Whiteness as Property

Whiteness as Property

Contents of this 15 page article include:
Cheryl I. Harris Poem for Alma (excerpt)
Plessy v. Ferguson excerpt

I. Introduction (a personal family story about passing)

II. The Construction of Race and the Emergence of White as Property
A. Forms of Racialized Property: Relationships between Slavery, Race, and Property
1. The Convergence of Racial and Legal Status
2. Implications for Property
B. Critical Characteristics of Property and Whiteness
1. Whiteness as a traditional form of property
2. Property and expectations
3. The Property function of whiteness
a. Rights of disposition
b. Right to use and enjoyment
c. White Legal Identity: The Law's Acceptance and Legitimation of Whiteness as Property
2. Whiteness as Racialized Privilege
i. Whiteness, Rights and National Identity

III. The Persistence of Whiteness as Property
A. The Persistence of Whiteness as Valued Social Identity
B. Subordination through Denial of Group Identity

IV. Delegitimating the Property Interest in Whiteness Through Affirmative Action
A. Affirmative Action: A New Form of Status Property?
B. What Affirmative Action Has Been; What Affirmative Action Might Become

V. Conclusion

Notes (35 bibliographical references)

Racial Justice

Cheryl Harris

Cheryl Harris' Whiteness as Property (1995). In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, and K. Thomas (eds.), Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement, pp. 276-291. New York, The New Press.

1995

Cheryl I. Harris. Critical Characteristics of Whiteness as Property 106 Harv. L. Rev. 1709-1791, 1724-1737 (1993) cites omitted URL: http://racism.org/index.php/articles/race/66-defining-racial-groups/white-european-american/369-white02a2