They say there are only six basic building blocks or themes behind every story ever told. Some storytellers know this, others don’t. The ones who realise this usually try harder to bring something new or surprising to the table. When it’s done cleverly, like in the Coen Brothers retelling of a 2,500 year-old story […]
I’ve been thinking about the extreme right’s current obsession with “The Great Replacement”, and their deep interest in the preservation of a “white European race”… Even if a person could demonstrate that ALL of their ancestors came from Central or Northern Europe, this still would not mean that they are in any sense “racially […]
As expected, this blog and podcast is beginning to be noticed by “white” Christian nationalist ideologues. I find myself conflicted trying to decide whether the people commenting from this ideological position should be ignored or blocked. It is beyond laughable that anyone with deep roots in colonial-era America would use iconography associated with medieval […]
The <activist> Supreme Court of the USA handed down a decision a few weeks ago. In their infinite wisdom, they have decided that a ban on “bump stocks” should not stand. That every American should have the “right” to make their semi-automatic weapon function like a fully automatic weapon. How many mass shootings in […]
This is probably a perfect encapsulation of the political complexities and divisions at the heart of US society. As early as 1921, 94% of the electricity distributed in the USA was controlled by privately-owned holding companies. In 1920, wealthy automobile manufacturer Henry Ford had attempted to implement a plan to dam the […]
Many believe the 20th century “norm” among American men of being clean-shaven with short hair was mostly due to grooming standards set by the military during two world wars. 1) An effective seal for gas masks cannot be achieved with a bearded face. 2) The fitting of steel helmets was made easier by requiring […]
This post is going slightly off-piste for a sociology and history website, so my apologies. It is now utterly clear that social media platforms throttle the visibility of users/writers who post things not matching a certain “preferred” model. Mentioning certain political “situations”, such as the attempted ethnic-cleansing taking place in Gaza, will result in […]
Cultural relativity is a thing. Most Americans are raised within western educational norms, surrounded by a level of material wealth unimaginable to much of the world. People in other parts of the world forced to live (or choosing to live) inside a completely different reality get labels attached to them, based on how they […]
I spent a lot of today listening to voices on the radio saying that the outcome of a court case in New York would have no bearing on how they vote this November. When we wonder how a person can choose to be wilfully ignorant, consider this social situation: We get called ignorant. Or dumb. […]
“Some of those that work forces, are the same who burn crosses…” Rage Against the Machine [1992] Most people would consider the Ku Klux Klan to be associated primarily with the Deep South. For reasons too complex to address at length in a short article – post WWI socio-economic issues, the burgeoning eugenics […]
Copyright © 2024 Brian Halpin – Before We Were White
Subscribe to our mailchimp newsletter to receive our latest news and podcasts straight to your inbox.
