Shades of White: White Kids and Racial Identities in High School (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780822328926)

What does it mean to be young, American, and white at the dawn of the twenty-first century? By exploring this question and revealing the everyday social processes by which high schoolers define white identities, Pamela Perry offers much-needed insights into the social construction of race and whiteness among youth.
Through ethnographic research and in-depth interviews of students in two demographically distinct U.S. high schools-one suburban and predominantly white; the other urban, multiracial, and minority white-Perry shares students' candor about race and self-identification. By examining the meanings students attached (or didn't attach) to their social lives and everyday cultural practices, including their taste in music and clothes, she shows that the ways white students defined white identity were not only markedly different between the two schools but were considerably diverse and ambiguous within them as well. Challenging reductionist notions of whiteness and white racism, this study suggests how we might go "beyond whiteness" to new directions in antiracist activism and school reform.
Shades of White is emblematic of an emerging second wave of whiteness studies that focuses on the racial identity of whites. It will appeal to scholars and students of anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies, as well as to those involved with high school education and antiracist activities.

Author: Pamela Perry
ISBN-10: 0822328925
ISBN-13: 9780822328926
Publisher: Duke University Press
Language: English
Published: 02/14/2002
Pages: 280
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.93lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.30w x 0.76d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 02/04/2002 pg. 64
Booklist 02/01/2002 pg. 910
Library Journal 04/01/2002 pg. 122
Choice 10/01/2002 pg. 363
Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2003 pg. 17 - Recommended/Regional General