scholarly journals “The White Experiment”: Racism and the Broome Pearl-Shelling Industry

2019 ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
Stefanie Affeldt
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Population Politics

With the Federation of Australia, aspiration for racial homogeneity was firmly established as being fundamental to national identity. Therefore, increasing criticism was directed against Asian employment in the pearl-shelling industry of Broome. It was not least against the backdrop of population politics, that several efforts were implemented to disestablish the purportedly ‘multiracial enclave’ in ‘White Australia.’ These culminated in “the white experiment,” i.e. the introduction of a dozen British men to evince European fitness as pearl divers and initiate the replacement of Asian pearling crews. Embedded in these endeavours were reflections of broader discourses on ‘white supremacy’ and racist discrimination.

Howling “A Hot Time”: The Paradoxical Anthem of the Progressive Age

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
DEIRDRE O'CONNELL
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
National Identity ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
Black Culture ◽  
Time Served ◽  
Musical Traditions

This study investigates the shifting meanings invested in the ragtime song “A Hot Time in the Old Time, Tonight” at the turn of the twentieth century. Complicating the tune's place in the canon of military, political, and national anthems was its associations with “vice,” black culture, and white supremacy. By mapping the ritual and representational uses of the song, this investigation demonstrates how “A Hot Time” served paradoxical functions that simultaneously affirmed and unsettled American exceptionalism. In doing so, this article traces the processes of obfuscation whereby black musical traditions and white supremacy defined America's distinctive national identity.

“The Picture Window of the Pacific”

Gateway State ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 19-49
Author(s):  
Sarah Miller-Davenport
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
World War ◽  
Congressional Debates ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Cultural Connections

This chapter explores the post-World War II congressional debates on Hawaiʻi statehood. It shows that it was not until the statehood debates that Hawaiʻi began to acquire a popular reputation as a vibrant interracial community where “East meets West.” This image emerged only through contentious political struggle, as advocates battled opponents who believed Hawaiʻi's people were a threat to white supremacy. Mainland opponents, most of them Southern Democrats, assailed statehood as a colonialist maneuver that would dilute U.S. national identity. Many of these opponents feared that Hawaiʻi would provide the crucial votes necessary for civil rights legislation if the territory were made a state. Statehood advocates at first claimed Hawaiʻi should be granted statehood because of its similarity to the mainland. By the end of the statehood debates, however—as Asia grew in importance in U.S. Cold War policy—Hawaiʻi was promoted by its supporters as a place whose cultural connections to Asia could be used to advance American global interests.

The Idea of Terror: Institutional Reproduction in Government Responses to Political Violence

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-509
Author(s):  
Anna A Meier
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
National Security ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Differential Treatment ◽  
White Supremacist ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
Attitudinal Changes

Abstract Despite the recent global uptick in white supremacist terrorism, governments continue to face accusations of not taking the threat seriously, either discursively or in terms of policy responses. Why do acts of white supremacist violence consistently fail to constitute turning points for policy change? Rather than considering acts of political violence as critical junctures for change, I argue that such acts instead reveal how persistent institutions of power actually are. I develop a theory of hegemonic components of national identity that links institutionalized white supremacy to the differential treatment of non-white perpetrators, even when they are deemed terrorists, through a process of institutional reproduction. Drawing on interviews with German national security elites, I show that even when white supremacist violence is treated as terrorism, both legally and discursively, it does not engender policy responses and attitudinal changes on par with those following other terrorist threats.

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