Lifting the White Veil: An Exploration of White American Culture in a Multiracial Context

by Jeff Hitchcock

Book Overview

What does it mean to be white in America, and why is it important to know? Drawing on both scholarly and personal sources, the author discusses the history, characteristics, and psychology of white... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0971901708
• ISBN13: 9780971901704
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Crandall Dostie & Douglass Books
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Insightful, Interesting, Important

This book really does lift the white veil for any reading willing to admit that there is one--that the way whitefolks see the world is very filtered by white privilege, the idea that we are at the center. Hitchcock's analysis and insights are strinkingly original, while drawing upon studies and classic texts. He intersperses the analytical writing with real-life stories, some from his own experience, some observed. An important well-written book.

Fantastic

This book is fantastic! Jeff Hitchcock does indeed lift the "white veil" which surrounds many of us each and every day. White privilege is similar to the air that we breathe in that, it is invisible and can be taken for granted. The problem is that the air, or privilege in this case, is not evenly distributed throughout our society and it takes a lot of courage to face up and question the unequal distribution. Jeff Hitchcock has that courage and you see it on every page of this book. He points out the countless areas of our lives where we have a gentle breeze helping to move us along throughout life. A breeze that people from other diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds do not have access to. He also provides a look at some of our history that many of us would prefer to not be associated with. He demonstrates how we all need to play a part in evening out the playing field of oppression if we want things to change. This book is a masterpiece and should be required reading in every high school throughout America.

A Winner and Must-Read!

This book is a must-read for persons who really want to understand diversity fully. The author makes visible what is usually hidden or misunderstood in conversations about intergroup relations--white culture and its immense impact on individuals and society. I particularly liked the book because it written intelligently (lots of facts, references and insights), but it is not too technical for the everyday reader. This is a gem that should be useful for both individual who are looking for insights into diversity and college students too.

When "White " doesn't mean an absence of "color"

Is there such a thing as "White Culture" or is it just a comical concept as in the film "Undercover Brother" --where white people were kidded for a tendency to unstylish clothes and a profound love of mayonnaise on any food? Jeff Hitchcock takes on this controversial and always somewhat raw subject as the matter for a book suitable for college classes or personal reading on culture and society.While personally, I am more of a classicist in education, favoring something like history classes over race studies and women's studies, I realize that that the dominant parties in any culture write the history books, the anthropology books, the sociology books. And all these books have a viewpoint even when they purport to be "neutral" or unbiased. Jeff Hitchcock's "Lifting the White Veil" is a book well-suited for a class text in "White Studies", "African American Studies" or any sociology class. And I certainly found it an interesting book to read just for personal edification.Like many others who are "Caucasian" or "European descent", I never thought about a "White Culture" other than to wonder at the differences between my own upbringing and than of people I meet who are Asian or African-American. Hitchcock makes a very valid point: White Culture is not a "neutral" or absence of color. There are cultural values, practices, beliefs, and trends for whites. Nothing comes from nothing--our cultural "mainstream" values have a source and historical background.The book takes an overview of racial history, including all races in the United States, and their interactions and history. I wished this part could have been much longer, but this is a book of a few hundred, not a few thousand pages. So an overview is what's appropriate. Then the text delves into what white culture is comprised of, and this for me was an eye-opener. I really had never thought much about whiteness and yes, I actually DID dismiss white culture as a sort of "neutral" in race, the very concept that is challenged by this book. Is white culture as distinct as Hitchcock describes it (our hierarchical values, Protestant-derived values, European- or British-derived status values?) It would seem this idea is worth exploring.This book really is a must for any course in sociological studies that deals with race or dominance of one group over another (women's, Hispanic, you name it.) If a group is to be distinguished as Non-White, it is revealing to know what "white" means. Mr. Hitchcock's thoughts on race may not agree with yours--this is one man's scholarly work. His questions and arguments made me think, and that's what the book intended. Mission accomplished.

Towards an Engaged, Productive Multiracial Society

Lifting the White Veil is a powerful and effective exploration of the dominant "white" culture in the United States. The book carefully explains what the culture is (something that those who participate in it are often at a loss to describe), how it unintentionally excludes many of those whom individuals would probably approve of and relate to, and suggests alternative paths to creating a racially cohesive society. I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to reach out to participate in the many rich cultures that our country provides.If you are like me, you've wondered what "white culture" studies are all about. Are they a closet attempt to re-establish "white supremacy" beliefs? In Lifting the White Veil, I found out that white culture studies are really about creating a more effective multiracial society that will benefit everyone. Although I felt like I had a good background in race-based sociology (having taken courses in the subject in both college and graduate school . . . and having been informed by many friends from other cultures about my cultural biases and limitations), I learned a lot . . . and was glad that I did.What the title refers to is that a dominant culture is usually invisible to those who participate in it, and limits their vision of what is going on around them. All such cultures are constricting though to other contiguous cultures, and we cannot understand those constrictions without understanding more about all cultures . . . including the dominant one. The author argues for a future in which white culture continues, but is no longer the dominant one that all others must kowtow to. Instead, he hopes that a multiracial culture will develop that will be superior to any existing culture.Jeff Hitchcock is the co-founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of White American Culture, a multiracial organization. As a self-described "white American," he brings his own experiences to this study . . . which include being married to Ms. Charley Flint, a black feminist sociologist and raising their two children of color. The book's greatest strength for me was that Mr. Hitchcook openly describes the evolution of his own "white" and "multiracial" awarenesses while sharing some of the experiences that his multiracial family has had in the "white" culture. We are headed to a more multiracial society in the future as the percentage of those who are born from "nonwhite" races grows. It would make a lot of sense to know how to make the most of this experience. My own epiphany on the subject came when I took my sons to a Los Angeles Dodger game some years ago on "Hispanic Day" and found ourselves in the middle of enthusiastic Spanish-speaking fans in the left field bleachers. We had a wonderful time, and found it interesting to be in the minority in a large crowd for the first time in our lives. That epiphany is repeated whenever we are in Hawaii where people of many races live together without any one gr