Portland Public Library

The United States of the united races, a utopian history of racial mixing, Greg Carter

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The United States of the united races

bibliography

819717789

Greg Carter

a utopian history of racial mixing

"Barack Obama's historic presidency has re-inserted mixed race into the national conversation. While the troubled and pejorative history of racial amalgamation throughout U.S. history is a familiar story, The United States of the United Races reconsiders an understudied optimist tradition, one which has praised mixture as a means to create a new people, bring equality to all, and fulfill an American destiny. In this genealogy, Greg Carter re-envisions racial mixture as a vehicle for pride and a way for citizens to examine mixed America as a better America. Tracing the centuries-long conversation that began with Hector St. John de Crevecoeur's Letters of an American Farmer in the 1780s through to the Multiracial Movement of the 1990s and the debates surrounding racial categories on the U.S. Census in the twenty-first century, Greg Carter explores a broad range of documents and moments, unearthing a new narrative that locates hope in racial mixture. Carter traces the reception of the concept as it has evolved over the years, from decade to decade and century to century, wherein even minor changes in individual attitudes have paved the way for major changes in public response. The United States of the United Races sweeps away an ugly element of U.S. history, replacing it with a new understanding of race in America."--Publisher information

Thomas Jefferson's challengers -- Wendell Phillips, unapologetic abolitionist, unreformed amalgamationist -- Plessy v. racism -- The color line, the melting pot, and the stomach -- Say it loud, I'm one drop and I'm proud -- The end of race as we know it -- Praising ambiguity, preferring certainty