T 10/26 Gregory Jay, “Who Invented White People?”

Topic: The invisibility of whiteness

1. According to Jay, how did the meaning of the term ‘race’ change with European colonialism?

2. How did the concept of a white, pan-European race emerge? How was it linked back to ancient Greece and Rome and why?

3. What is the relation of whiteness to the American “melting pot” and the initial criteria for U.S. citizenship?