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The Problem of the White Citizen for a Political Theory of Race

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The Problem of the White Citizen for a Political Theory of Race _THEORY OF RACE CHAPTER 2 e absolute bottom of the social and on is already taken. The Problem of the White Citizen for a political theory of race. His bi­ f racial formation, conflict, and alien­ failure" of Reconstruction reve·als the m of the two worlds system, in which vho are part of the alliance·and enjoy ists of those who, denied membership LCrow. Membership in both worlds is needs, fears, and opportunities of the racial order divided into those who are although this system has historically Two public acts characterized the democratic will of antebellum Amer­ ,, the tragic fact is that it is ultimately ica: the vote and the riot. The age that heralded the rise of the first mass ~ class. Du Bois's analysis shows that democracy in the world was also one of the most violent, turbulent :hat exists prior to the public sphere. times in American history. Riots, lynch mobs, insurrections, and other Llm itself. For as Charles Mills argues, disturbances swept the urban landscape like a panic. In 183 5 alone, all, but a set of power relations."87 seventy-one people died in 147 riots across the country. Between 1830 less, is not a comprehensive picture and 1865 over seventy percent of all cities with a population of 20,000 or a product of "inner cohesion" as well more experienced some kind of major civil disorder.1 Jacksonian mobs of the dark world to forge a culture rioted for many reasons but the greatest number were in defense of slav­ crimination.88 A political conception ery and Black subordination. Mobs attacked Black people, abolitionists, ed with the outer pressure aspect. As "amalgamators"-anyone whose actions or mere existence raised the .ltural and psychological connotations specter of social equality. But the riots were not the spontaneous actions ,le of color. Nor can it always make of a few drunk mechanics gone mad. Hardly. The majority were organ­ r cultural groups within the not-white ized, disciplined, and under the leadership of the city's most prominent unericaris and Puerto Ricans in New gentlemen. Mayors, congressmen, attorneys general, physicians, lawyers, Lt limitations, and yet limitations of and newspaper editors directed the mobs' activities at night and defended hat, as Linda Gordon points out, race them in the morning, often citing them as expressions of the "will of irregularities and exceptions as well as the majority." The riots, participants argued, were necessary to preserve : to explain the world.89 Despite these American democracy from attempts to undermine it by abolitionists, provides a gateway through which to Negroes, and Tory agents.2 y has been shaped by the racial order How could such violence be done in the name of democracy and 1is is the task of the next two chapters. slavery alike? How could men, esteemed and lowly, invoke the heroes of 31 32 - THE PROBLEM OF THE WHITE CITIZEN THE PROBLEM OF Tl the Revolutionary War as they burned Black tenements? How could The origins of this struggle citizens of a democratic republic perpetuate such tyranny and terror? Virginia. Not just racism but the These questions go to the heart of the problem of race in American vented on the plantations of the , democracy. Their answer, I argue, lies in an analysis of the relationship social and political rights as well a between race and democracy that was established in the antebellum era. tion of the poor while withholdini In particular, it lies in the relationship between what it meant to be a moves to the Jacksonian period, ir. citizen and what it meant to be white. interdependent with the developm1 A common apology for the white mobs is that they represented Using Judith Shklar's conception c a sad aberration of democracy. The universal democratic ideals of the white chauvinism did not contradi Declaration of Independence and the Constitution had not yet been it. As American workers fought tc fully implemented in the body politic due to significant exclusions based citizens, many of them also fought on race, gender, and class. Racist mobs were tragic proof that the United turn to Tocqueville's Democracy in States had a ways to go before it would fully live up to its own ideals. white tyranny were not contradict, Underlying this explanation is the assumption that the mobs were anti­ The twin "inevitabilities" Tocquei democratic. But this is certainly not how the rioters understood their of equality" and the intractability c actions. They took themselves to be protectors of republican institu­ equal citizenship depended on a sy5 tions. Mob leaders presented themselves as patriots-several claimed to that maintained racial hierarchy. 