Overview

The racist legacy behind the Western idea of freedom. The era of the Enlightenment, which gave rise to our modern conceptions of freedom and democracy, was also the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. America, a nation founded on the principle of liberty, is also a nation built on African slavery, Native American genocide, and systematic racial discrimination. White Freedom traces the complex relationship between freedom and race from the eighteenth century to today, revealing how being free has meant being white. Tyler Stovall explores the intertwined histories of racism and freedom in France and the United States, the two leading nations that have claimed liberty as the heart of their national identities. He explores how French and American thinkers defined freedom in racial terms and conceived of liberty as an aspect and privilege of whiteness. He discusses how the Statue of Liberty - a gift from France to the United States and perhaps the most famous symbol of freedom on Earth - promised both freedom and whiteness to European immigrants. Taking readers from the Age of Revolution to today, Stovall challenges the notion that racism is somehow a paradox or contradiction within the democratic tradition, demonstrating how white identity is intrinsic to Western ideas about liberty. Throughout the history of modern Western liberal democracy, freedom has long been white freedom. A major work of scholarship that is certain to draw a wide readership and transform contemporary debates, White Freedom provides vital new perspectives on the inherent racism behind our most cherished beliefs about freedom, liberty, and human rights.

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9780691179469

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This cogent study of ideas of race and freedom has added relevance and crossover potential in today's political landscape. * Kirkus Reviews *

Longlisted for the Cundill History Prize, McGill University This cogent study of ideas of race and freedom has added relevance and crossover potential in today's political landscape. * Kirkus Reviews * Extremely convincing. ---Ilana Masad, NPR White Freedom is clear and engaging. It offers fresh insight to the idea of liberty - an idea that is increasingly at the fore of societal concern. Stovall doesn't preach; he doesn't try to convince anyone to come to his side. He offers important context to the history of the development of freedom, and engaging analysis supported by carefully researched evidence. Stovall, a professor of history and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Fordham University, gives us all the information we need, and then challenges us to look deeper. ---Brock Kingsley, Chicago Review of Books [P]owerful and persuasive demonstrations of the complementary relationship between freedom and race. . . . [White Freedom] is a treasure trove of historical detail, but it's also written clearly and persuasively . . . a worthy addition to the recent surge of work rethinking the connection between race and other fundamental aspects of our social system. ---Olufemi O. Taiwo, The Nation A valuable book. ---David A. Bell, New York Review of Books

Author Information

Tyler Stovall (19542021) was professor of history and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Fordham University. His books include Transnational France: The Modern History of a Universal Nation, Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light, and The Rise of the Paris Red Belt.

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