The Invention of "White" People (video)

Dr. J. Battalora (Philippe SHOCK Matthews); Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

Am I white? Latina Elsa Frausto, outgoing poet laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, California.

Epigenetics: Birth of a White Nation

Blue eyes (very light brown) make me white.

Birth of a White Nation is a fascinating book on race in America that begins with an exploration of the moment in time when "white people," as a separate and distinct division of humanity, were invented through legislation and the enactment of laws.

• [Epigenetics literally means "above" (epi) DNA instructions (genetics). It refers to the set of instructions -- directly in contact with the environment -- that tell the other instructions to turn on or off. We may have the gene for such and such, but whether or not it is ever activated depends on the epigene, as it were, that tells it to turn on or stay dormant. All of our physical potentialities at birth, if they are in the genes, will not be coming to expression except that the epigenetic code instructs it to turn on or stay off.] 

This book provides a thorough examination of the underlying reasons as well as the means by which "white people" were created. It did not previous exist in history. It also explains how the creation of this distinction divided laborers and ultimately served the interests of the elite.

The book goes on to examine how foundational law and policy in the U.S. were used to institutionalize the practice of "white people" holding positions of power. Finally, the book demonstrates how the social construction and legal enactment of "white people" has ultimately compromised the humanity of those so labeled.

AUTHOR

Author Dr. Jacqueline Battalora (sbpra.com)

Dr. Jacqueline Battalora (sbpra.com) is an attorney and professor of sociology, anthropology, and criminal justice at Saint Xavier University in Chicago.

As an anti-racist writer, educator, and trainer, she teaches courses in law and society having received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University, where her research was shaped by an interest in the social forces that make deep human connections across race so difficult to sustain. Her graduate training includes: theology, social ethics, sociology, and law.

Dr. Battalora’s approach to white awareness training is enhanced by employment experience that includes educator, corporate attorney, Chicago police officer, and coffeehouse co-owner. Her writings explore the enforcement of divisions between people specifically, the making of human difference in law.

Racist tragedy: white sword killer, NY (AP)

She is the author of the 2013 book Birth of A White Nation: The Invention of White People and Its Relevance Today.

Dr. Battalora was born in Scotland and lived in Belgium for six years before her family relocated to Victoria, Texas. The experience of attending high school and middle school in Texas formed her understanding of race in America.

Dr. Battalora speaks widely on the topic of the invention of white people in law and has been conducting white awareness and anti-racist training sessions since the mid 1990s. She has trained teachers as well as lawyers, judges, activists, corporate and law enforcement officials on the legal historical record of white privilege and its implications for work conducted today.

• Police: White sword killer went to NY to attack blacks
• Part I: Epigenetics of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) with Dr. Joy DeGruy
• Part II: Epigenetics: Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS) with Dr. Joy DeGruy
• Epigenetics of Slave Breeding: Sex, Violence, and Memory in African American History
• Epigenetics of Racism with Jane Elliott
• The Epigenetics of Roots with Dr. My Haley
• Out of Darkness film review with Amadeuz Christ