Whiteness In the Big D

White Metropolis recounts the history of Dallas, Texas from with emphasis on race, ethnicity, and religion.  Michael Phillip’s book White Metropolis exemplifies many themes, but the theme of “whiteness” stands out among the rest.

            Whiteness is not something that is defined by skin color. In White Metropolis Phillips describes “whiteness”, “by what it was not: it was not black, communal, or socialist.”   There are people that are Mexican-American and African-American that have characteristics of whiteness. Phillips traces whiteness in Texas back to from the founding of the state when he says, “The founders of Anglo Texas envisioned a race-based society in which Indians would be driven out, blacks exploited as slaves, and Mexicans reduced to the role of surplus labor. “ Whiteness is almost a superiority or arrogance over the working class. The term whiteness according to Phillips in some cases referred to races that were not white. To put it in simple terms if you were a non-elite or non middle class you were non-white. Like Phillips says, “To be classified as "non-white" in cities like Dallas, on the other hand, was to be assigned low-wage jobs and to have few opportunities for economic advancement.” 

            The group pushing for whiteness in Dallas was the elite or wealthy. Like Phillips says in White Metropolis, “With the Dallas commercial elite firmly in charge of their city, neighborhoods increasingly segregated not just racially but also by economic class.” I see this in many towns in the Sunbelt as well as many towns today. The elites in the community want to control the politics and how the towns future is being shaped. Many times they do so very successfully because of their enormous amounts of money and power. An example of this is when Phillips says, Elites battled to convince a skeptical population that the interests of the wealthy were synonymous with the needs of the entire city’s.” 

            I highly recommend Michael Phillips book White Metropolis. With his innovative perspectives on whiteness in Dallas, Texas between 1841 to 2001, he portrays Dallas in a new light. I agree that there was an issue with whiteness in Dallas. My favorite line from the book was, "Dallas is unlike Chicago -it doesn't know about its fire," Farmer said. "... It's like a family going through a trauma but suppressing the memory.” This line sums up the entire book, it address the issues of Whiteness and the elites attempt to cover it up.