Nell Irvin Painter: The History of White People

In November, 2010, John Jackson, at the Huffington Post, mentioned the Nell Irvin Painter and "The History of White People" this way: Nell Irvin Painter's The History of White People provides a fascinating look at the different perceptions of whiteness throughout history. What was white in the United States in 1900, is not what is white today. Irish and Italians were not part of the Anglo-Saxon protestant view of what constituted mainstream white American society. Some suggest that Hispanics of 'European' descent might go through a similar process. You can find that entire Huffington Post article here. In December of 2010, Wesleyan University announced a series of lectures on the "History of Race" for 2011. A listed speaker and lecturer is Nell Irvin Painter. For more information on that lecture series, see this webpage.

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Don't fire people for confessing fear of Muslims. from Slate Magazine by William Saletan

Twenty-four years ago, Juan Williams wrote Eyes on the Prize, a companion volume to the documentary history of the civil rights movement. The book, like the series, focused on the movement's leaders. But it also explored white America's difficulty in absorbing racial integration. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy struggled to reconcile the truth of the movement's principles with the challenge of holding the country together. Martin Luther King Jr. wrestled with Fannie Lou Hamer over the wisdom of compromising with the Democratic Party. When the Little Rock Nine walked into Central High School, onlookers shrieked and wept. It was a long, slow story of fear, debate, and transcendence. This is how we must understand what's happening today with American Muslims. There are obvious differences: Muslim terrorists killed nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11. But millions of American Muslims who had nothing to do with those attacks, other than losing loved ones in them, are now paying the price in fear and suspicion. And this compounds the difficulty that Muslims, like immigrants and minority religions of previous generations, face in gaining acceptance. In a Washington Post/ABC News poll released last month, Americans expressed a net unfavorable opinion of Islam (49 percent unfavorable to 37 percent favorable), and two-thirds opposed the construction of an Islamic community center near Ground Zero.

Read the full Slate piece here. See also: This Far by Faith: Stories from the African American Religious Experience, Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do About It, Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary

The bigots of NPR from NY Post: News by By RICH LOWRY

We should have known about Juan Williams long ago. The signs of a simmering bigotry were always there. The political commentator wrote the book "Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965." He followed that up with an admiring biography of Thurgood Marshall. Then, more books on the African-American religious experience, historically black colleges and black farmers. If there was anyone clearly on the verge of exploding in a venomous rant against a minority group, it was Williams. And then, inevitably, it happened. At least that's what National Public Radio must believe. The government-funded media outfit fired Williams for comments on the Fox News program "The O'Reilly Factor" that wouldn't even be considered particularly controversial outside the hothouse of NPR.

Read the full NY Post article here. See also: Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary, Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 (African American History (Penguin)), This Far by Faith: Stories from the African American Religious Experience