Shades of White

“Do whites have a culture? Pamela Perry shows us that not only do they have a culture, they have many. An engrossing study of teenage peer culture in an increasingly multiracial society, Shades of White is an enlightening romp through white youth identity—an important contribution to the burgeoning literature on whiteness.”—Dalton Conley, author of Honky

“In an overwhelmingly white country being white used to be seen as just being part of the majority, just a normal American. But how will our children think about it in schools where they will increasingly confront more and more students of other racial and ethnic identities? This book offers a sensitive and fascinating exploration of that question from the state at the cusp of that demographic revolution, California. Perry frames vital issues of integration and equity that demand leadership from the nation’s educators not just for the sake of minority students, but to prepare whites to become a successful minority in a workable multiracial society.”—Gary Orfield, Harvard University

“Perry’s book is part of a second wave of whiteness studies; she challenges ‘new racism’ theories with the encouraging idea that inconsistencies in white’s attitudes are not the subtle, modern face of racism, but ‘potential inlets for nurturing antiracism.’ Trying to broaden this ethnography’s appeal, the author has limited the jargon-heavy passages, making the book readable by those simply curious about what the kids have to say.”

“Perry’s research provided her with ideas for restructuring education to enhance cultural diversity and compatibility among students, emphasizing that, as this country becomes more racially diverse, we should try to strip away racial identity and think of Americans as one people. These ideas might seem out of reach, but they’re worth considering.”

“This ethnographic portrait of students enrolled in two very different northern California schools provides us with some insight into how they identify racially and establish cultural boundaries among themselves and across racial groups. . . . This comparative research design allowed Perry not only to observe how context influences racial identity, but also how white students from similar backgrounds maintained substantively different racial identities depending on whether they were a part of either the school's majority or minority. . . . I enjoyed reading Shades of White, and certainly, I cannot quibble with Perry’s conclusions.”

"A truly outstanding contribution to the existing race and ethnic relations literature. . . . I strongly recommend this very well written, accessible, and forward-thinking book for courses in race relations, multicultural and ethnic studies, and education. Perry's Shades of White makes an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the relational and situational nature of racial identity construction and the various social forces that continue to reshape the meaning we attach to race."

"[A]n engaging, comparative ethnography of white identity in two northern California high schools. . . . Shades of White asks a series of big questions: How do white youth talk about race? Do they think of themselves as racial subjects? Is there a white culture? Is white identity fixed or singular? How might diversity, and daily interactions with cultural differences shape the kind and quality of responses given by white youth? With theoretical sophistication, Perry provides illuminating response to each of these queries."

"[This] ethnography is extensive and the writing is often rich, complex, and vivid. . . . An important book."