While personally, I am more of a classicist in education, favoring something like history classes over race studies and women's studies, I realize that that the dominant parties in any culture write the history books, the anthropology books, the sociology books. And all these books have a viewpoint even when they purport to be "neutral" or unbiased. Jeff Hitchcock's "Lifting the White Veil" is a book well-suited for a class text in "White Studies", "African American Studies" or any sociology class. And I certainly found it an interesting book to read just for personal edification.
Like many others who are "Caucasian" or "European descent", I never thought about a "White Culture" other than to wonder at the differences between my own upbringing and than of people I meet who are Asian or African-American. Hitchcock makes a very valid point: White Culture is not a "neutral" or absence of color. There are cultural values, practices, beliefs, and trends for whites. Nothing comes from nothing--our cultural "mainstream" values have a source and historical background.
The book takes an overview of racial history, including all races in the United States, and their interactions and history. I wished this part could have been much longer, but this is a book of a few hundred, not a few thousand pages. So an overview is what's appropriate. Then the text delves into what white culture is comprised of, and this for me was an eye-opener. I really had never thought much about whiteness and yes, I actually DID dismiss white culture as a sort of "neutral" in race, the very concept that is challenged by this book. Is white culture as distinct as Hitchcock describes it (our hierarchical values, Protestant-derived values, European- or British-derived status values?) It would seem this idea is worth exploring.
This book really is a must for any course in sociological studies that deals with race or dominance of one group over another (women's, Hispanic, you name it.) If a group is to be distinguished as Non-White, it is revealing to know what "white" means. Mr. Hitchcock's thoughts on race may not agree with yours--this is one man's scholarly work. His questions and arguments made me think, and that's what the book intended. Mission accomplished.
Lifting the White Veil is a highly readable, information packed, personable and engaging work. One might imagine there is little to say about the experience of being white in America. Hitchcock not only proves this false, he shows why looking at white culture is a necessary step in fostering a multiracial society.
The book draws upon contemporary scholarly thought from a range of disciplines, including history, psychology, sociology, and literary studies. But the author retains a common touch, adding his personal observations and experiences, fusing an informative fact-based presentation with some old-fashioned self-revelation and story telling.
Lifting the White Veil is an uplifting, thought-provoking and hopeful book that will point white Americans in new and fruitful directions, both in terms of self-understanding and in terms of moving toward the actualization of a multiracial society in the United States.