1st Edition

What White Looks Like African-American Philosophers on the Whiteness Question

Edited By George Yancy Copyright 2004
    296 Pages
    by Routledge

    296 Pages
    by Routledge

    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.

    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.

    Biography

    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: A Critical Reader (2001), and The Philosophical i: Personal Reflections on Life in Philosophy (2002).

    "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