White Americans distorted Black features, language, and culture to codify whiteness as its antithesis

Evidence

Blackface: The Birth of An American Stereotype (National Museum of African American History and Culture)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: White artists routinely distorted Black features in pre-photographic portraits; White is the most inferior of colors of morals of superiority. It follows that whiteness is the lack of characteristics that make a theme and give it its facets of colors. ; The Negro and whiteness were invented in Europe through scholarly effort (+24 more)

Broader Connections

• Blackness symbolizes Evil and Ugliness in white thought #corroborates (0.85)
• White is the most inferior of colors of morals of superiority. It follows that whiteness is the lack of characteristics that make a theme and give it its facets of colors. #complicates (0.40)