The Nature, Presence and Power of “Whiteness”

“Whiteness,” the author claims, is the primary cause of both the majority of difficulties faced by blacks in America, and of the majority of the tensions between whites and blacks. “Whiteness,” he says, has its roots in the time of slavery; grew pervasively but unobtrusively throughout the decades of equal rights advancement, beginning in the 1960’s; and reached peak resentment as a result of the election of America’s first black President, Barack Obama. That resentment, the author contends, resulted in what other commentators have called a “white-lash”: the election of Donald Trump as President.

“Whiteness” is defined by the author as the belief in the innate superiority of being white, of practicing white values, of embodying white perspectives, and of defining success and status on white terms. He suggests that, in many different ways, white people resent being called on their...