scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
JournalISSN: 0003-0678

American Quarterly 

Johns Hopkins University Press
About: American Quarterly is an academic journal published by Johns Hopkins University Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): American studies & Politics. It has an ISSN identifier of 0003-0678. Over the lifetime, 2977 publications have been published receiving 41057 citations. The journal is also known as: AQ.


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The women's magazines, gift annuals and religious literature of the nineteenth century, were the hostage in the home as discussed by the authors, not only to fortune, but also to all the values which he held so dear and treated so lightly.
Abstract: and railroads, at work long hours in a materialistic society. The religious values of his forebears were neglected in practice if not in intent, and he occasionally felt some guilt that he had turned this new land, this temple of the chosen people, into one vast countinghouse. But he could salve his conscience by reflecting that he had left behind a hostage, not only to fortune, but to all the values which he held so dear and treated so lightly. Woman, in the cult of True Womanhood' presented by the women's magazines, gift annuals and religious literature of the nineteenth century, was the hostage in the home.2 In a society where values changed fre-

1,545 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Wright's formulation also placed political mobilization by African Americans in context, attributing it to the systemic practices of aversion, exploitation, denigration, and discrimination practiced by people who think of themselves as "white" as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: SHORTLY AFTER WORLD WAR II, A FRENCH REPORTER ASKED EXPATRIate Richard Wright his opinion about the "Negro problem" in the United States. The author replied "There isn't any Negro problem; there is only a white problem."' By inverting the reporter's question, Wright called attention to its hidden assumptions-that racial polarization comes from the existence of blacks rather than from the behavior of whites, that black people are a "problem" for whites rather than fellow citizens entitled to justice, and that unless otherwise specified, "Americans" means whites.2 But Wright's formulation also placed political mobilization by African Americans in context, attributing it to the systemic practices of aversion, exploitation, denigration, and discrimination practiced by people who think of themselves as "white." Whiteness is everywhere in American culture, but it is very hard to see. As Richard Dyer argues, "white power secures its dominance by seeming not to be anything in particular."3 As the unmarked category against which difference is constructed, whiteness never has to speak its name, never has to acknowledge its role as an organizing principle in social and cultural relations.4 To identify, analyze, and oppose the destructive consequences of whiteness, we need what Walter Benjamin called "presence of mind." Benjamin wrote that people visit fortune-tellers not so much out of a desire to know the future but rather out of a fear of not noticing some

389 citations

Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Journal in previous years
YearPapers
202330
202278
20211
202026
201970
201866