Reviews
"While many scholars have devoted a considerable amount of attention to the image of Black people in Western culture, very few have thought it important to examine the role that images of white people played in the Black cultural imagination. Mia Bay has done just this in this subtle andelegant study, a truly germinal contribution to American historiography." --Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research, Harvard University, "Deeply researched, well crafted, and engagingly written work. It will long be considered important for broaching issues of central concern to all who study the black past." - -Reviews in American History, "With a title that makes an unveiled reference to George Frederickson's classic The Black Image in the White Mind (1971), this study takes a long overdue look at the other side of the coin....Bay explicitily addresses issues of methodology and sources in this carefully considered, thorough volume....Throughout, she demonstrates that, with a keen eye, a historian may learn much about the opinions of the unlettered. A worthy successor to earlier work on racial ideology, this book fills a major gap in the scholarship."-- Library Journal "[Bay] explores the time-centered context that shaped the images slaves and freedmen formed of white people in the period before and following emancipation....An excellent work that relates the roots of race-centered ideology to their past precedents."-- Booklist "While many scholars have devoted a considerable amount of attention to the image of Black people in Western culture, very few have thought it important to examine the role that images of white people played in the Black cultural imagination. Mia Bay has done just this in this subtle and elegant study, a truly germinal contribution to American historiography." --Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research, Harvard University "By revealing for the first time what blacks thought about whites in the era of slavery and segregation, this incisive work adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of black-white relations in American history. It is deeply researched, astute in its interpretation, and very readable." --George M. Fredrickson, Stanford University "A meticulous and imaginative reconstruction of compelling chapters in African American cultural and intellectual history. Bay is equally at home in probing the responses of Black intellectuals to racist ethnology and in mining slave narratives for evidence of the complex views of white people developed by those for whom whiteness was most acutely experienced as a problem in everyday life." --David Roediger, University of Minnesota, "[Bay] explores the time-centered context that shaped the images slaves and freedmen formed of white people in the period before and following emancipation....An excellent work that relates the roots of race-centered ideology to their past precedents."--Booklist, "[Bay] addresses an important question about black thought, in the past and in the present. Why have so many black thinkers readily embraced notions of racial difference, when such ideas were not only the mainstay of white supremacy, but also philosophically damaging to the cause ofequality?"--The New Republic, "A meticulous and imaginative reconstruction of compelling chapters in African American cultural and intellectual history. Bay is equally at home in probing the responses of Black intellectuals to racist ethnology and in mining slave narratives for evidence of the complex views of white peopledeveloped by those for whom whiteness was most acutely experienced as a problem in everyday life." --David Roediger, University of Minnesota, "With a title that makes an unveiled reference to George Frederickson's classic The Black Image in the White Mind (1971), this study takes a long overdue look at the other side of the coin....Bay explicitly addresses issues of methodology and sources in this carefully considered, thoroughvolume....Throughout, she demonstrates that, with a keen eye, a historian may learn much about the opinions of the unlettered. A worthy successor to earlier work on racial ideology, this book fills a major gap in the scholarship."--Library Journal, An important and timely investigation of African American conceptions of race from the Revolutionary era to the 1920s ... Its scope is also considerably broader than just a consideration of African American ideas about whites, the author having much to say about white racism, self-conceptions of black identity, and race relations in general, "With a title that makes an unveiled reference to George Frederickson's classic The Black Image in the White Mind (1971), this study takes a long overdue look at the other side of the coin...Bay explicitily addresses issues of methodology and sources in this carefully considered, thorough volume...Throughout, she demonstrates that, with a keen eye, a historian may learn much about the opinions of the unlettered. A worthy successor to earlier work on racial ideology, this book fills a major gap in the scholarship."--Library Journal"[Bay] explores the time-centered context that shaped the images slaves and freedmen formed of white people in the period before and following emancipation...An excellent work that relates the roots of race-centered ideology to their past precedents."--Booklist"While many scholars have devoted a considerable amount of attention to the image of Black people in Western culture, very few have thought it important to examine the role that images of white people played in the Black cultural imagination. Mia Bay has done just this in this subtle and elegant study, a truly germinal contribution to American historiography."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research, Harvard University"By revealing for the first time what blacks thought about whites in the era of slavery and segregation, this incisive work adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of black-white relations in American history. It is deeply researched, astute in its interpretation, and very readable."--George M. Fredrickson, Stanford University"A meticulous and imaginative reconstruction of compelling chapters in African American cultural and intellectual history. Bay is equally at home in probing the responses of Black intellectuals to racist ethnology and in mining slave narratives for evidence of the complex views of white people developed by those for whom whiteness was most acutely experienced as a problem in everyday life."