Show Notes
Do the mass media and film industry reflect popular culture, or create it? Where do we get our shared history, our national story, our traditions and identity? Follow us as we explore the origins of Christmas in America, while attempting to discover what connects Hollywood, Abraham Lincoln, and, um, Lebanon? Visit our website: beforewewerewhite.com
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More from Before We Were White
The death of Dolly Parton nearly broke the internet a couple of weeks ago.
In a time when political gangsters are mobilizing their base by appealing to "White Nationalism", it has never been more important to push back against the ridiculous assertion that "white" is an "ethnicity". The idea that the USA as a project is founded mainly upon "white culture" is equally ridiculous. BWWW Episode 24: "Give Me Back My Country" explores how country music - a musical tradition often seen as a signifier of "white culture" - finds its roots in America's mixed-ethnic underclasses. Visit our website: beforewewerewhite.com
Just over 5 years ago, in the aftermath of the first Trump presidency (which saw a resurgence of racism in the USA), I started Before We Were White as a project for countering the fake history underpinning White Nationalism. I've updated and recorded the first essay I wrote 5 years ago. Its content has become even more relevant today than it was back then.
No nation on earth fetishizes its military in the way the USA does. Do the lofty words of praise from US politicians match how veterans are treated? And if not, why not? In this episode of Before We Were White, we explore who actually fights America's wars.
A simple question: Why have "poor white people" - aka Rednecks and Hillbillies - always been seen as legitimate targets for vicious mockery and public ridicule by "mainstream" American society? The answer to that question goes to the heart of early colonial American self-identity. Visit our website: beforewewerewhite.com