john bewin is a reporter and documentary maker. He's told the stories of black folk from chicago to the mississippi Delta, latinos from north carolina to the apple orchards of washington state. But like most american reporters, i've usually left white people as a group, the white race, unnamed. The coming batch of episodes will look straight at whiteness itself - where did this idea of a white race come from? And if somebody manufactured the idea, why? For what purpose?
Events of the past few years have turned a challenging spotlight on White people, and Whiteness, in the United States. An introduction to our series exploring what it means to be White. By John Biewen, with special guest Chenjerai Kumanyika.