Some Thoughts about Wages of Whiteness

The first thing I began to think about with this book was the title. The keyword I focused on was wages. Wages can have two meanings. One is the fruits of labor. Using this definition the book would suggest that whiteness has a inherent value. The other use of the term describes wages as a penalty for an action as the biblical passage found in the book of Romans, The wages of sin is death. Using this definition the book would suggest that there is a penalty for those who have used whiteness as an identity. After I read the introduction it seems that there are indications of both. The author of the introduction says that the Roediger adopted the theme of W.E. B Dubois' work that concluded that white workers prized whiteness over a unifying with black workers to the detriment of achieving true democracy. Focusing on the use of the term wages as a positive for those who claim it as an identity we can see the case made for the Irish. Rather than despising the dominant white Protestant culture in America that sought to oppress them, they stove to identify themselves with a white identity that was valued at the time. One thing I struggled with a bit was the idea that whiteness was constructed by the white workers rather than their superiors(xxii). As we discussed before with Edmund Morgan's book the creation of race was the tool used by the dominant land holders to dampen the rising power of the new white freemen who were growing in population in Virginia. I guess I am having trouble reconciling these ideas or I may be missing the point entirely. Any suggestions? More about wages later.