White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness, Ruth Frankenberg. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993. 290 pp., $17.95, ISBN: 0-8166-2258–2.
This essay applies an intersectional approach to the analysis of the history of anti-Catholicism and Islamophobia in the United States as manifestations of White supremacy. It offers a comparative analysis of these two phenomena in an attempt to suggest that a certain intersection exists between each and the social construction of Whiteness and the maintenance of White power and privilege in US American history. It concludes with observations on progress in the development of Catholic–Muslim relations through concerted efforts by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and various US Muslim organizations, noting that the majority of Catholics in the United States have benefited from White privilege.
