White innocence : paradoxes of colonialism and race / Gloria Wekker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wekker, Gloria, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Racism--Netherlands.

Racism.

Sexual minorities.

Race relations.

Netherlands--Race relations.

Netherlands.

Sexual minorities--Netherlands.

LGBTQ+ people.

Physical Description:

xiii, 226 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Durham : Duke University Press, 2016.

Summary:

In White Innocence Gloria Wekker explores a central paradox of Dutch culture: the passionate denial of racial discrimination and colonial violence coexisting alongside aggressive racism and xenophobia. Accessing a cultural archive built over 400 years of Dutch colonial rule, Wekker fundamentally challenges Dutch racial exceptionalism by undermining the dominant narrative of the Netherlands as a "gentle" and "ethical" nation. Wekker analyzes the Dutch media's portrayal of black women and men, the failure to grasp race in the Dutch academy, contemporary conservative politics (including gay politicians espousing anti-immigrant rhetoric), and the controversy surrounding the folkloric character Black Pete, showing how the denial of racism and the expression of innocence safeguards white privilege. Wekker uncovers the postcolonial legacy of race and its role in shaping the white Dutch self, presenting the contested, persistent legacy of racism in the country. Book jacket.

Contents:

Suppose she brings a big negro home?: case studies of everyday racism

The house that race built

The coded language of Hottentot Nymphae and the discursive presence of race, 1917

Of homo nostalgia and (post)coloniality: or, where did all the critical white gay men go?

For even though I am black as soot, my intentions are good?: the case of Zwarte Pete

Coda. "But what about the captain??

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780822360599

0822360594

9780822360759

0822360756

9780822374565

0822374560

OCLC:

917359313