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đŸȘ” The Threshold

Whiteness was defined as exclusion from black occupation, not skin or work

Properties2
tagsja-picks, define, definitional_content, trade, singleton, xref, category/definitional-content
aliases@ignatiev_how_1995, loc. 399

3 min read

Whiteness was defined as exclusion from black occupation, not skin or work

Evidence

Douglass’s words pointed to the difficulty the Irish faced: it was not always clear on which side of the color line they fell. How to determine their status? In American history, “white” has not meant all scrambled together without regard to religion, language, or country of origin. At every period, however, the “white race” has included only groups that did “white man’s work.” But what was “white man’s work”? In the case of the Irish, “white man’s work” could not be defined as work they did, when it was precisely their status as “whites” that was in question. Since “white” was not a physical description but one term of a social relation which could not exist without its opposite, “white man’s work” was, simply, work from which Afro-Americans were excluded. Conversely, “black man’s work” was work monopolized by Afro-Americans. The distinction was entirely arbitrary: many of the occupations from which free black laborers were excluded were those which slaves had performed earlier in the free states and were still performing in those parts of the country where slavery existed. — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 399

Categorization

  • DEFINE: Formalizes a relational definition of ‘white’ as one term unable to exist without its opposite.
  • XREF: connects to: The white race is defined by skin privilege shared across class lines; Irish admission to whiteness had to be earned, not guaranteed by skin color. — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 231; Whiteness was defined through exclusion of non-black immigrant groups too. (+8 more)

Broader Connections

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