr writes on making whiteness visible in Western philosophy. What White Looks Like brings a badly needed critique and philosophically sophisticated perspective to central issue of contemporary society.

"This book is a must read for those who are interested in the understanding of race in the modern world and particularly in the American society that is still stratified by race and class domination... highly recommended... not only for those of us profoundly concerned with race and social justice, but for many others who are constructing different kinds of philosophical anthropology in the search for common ground. Congratulations, George Yancy for putting together this philosophical treat." -- J. Everet Green"This remarkable and provocative collection brings together philosophy and activism, synthesis and critique, Marx and Fanon, feminism and anti-racism, humor and high seriousness. Its essays offer sharp, useful challenges to those of us advocating the 'abolition' of whiteness, as they specify the centrality of racism to Western thought and Western thoughtlessness." -- David Roediger, Babcock Professor of Afro-American Studies at University of Illinois, and author of Colored White: Transcending the Racial Past"This anthology by African American philosophers deals with questions regarding whiteness as a racial designator. Along with contemporary sources, the book employs the writings of traditional philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Marx, Dewey, Sartre, and Foucault, when discussing. This is a very readable text on a timely topic. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates in courses that deal with race." -- T. L. Lott, San Jose State University , ChoicesRecommended as a Teaching Tool by Teaching Tolerance!"What White Looks Like: African American Philosophers on the Whitness Question takes a unique approach to whiteness studies by collecting the ideas of African American philosophers." -- Jeff Sapp, Teaching Tolerance, "Not only are these essays provocative, but they are illuminating and useful both to scholars and to neophytes. The anthology as a whole deserves an unqualified recommendation for all interested in this matter." -L. Sebastian Purcell, Boston College

George Yancy holds the McCracken Fellowship in Africaana Studies at New York University. He has edited three previous books, including African-American Philosophers:17 Conversations (Routledge, 1998), Cornel West: ACritical Reader (2001), and The Philosophical i: PersonalReflections on Life in Philosophy (2002).