--David Roediger, University of Minnesota"[Bay] addresses an important question about black thought, in the past and in the present. Why have so many black thinkers readily embraced notions of racial difference, when such ideas were not only the mainstay of white supremacy, but also philosophically damaging to the cause of equality?"--The New Republic"A detailed and often insightful analysis of American racial thought."--Journal of American Ethnic History"Trenchant and insightful...[An] exhaustive documentary survey."--Journal of Southern History"Deeply researched, well crafted, and engagingly written work. It will long be considered important for broaching issues of central concern to all who study the black past."--Reviews in American History, "A meticulous and imaginative reconstruction of compelling chapters inAfrican American cultural and intellectual history. Bay is equally at home inprobing the responses of Black intellectuals to racist ethnology and in miningslave narratives for evidence of the complex views of white people developed bythose for whom whiteness was most acutely experienced as a problem in everydaylife." --David Roediger, University of Minnesota, "Deeply researched, well crafted, and engagingly written work. It willlong be considered important for broaching issues of central concern to all whostudy the black past." - -Reviews in American History, "With a title that makes an unveiled reference to George Frederickson's classic The Black Image in the White Mind (1971), this study takes a long overdue look at the other side of the coin...Bay explicitily addresses issues of methodology and sources in this carefully considered, thorough volume...Throughout, she demonstrates that, with a keen eye, a historian may learn much about the opinions of the unlettered. A worthy successor to earlier work on racial ideology, this book fills a major gap in the scholarship."--Library Journal "[Bay] explores the time-centered context that shaped the images slaves and freedmen formed of white people in the period before and following emancipation...An excellent work that relates the roots of race-centered ideology to their past precedents."--Booklist "While many scholars have devoted a considerable amount of attention to the image of Black people in Western culture, very few have thought it important to examine the role that images of white people played in the Black cultural imagination. Mia Bay has done just this in this subtle and elegant study, a truly germinal contribution to American historiography."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research, Harvard University "By revealing for the first time what blacks thought about whites in the era of slavery and segregation, this incisive work adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of black-white relations in American history. It is deeply researched, astute in its interpretation, and very readable."--George M. Fredrickson, Stanford University "A meticulous and imaginative reconstruction of compelling chapters in African American cultural and intellectual history. Bay is equally at home in probing the responses of Black intellectuals to racist ethnology and in mining slave narratives for evidence of the complex views of white people developed by those for whom whiteness was most acutely experienced as a problem in everyday life."--David Roediger, University of Minnesota "[Bay] addresses an important question about black thought, in the past and in the present. Why have so many black thinkers readily embraced notions of racial difference, when such ideas were not only the mainstay of white supremacy, but also philosophically damaging to the cause of equality?"--The New Republic "A detailed and often insightful analysis of American racial thought."--Journal of American Ethnic History "Trenchant and insightful...[An] exhaustive documentary survey."--Journal of Southern History "Deeply researched, well crafted, and engagingly written work. It will long be considered important for broaching issues of central concern to all who study the black past."--Reviews in American History, "A detailed and often insightful analysis of American racial thought."--Journal of American Ethnic History, This is a meticulous and thought-provoking study of a hitherto neglected topic. It will deservedly take its place alongside the best recent scholarship on the enduring problem of race in American history, "With a title that makes an unveiled reference to George Frederickson's classicThe Black Image in the White Mind(1971), this study takes a long overdue look at the other side of the coin....Bay explicitily addresses issues of methodology and sources in this carefully considered, thorough volume....Throughout, she demonstrates that, with a keen eye, a historian may learn much about the opinions of the unlettered. A worthy successor to earlier work on racial ideology, this book fills a major gap in the scholarship."--Library Journal "[Bay] explores the time-centered context that shaped the images slaves and freedmen formed of white people in the period before and following emancipation....An excellent work that relates the roots of race-centered ideology to their past precedents."--Booklist "While many scholars have devoted a considerable amount of attention to the image of Black people in Western culture, very few have thought it important to examine the role that images of white people played in the Black cultural imagination. Mia Bay has done just this in this subtle and elegant study, a truly germinal contribution to American historiography." --Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research, Harvard University "By revealing for the first time what blacks thought about whites in the era of slavery and segregation, this incisive work adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of black-white relations in American history. It is deeply researched, astute in its interpretation, and very readable." --George M. Fredrickson, Stanford University "A meticulous and imaginative reconstruction of compelling chapters in African American cultural and intellectual history. Bay is equally at home in probing the responses of Black intellectuals to racist ethnology and in mining slave narratives for evidence of the complex views of white people developed by those for whom whiteness was most acutely experienced as a problem in everyday life." --David Roediger, University of Minnesota, "With a title that makes an unveiled reference to George Frederickson'sclassic The Black Image in the White Mind (1971), this study takes a longoverdue look at the other side of the coin....Bay explicitily addresses issuesof methodology and sources in this carefully considered, thoroughvolume....Throughout, she demonstrates that, with a keen eye, a historian maylearn much about the opinions of the unlettered. A worthy successor to earlierwork on racial ideology, this book fills a major gap in thescholarship."