Before We Were White

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.

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.

What connects The Mayflower with an iconic screen adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?  And what connects the 1931 James Whale film Frankenstein with the 1956 Hollywood musical The King and I? Why do so many Americans show South Asian ancestry in DNA tests?  And where exactly does John Wayne fit into all of this? Sometimes the real horror is the story behind the actors and storytellers... Before We Were White takes a mid-point break from our four part series on the history of Christianity in America - "New, Improved, and Super-Sanctified".  Join us as we explore some of the darkness at the heart of Tinsel Town's Golden Era.

America is easily the most religious country among the wealthy western democracies. Why? Episode 19 of Before We Were White - "New, Improved, and Super-Sanctified, Part 2" is out now. Part 2 explores the Medieval Catholic church, and how its quest for total political, economic, and spiritual power and authority led to the birth of Protestantism.