How interracial love and marriage changed history; and may soon alter the landscape of American politics.Loving beyond boundaries is a radical act that is changing America. When Mildred and Richard Loving wed in 1958; they were ripped from their shared bed and taken to court. Their crime: miscegenation; punished by exile from their home state of Virginia. The resulting landmark decision of Loving v. Virginia ended bans on interracial marriage and remains a signature case—the first to use the words “white supremacy†to describe such racism.Drawing from the earliest chapters in US history; legal scholar Sheryll Cashin reveals the enduring legacy of America’s original sin; tracing how we transformed from a country without an entrenched construction of race to a nation where one drop of nonwhite blood merited exclusion from full citizenship. In vivid detail; she illustrates how the idea of whiteness was created by the planter class of yesterday and is reinforced by today’s power-hungry dog-whistlers to divide struggling whites and people of color; ensuring plutocracy and undermining the common good.Cashin argues that over the course of the last four centuries there have been “ardent integrators†and that those people are today contributing to the emergence of a class of “culturally dexterous†Americans. In the fifty years since the Lovings won their case; approval for interracial marriage rose from 4 percent to 87 percent. Cashin speculates that rising rates of interracial intimacy—including cross-racial adoption; romance; and friendship—combined with immigration; demographic; and generational change; will create an ascendant coalition of culturally dexterous whites and people of color.Loving is both a history of white supremacy and a hopeful treatise on the future of race relations in America; challenging the notion that trickle-down progressive politics is our only hope for a more inclusive society. Accessible and sharp; Cashin reanimates the possibility of a future where interracial understanding serves as a catalyst of a social revolution ending not in artificial color blindness but in a culture where acceptance and difference are celebrated.
#1149284 in Books Beacon Press 2010-05-01 2010-05-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.65 x .60 x 6.00l; .90 #File Name: 0807010731272 pages
Review
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. an accurate look at a frightening movementBy Anna K.Homeschooled in a family theologically on the fence between normal evangelical and patriarchal fundamentalist; I was steeped in Quiverfull ideas -- even the ones my parents themselves didn't claim. I cannot emphasize enough how concisely Kathryn Joyce has captured this frightening movement. She smoothly switches from specific anecdotes and interviews to broad philosophy and theology; raising pertinent questions.I had forgotten some of the names and institutes Joyce encounters in this book; and am grateful for the reminder of where much of my childhood theology originated.I'd recommend this for anyone in mainstream evangelicalism or mainline Protestantism; as this fringe (or not so fringe; depending on how you view it) group continues to spread its influence in conservative Christianity and American politics.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A chance to learn about an American sub-culture that might be coming soon to a neighborhood near you!By CecI found this book to provide fascinating insight about a sub-culture of America that is growing and now becoming very influential in politics. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more this faith-based movement. It's more like an expose - don't read it expecting to be find information about how to join it (I'm sure there are other books for that; if that's your thing). Women might find it particularly worrying; as the Quiverfull movement reduces us; more or less; to subservient wombs.Why 4 star review instead of 5? This book is packed with information - a nice mix of facts and personal stories from people within the movement and people (particularly women) who have left the movement - and at some point after the half-way mark it started to feel like it was making the same points a second and even third time. So at some point I put the book down and haven't felt compelled to pick it back up to finish it. But it's so rich with detail and information that I feel I definitely got my money's worth.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Thoughtful and Sensitive; But A Bit LeanBy Asher TaylorI was pleasantly surprised by this book -- it seems that; so often; folks on each side of this debate just want to lambaste those on the other without really bothering to try to really understand what they're about. Joyce presents a sensitive portrait of a number of individual people within the Christian Patriarchy Movement while also discussing some of the difficulties it presents.That said; Joyce's book seems to circle back to the same small selection of anecdotes a number of times; as if it's assembled from a bunch of articles that were intended for publication in different journals; anthologies; or something along those lines. That's unfortunate; because I get the impression that Joyce has more to say than she actually manages to get into this book.That said; I would not hesitate to recommend it as a text for unversity-level sociology classes largely thanks to Joyce's attempts to paint three-dimensional; human portraits of her subjects. It might also be a suitable choice for a journalism class; as much of the time Joyce reports; rather than opining -- a skill that seems to largely be lost these days. When Joyce does employ her editorial voice in critical commentary; we don't get much of it; which is unfortunate; since she appears to know how to critically analyze the information at hand in order to draw reasoned inferences.