1 have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower-while mobs christened women as well as white men,· for a themselves with names like the Sons of Liberty and the Minutemen. and social dependents of white n The mobs saw anti-Black riots as absolutely democratic, whether they nevertheless enjoyed racial standi involved tarring Black people or smashing abolitionist presses. The ques­ other hand, were not citizens at all tion, then, is not whether the white rioters were democratic but what izenship was defined. I argue tha1 kind of democracy they believed in, practiced, and fought for. citizenship and anticitizenship he Riots and other acts of racial oppression served to protect the gender and race in the United Sta1 color line. But this line was much more than a bar that excluded cer­ tique of the white working class tc tain people from membership in the republic or that undermined demo­ prerogatives, white women and ~e cratic ideals. It constructed democratic citizenship itself. And in turn, freedom and equality in more radi< citizenship served to construct and defend the color line. The result was democratic movement in the Unit, the white citizen. To say that the antebellum American citizen was white is not an empirical observation. Rather, it is an acknowledgment Slavery and the Origins of the of a successful political struggle in which certain persons won the right Race as we now know it did not ex to proclaim themselves white and therefore citizens or potential citi­ the shores of the New World. (Nat zens, largely by distinguishing themselves from slaves and free Black ilized" in manner and "tawny" in persons. humanity was not in question.) The THE PROBLEM OF THE WHITE CITIZEN - 33 r THE WHITE CITIZEN med Black tenements? How could The origins of this struggle lie in seventeenth-century colonial erpetuate such tyranny and terror? Virginia. Not just racism but the American racial order itself was in­ f the problem of race in American vented on the plantations of the colonial South, largely by extending ies in an analysis of the relationship social and political rights as well as economic opportunities to one sec­ as established in the antebellum era. tion of the poor while withholding them from another. The story then ship between what it meant to be a · moves to the Jacksonian period, in which the rise of mass democracy is interdependent with the development of a racialized class consciousness. te. v-hite mobs is that they represented Using Judith Shklar's conception of citizenship as standing, I argue that e universal democratic ideals of the white chauvinism did.not contradict citizenship but was constitutive of the Constitution had not yet been it. As American workers fought to define themselves as producers and ic due to significant exclusions based citizens, many of them also fought to define themselves as white. I then )bs were tragic proof that the United tum to Tocqueville's Democracy in America to show that democracy and vould fully live up to its own ideals. white tyranny were not contradictory tendencies in the age of Jackson. assumption that the mobs were anti­ The twin "inevitabilities" Tocqueville observes-the "gradual progress .at how the rioters understood their of equality" and the intractability of racial prejudice-coexisted because be protectors of republican institu­ equal citizenship depended on a system of formal and informal controls selves as patriots-several claimed to that maintained racial hierarchy. This hierarchy was enforced by white Le Mayflower-while mobs christened women as well as white men, for although white wom~n were the legal ons of Liberty and the Minutemen. and social dependents of white men in the nineteenth century, they absolutely democratic, whether they nevertheless enjoyed racial standing. Black women and men, on the Lashing abolitionist presses. The ques­ other hand, were not citizens at all but the antithesis against whom cit­ ite rioters were democratic but what izenship was defined. I argue that the distinction between dependent n, practiced, and fought for. citizenship and anticitizenship helps explain the relationship between ial oppression served to protect the gender and race in the United States. Finally, I return to Du Bois's cri­ tique of the white working class to show how, in defending their racial 1 more than a bar that excluded eer­ ie republic or that undermined demo­ prerogatives, white women and men closed off opportunities to imagine ,cratic dtizenship itself. And in turn, freedom and equality in more radical ways. In so doing, they disfigured l defend the color line. The result was democratic movement in the United States. he antebellum American citizen was tion. Rather, it is an acknowledgment Slavery and the Origins of the White Race Race as we now know it did not exist when the first colonists landed on 1 which certain persons won the right d therefore citizens or potential citi­ the shores of the New World. (Native Americans may have been "unciv­ hemselves from slaves and free Black ilized" in manner and "tawny'' in color to the first settlers, but their humanity was not in question.) The first inkling of a new way to organize 34- THE PROBLEM OF THE WHITE CITIZEN THE PROBLEM OF TH human beings accompanied the arrival of the first Africans to James­ before fulfilling their terms.
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