--Library Journal, "With a title that makes an unveiled reference to George Frederickson's classic The Black Image in the White Mind (1971), this study takes a long overdue look at the other side of the coin....Bay explicitily addresses issues of methodology and sources in this carefully considered, thorough volume....Throughout, she demonstrates that, with a keen eye, a historian may learn much about the opinions of the unlettered. A worthy successor to earlier work on racial ideology, this book fills a major gap in the scholarship."--Library Journal "[Bay] explores the time-centered context that shaped the images slaves and freedmen formed of white people in the period before and following emancipation....An excellent work that relates the roots of race-centered ideology to their past precedents."--Booklist "While many scholars have devoted a considerable amount of attention to the image of Black people in Western culture, very few have thought it important to examine the role that images of white people played in the Black cultural imagination. Mia Bay has done just this in this subtle and elegant study, a truly germinal contribution to American historiography." --Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research, Harvard University "By revealing for the first time what blacks thought about whites in the era of slavery and segregation, this incisive work adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of black-white relations in American history. It is deeply researched, astute in its interpretation, and very readable." --George M. Fredrickson, Stanford University "A meticulous and imaginative reconstruction of compelling chapters in African American cultural and intellectual history. Bay is equally at home in probing the responses of Black intellectuals to racist ethnology and in mining slave narratives for evidence of the complex views of white people developed by those for whom whiteness was most acutely experienced as a problem in everyday life." --David Roediger, University of Minnesota, "By revealing for the first time what blacks thought about whites in the era of slavery and segregation, this incisive work adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of black-white relations in American history. It is deeply researched, astute in its interpretation, and very readable."--George M. Fredrickson, Stanford University, "While many scholars have devoted a considerable amount of attention tothe image of Black people in Western culture, very few have thought it importantto examine the role that images of white people played in the Black culturalimagination. Mia Bay has done just this in this subtle and elegant study, atruly germinal contribution to American historiography." --Henry Louis Gates,Jr., Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research,Harvard University, "[Bay] addresses an important question about black thought, in the pastand in the present. Why have so many black thinkers readily embraced notions ofracial difference, when such ideas were not only the mainstay of whitesupremacy, but also philosophically damaging to the cause of equality?"--The NewRepublic, "[Bay] explores the time-centered context that shaped the images slavesand freedmen formed of white people in the period before and followingemancipation....An excellent work that relates the roots of race-centeredideology to their past precedents."--Booklist, "By revealing for the first time what blacks thought about whites in theera of slavery and segregation, this incisive work adds a whole new dimension toour understanding of black-white relations in American history. It is deeplyresearched, astute in its interpretation, and very readable." --George M.Fredrickson, Stanford University, "With a title that makes an unveiled reference to George Frederickson's classic The Black Image in the White Mind (1971), this study takes a long overdue look at the other side of the coin...Bay explicitily addresses issues of methodology and sources in this carefully considered, thorough volume...Throughout, she demonstrates that, with a keen eye, a historian may learn much about the opinions of the unlettered. A worthy successor to earlier work onracial ideology, this book fills a major gap in the scholarship."--Library Journal"[Bay] explores the time-centered context that shaped the images slaves and freedmen formed of white people in the period before and following emancipation...An excellent work that relates the roots of race-centered ideology to their past precedents."--Booklist"While many scholars have devoted a considerable amount of attention to the image of Black people in Western culture, very few have thought it important to examine the role that images of white people played in the Black cultural imagination. Mia Bay has done just this in this subtle and elegant study, a truly germinal contribution to American historiography."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research,Harvard University"By revealing for the first time what blacks thought about whites in the era of slavery and segregation, this incisive work adds a whole new dimension to our understanding of black-white relations in American history. It is deeply researched, astute in its interpretation, and very readable."--George M. Fredrickson, Stanford University"A meticulous and imaginative reconstruction of compelling chapters in African American cultural and intellectual history. Bay is equally at home in probing the responses of Black intellectuals to racist ethnology and in mining slave narratives for evidence of the complex views of white people developed by those for whom whiteness was most acutely experienced as a problem in everyday life."--David Roediger, University of Minnesota"[Bay] addresses an important question about black thought, in the past and in the present. Why have so many black thinkers readily embraced notions of racial difference, when such ideas were not only the mainstay of white supremacy, but also philosophically damaging to the cause of equality?"--The New Republic"A detailed and often insightful analysis of American racial thought."--Journal of American Ethnic History"Trenchant and insightful...[An] exhaustive documentary survey."--Journal of Southern History"Deeply researched, well crafted, and engagingly written work. It will long be considered important for broaching issues of central concern to all who study the black past."--Reviews in American History, "A detailed and often insightful analysis of American racialthought."--Journal of American Ethnic History
