Race Critical Theories

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that 'Worked to the Bone' by Pem Davidson Buck is subtitled 'Race, Class, Power, & Privilege in Kentucky' and this neatly sums up the focus of her work. The writer discusses that Buck, by training an anthropologist, embarks upon a critical examination of the construction of social and economic privilege in Kentucky in racial terms. The writer points out that Buck resides and works in the two counties she studies, thus she provides a personal and intimate as well as a scholarly overview of what she calls the false lie of 'trickle up' economics in the region. The writer concludes that Buck's work is an important contribution to literature about racial 'construction' in America, and it is particularly interesting because it is told from the point of view of whites, yet condemns white privilege.

From the Paper:

"Although in Kentucky the privileged classes are white, not all whites are privileged. This is what is particularly noxious about how white class privilege is constructed. When the South was settled in the 1600s, the poorest white colonists were persuaded by the elites that it was also in their interests to create a system of slavery defining blacks as inferior. Rebellions like Bacon's Rebellion in the 1670s were put down through a false system of granting minor privileges to the poor because of their whiteness, like the ownership of small plots of land and greater access to voting rights.
"Because blacks were so oppressed white upon white class oppression seemed as bad, relatively speaking, because at least poor whites had the benefits of whiteness, and more rights than slaves. This system of racial injustice created a state of false consciousness amongst poor, free whites, as poor whites identified with aristocratic individuals who actually advanced policies against the poor's economic interests."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Buck, Pem Davidson. Worked to the Bone: Race, Class, Power, & Privilege in Kentucky. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2001.

More papers on Race Critical Theories:

• Book Review # 110703 : "Race Critical Theories: Text and Context" Review"
• Comparison Essay # 110617 : "Race Critical Theory"
• Comparison Essay # 89008 : "Critical Race and Post-colonial Theorists"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: