ABSTRACT
Here Feagin assesses the development of the white racial frame from the late eighteenth century to the twentieth century. He examines the genocidal treatment of Native Americans and white-racist framing of “savages” developed by whites to rationalize this oppression. He similarly assesses the oppression of African Americans with an eye to the white frame’s distinctive obsession with the latter. White-racist framing of these groups is seen in writings of leading “founders,” such as Thomas Jefferson, and in founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence (Jefferson being primary author). The chapter also examines the elite-sponsored growth of explicit “race” terminology and of a racial hierarchy topped by “Caucasians.” This white elite included philosophers, biologists, judges, and political leaders, even supporters of “democracy” like the French visitor Alexis de Tocqueville. Popular racism such as minstrel shows is dissected, as is the extension of the white racial frame to other groups of color (e.g., Mexican and Chinese Americans). The chapter includes a substantial discussion of the rise and rationalization of Jim Crow segregation and relevant Supreme Court decisions. Also provided is a brief discussion of thinker-activists in the black critical tradition (e.g., Frederick Douglass) who developed a black counter-frame pushing back strongly against white racial framing.
