Foundational White Supremacy in Landscapes of US Historical Commemoration
This project investigates how foundational white supremacy – the white supremacy associated with the creation of the U.S. territory, state, and nation – is represented at historic sites, especially National Landmarks. National Landmarks are a form of cultural memory and provide a rich window into how the U.S. narrates its racial past. To what extent is white supremacy acknowledged in National Landmarks? To what extent is it erased? How might such patterns vary by region, racial group, and/or historical era? One of the ways white supremacy is maintained is through “white innocence,” which retells stories of racial violence and colonization in order to maintain the “goodness” of the nation. However, genuine racial justice is impossible without a foundation of truth. We are creating a database of all National Landmarks and will produce an historical atlas illustrating how this retelling occurs throughout the U.S.
Photo: Chief Chetzemoka
Photography by Audrey Mandelbaum, 2020
“White Supremacy and Climate Denial: Rage, Entitlement and Property”
Is there a connection between the U.S.’s long history of denying white supremacy and its more recent denial of climate change? I argue that denial is such a deeply embedded feature of U.S. culture that it manifests in multiple arenas, including climate change. Using recent examples of climate denial, including that of Donald Trump as well and rural Oregonians threatened with wildfires, I explore the differences and similarities between these various forms of denial, as well as how they inform each other. In addition, I consider the roots of a culture of denial, arguing that it based in settler colonization and white supremacy.
Photographer: Edward Kimmel, Creative Commons, 2017