Abolition's Racial Interiors and the Making of White Civic Depth

Castiglia, Christopher

doi:10.1093/alh/14.1.32

Cited by 49 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Reformist whites sought to transform themselves and other whites by writing and speaking in ways that would make Americans "feel" the pain, and thus the shared humanity of blacks. 14 But the use of sympathy-an appeal to emotional, bodily felt bonds between blacks and whites-that many cultural historians have identified as the foundation of antebellum abolitionist pleas, was not in any way limited to the opponents of slavery. And while we can see the use of sentimental portraits of paternalistic master/slave relationships in the many Anti-Tom novels written by Southerners in indignant response to Stowe's abolitionist blockbuster, as early as the 1830s Southern masters had widely adopted in their public writing the pose of the benevolent father whose emotional connections to his child-like slaves were certainly more genuine and heartfelt than those of the cold and distant New-England reformer.…”

Section: Lydia Fishermentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural Science, Sentiment, and the Domesticated Slave

Fisher¹

2013

esq

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Section: Lydia Fishermentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural Science, Sentiment, and the Domesticated Slave

Fisher¹

2013

esq

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“…Indeed, Milly's work is recuperative in two ways: symbolically to the extent that these children serve as temporary substitutes for her own children and socially in that they are moved from "utter destitution" to "good places" and economic security (D, 546).44 What Milly's tutelage enacts is "the normative work of civil inclusion," to borrow Christopher Castiglia's phrase, that standardizes both internal and external states and guarantees that these social outcasts will no longer challenge civic order. 45 Milly thus provides the model of the ideal American because she combines moral excellence, committed labor, and economic stability with an ability to neutralize and normalize potentially disruptive social forces.…”

Section: The Republican Mammymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Republican Mammy? Imagining Civic Engagement in Dred

Duquette¹

2008

American Literature

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Through a sustained analysis of Harriet Beecher Stowe's second antislavery novel, Dred (1856), this essay argues for the reevaluation of Stowe's political and moral priorities and values. Focusing on the novel's examination of interest, the essay shows how Stowe challenges one of the basic tenets of American liberalism, namely that interests erode, rather than sustain, communities. The novel puts forward this critique by exploring the dangers of enthusiasm, which Stowe associates variously with alcohol, excessive religious emotion, and intellectual individualism. Despite its bleak outlook, Dred advances a positive position, represented by Millie, an older black woman who devotes the end of her life to rescuing orphaned children from poverty. Millie's commitment to and defense of principles associated with republicanism establishes her moral and political excellence, particularly in comparison with the novel's male characters, but the essay concludes by considering the larger implications of replacing the idealized figure of the Republican Mother with a figure dubbed the Republican Mammy.

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“…Undoubtedly, America's racial history has cast a long shadow and a considerable body of research finds that many whites oppose race-targeted policies. Even so, America's racial history does not predetermine the racial attitudes of all white Americans nor does it automatically preclude their support for race-targeted policies (Castiglia, 2002;McAdam, 2003;Sawyer & Gampa, 2018). Pioneering research on racial sympathy provides important insight into when support for such policies is likely to emerge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Matter of Solidarity: Racial Redistribution and the Economic Limits of Racial Sympathy

Williams,

Bloeser

2024

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The goal of horizontal redistribution is to provide economic resources to groups that have experienced discrimination and exploitation. In the United States, horizontal redistribution based on race remains controversial, particularly among white Americans. Not surprisingly, many white Americans oppose racial redistribution policies in some cases because of resentments they have toward racial outgroups. But this is not the only way that racial attitudes shape policy support. Chudy (2021) demonstrates that racial sympathy, or white distress over the misfortune of racial outgroups, can increase support for racially redistributive policies. However, supporting horizontal redistribution may be easier for individuals who are more economically secure, even when they are racially sympathetic. In this study, we explore whether the influence of racial sympathy is conditional on economic position. We expect that the influence of racial sympathy will be strongest among individuals who have higher incomes, as they are less concerned with competition over resources. Using the 2013 CCES, we use a newly developed measure of racial sympathy (Chudy, 2021) to study white Americans’ support for policies designed to provide resources to black Americans. Consistent with expectations, we find that whites with higher levels of racial sympathy have higher levels of support for such policies, but that this pattern is stronger among whites who are more affluent. For white Americans of lesser means, the relationship between racial sympathy and support for racial redistribution is weaker, likely because of concerns for their own relative economic status.

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Abolition's Racial Interiors and the Making of White Civic Depth

Cited by 49 publications

References 13 publications

Agricultural Science, Sentiment, and the Domesticated Slave

Agricultural Science, Sentiment, and the Domesticated Slave

The Republican Mammy? Imagining Civic Engagement in Dred

A Matter of Solidarity: Racial Redistribution and the Economic Limits of Racial Sympathy

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