White Enough to Be American?: Race Mixing, Indigenous People, and the Boundaries of State and Nation / Edition 1

by Lauren L. Basson

Overview

Racial mixture posed a distinct threat to European American perceptions of the nation and state in the late nineteenth century, says Lauren Basson, as it exposed and disrupted the racial categories that organized political and social life in the United States. Offering a provocative conceptual approach to the study of citizenship, nationhood, and race, Basson explores how racial mixture challenged and sometimes changed the boundaries that defined what it meant to be American.

Drawing on government documents, press coverage, and firsthand accounts, Basson presents four fascinating case studies concerning indigenous people of "mixed" descent. She reveals how the ambiguous status of racially mixed people underscored the problematic nature of policies and practices based on clearly defined racial boundaries. Contributing to timely discussions about race, ethnicity, citizenship, and nationhood, Basson demonstrates how the challenges to the American political and legal systems posed by racial mixture helped lead to a new definition of what it meant to be American—one that relied on institutions of private property and white supremacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807858370
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	02/26/2008
Edition description:	1
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Lauren L. Basson is assistant professor of politics and government at Ben-Gurion University in Israel.

Table of Contents

Note on Terminology     xi
Acknowledgments     xiii
Introduction     1
"Mixed Blood" Americans: The Jane Waldron and Barney Traversee Allotment Disputes     29
Metis Americans: Louis Riel and the Northwest Territories     57
Annexed Americans: Robert Wilcox, Home Rule, and Self-Government for Hawaii     95
Anarchist Americans: Lucy Parsons, Foreign Bodies, and American Soil     141
Conclusion     176
Notes     195
Bibliography     211
Index     227

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Basson makes an important contribution to our understanding of how constructions of race helped define the boundaries of American national identity in the late nineteenth century. Her illuminating case studies of mixed-race indigenous political activists make clear that as the United States expanded territorially, a willingness to uphold white supremacy and the primacy of private property became increasingly crucial to definitions of American national identity.—Renee Romano, Wesleyan University



There is a considerable body of scholarship dedicated to the question of the legal standing of Indian nations through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This study fills the void that exists around our understandings of cultural ideas about property, 'race,' indigeneity, and cross-cultural relationships. More broadly, Basson makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of how the existence of indigenous people of mixed descent influenced mainstream understandings of the United States as a nation.—Patricia Grimshaw, University of Melbourne

Editorial Reviews

Moves us beyond this now-conventional focus on mixing between whites and African Americans, calling our attention to the ways in which indigenous, mixed-race populations and territories have long shaped American notions of state and nation.—American Historical Review



Basson . . . [does not] lose sight of the important national story she has to tell about the porousness of U.S. racial boundaries.—Journal of American History



An expertly researched and well-written monograph. . . . A rewarding examination of a complex and fascinating topic.—South Dakota History



Offers [a] new perspective on racial thinking and white supremacy.—Nations and Nationalism



Presents a compelling discussion of the juxtaposition of race and citizenship. . . . Demonstrates that the racial question in the US has been and continues to be one that is more complex than merely black and white.—CHOICE



Provides a rich, in-depth analysis of racism in the American nation and state. . . . The theoretical and empirical contributions of this book extend far beyond the . . . period and cases being examined.—Law and Politics Book Review



Provides a solid foundation. . . . Appropriate for academic libraries.—Multicultural Review



Presents a set of encounters between racially mixed indigenous people and the U.S. government that illuminates the construction of citizenship, nationhood, and race. . . . Offers universally instructive lessons for students of political science, U.S. history, and American Indian studies.—Journal of American Ethnic History

From the Publisher