Race Traitor

Book Overview

Race Traitor brings together voices ranging from tenured university professors to skinheads and prison inmates to discuss the "white question" in America.

Working from the premise that the white race has been socially constructed, Race Traitor is a call for the disruption of white conformity and the formation of a New Abolitionism to dissolve it.

In a time when white supremicist thinking seems to be gaining momentum, Race Traitor brings together voices ranging from tenured university professors to skinheads and prison inmates to discuss the "white question" in America. Through popular culture, current events, history and personal life stories, the essays analyze the forces that hold the white race together--and those that promise to tear it apart. When a critical mass of people come together who, though they look white, have ceased to act white, the white race will undergo fission and former whites will be able to take part in building a new human community.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415913934
• ISBN13: 9780415913935
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Thought Revolution, not Genocide

There's something many of the reviewers here fail to recognize in their "reasoning". That is the fact that Noel Ignatiev himself is Irish, which by the current understanding of the concept - qualifies him for membership in the white race. So if, in fact, he was calling for literal genocide, then he'd also be calling for his own destruction. It is clear to anyone with ONE "working brain cell" that he is talking about the elimination of the CATEGORY called "white" and all the privilege it implies. This book is not talking about eliminating the individuals who happen to fit in the category, but rather eliminating a certain mindset that many of them possess. Non-white, then, can also include people of European descent who reject classification as "white", choosing instead to identify with their own particular ethnic group - which is a more adequate representation in EVERY case. A "Race Traitor" therefore is someone who turns his/her back on the concept of race, who betrays the common "understanding" that there even IS such a thing as "whiteness", and who instead is in favor of moving towards assessing people on the basis of their individual merits. All you "anti-liberal" critics crying out against "genocide" seriously need to READ the book.

The goal is not genocide

People who rail against this collection of work generally do so for one or both of the following reasons: 1) They have an investment in maintaining whiteness in the US; these people may be "white" or not. 2) They misunderstand the goal of Igantiev and Garvey to be the genocide of light-skinned people, which it most definitely is not. Their goal is to socially destruct the significance of whiteness, not to kill anybody. If you read the publication, you'll see this clearly. Buy it and see for yourself; if you don't like it, return it. It's an important and thought-provoking piece of literature for people of all colors who are disgusted racism in the USA.

Do not fear this book

...RACE TRAITOR does not promote self-loathing among whites. Its task is to abolish white dominance by showing examples of personal sacrifice for those who are oppressed. It is an important text for anyone who is willing to free their mind of current conservative political jargon and create a solution to the epidemic of racial hierarchy...

the fragility of whiteness

this is a fantastic collection of essays and poetry (2 poems). it is necessary for americans to finally come to terms with the fragility of being "white". why does being "white"-skinned, or having a white parent, not prevent the discrmination of Latinos, Blacks, and Asians? the simple truth is that "white" and "race" are all socially constructed "truths" to divide a potentially awe-inspiring nation of nations. what happens when "white" people wake up and call for an end to racial oppression? read the book...

Winner of the 1997 American Book Award

Race Traitor, an anthology of selections from the first five issues of the RT journal has received the 1997 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.Articles, letters, and news of Race Traitor activities are available on our web site at www.postfun.com/racetraitorFor other books of interest visit the New Abolitionist Bookstore at www.postfun.com/racetraitor/nab.htm