In Search of the Power of Whiteness: A Genealogical Exploration of Negotiated Racial Identities in America's Ethnic Past.

In this essay, the authors explore some of the relational, intersectional, and contextual dimensions of negotiated racial identities. By employing a genealogical method of analysis that looks at three key cases (Anastasie Desarzant, Homer Plessy, and Suzie Phipps), they investigate how various histo...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communication Quarterly Vol. 50; no. 3/4; pp. 391 - 410
Main Authors: Avant-Mier, Roberto, Jasian, Marouf
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Summer/Fall2002 Part 2
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:In this essay, the authors explore some of the relational, intersectional, and contextual dimensions of negotiated racial identities. By employing a genealogical method of analysis that looks at three key cases (Anastasie Desarzant, Homer Plessy, and Suzie Phipps), they investigate how various historically-situated communities in Louisiana have dealt with some of the contradictions, multiplicities and tensions of racial and ethnic identity formation. They then apply these insights in an analysis of issues relating to colorblindness versus color consciousness and commentaries on contemporary examples of how negotiated identities might affect various present-day publics, debates, and politics. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.