Episode Notes

GFADAF EP16 - The Origin(s) of Whiteness / Books From A Dying Art Form: David Roediger and the “Wages of Whiteness”

Sure, we're all aware of the various harmful stereotypes placed upon non-white people, but what about white stereotypes? Where do they come from and how have they been instrumental in forming "white culture"? "Wages of Whiteness" by David Roediger is a monumental text that shows how, through language, labor competition and blackface minstrelsy (where much of the style of tap dance was developed) white folk created distinctions that separated themselves from non-white people in order to gain a financial and psychological advantage—the repercussions of which we still experience today! If you study the histories of U.S. labor, the formation of racial stereotypes and blackface, this book is referenced all the time. Get in on the ground floor of contemporary scholarship through this introduction to "Wages of Whiteness."

Photo Info: American political cartoon by Thomas Nast titled "The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things", depicting a drunken Irishman sitting on a barrel of gunpowder while lighting a powder keg and swinging a bottle in the air. Published September 2, 1871 in Harper's Weekly (Wikipedia)

Time Codes:

00:00-00:51 Theme Song 16

00:52-13:44 A Brief(ish) Preface

13:45-14:47 Biography of David Roediger

14:48-23:00 The Language of White Supremacy

23:01-35:32 Blackface and the formation of white stereotypes

35:33-39:22 A Marxist Interpretation of Blackface

39:23-51:33 How the Irish Became White

51:34-54:28 Race/Labor Relations After the Civil War

54:29-56:49 Dance as a Unifying Element

56:50-57:33 A Plea to my Fellow Paper-Imitators

57:34-1:02:00 Epilogue: Is This Episodes Anti-White?

1:02:00-1:09:10 The Tap Dance Podcast Roundup

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