Whiteness on the Border

Bebout draws together the insights of critical whiteness studies and Chicana/o studies to show how whiteness has been made and remade through the construction and policing of a material and imagined brown/white racial border. ~Critical Inquiry

Bebout makesWhiteness on the Bordera compelling read by weaving his own experiences as a white person into his analysis; his anecdotes remind us that even in nonborder spaces like Chicago in the 1970s, ideas about Mexicanness circulate, reverberate, and solidify ideas about whiteness. ~ALH Online Review

Bebouts book forms an impressive contribution to scholarship in this field. ~U.S. Studies Online

Balancing between personal reflections, an impressive grasp of diverse cultural theory, and at times mellifluent prose, Whiteness on the Border is essential reading for anti-racism activists and critical race scholars. Bebout’s clear use and definition of complicated terms and social practices makes this book accessible to an advanced undergraduate and graduate audience; I plan on assigning it in my US Racial Theory class in the fall. ~Journal of American Ethnic History

Whiteness on the Borderexplores the vexed ways in which white identity in the U.S. has historically been forged in opposition to a Mexican & other. Displaying mastery of the intellectual traditions of critical whiteness studies and Chicana/o studies, LeeBeboutdraws deftly on complicated concepts to show that while there is always racism, there is never only a singular homogenous racism, but instead many differentiated and tactically deployed racisms. Brimming with exceptional critical acumen,Whiteness on the Borderwill be a book of significant impact and influence. ~George Lipsitz,author of How Racism Takes Place

With wit, passion, rigor,Whiteness on the Borderbreaks down the logic of white supremacy. Innovative and dynamic, Lee Bebouts critical study drops onto the world at a key moment. We are living through a backlash against multiculturalism and against the civil rights movement. Something has changed; something has turned, and Bebouts timely study helps us to chart the depth of this bracing cultural metastasis. ~William Anthony Nericcio,author of Tex[t]-Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of “Mexicans” in America