Raising Racists: The Socialization of White Children in the Jim Crow South

New Directions in Southern History

by Kristina DuRocher

White southerners recognized that the perpetuation of segregation required whites of all ages to uphold a strict social order―especially the young members of the next generation. White children rested at the core of the system of segregation between 1890 and 1939 because their participation was crucial to ensuring the future of white supremacy. Their socialization in the segregated South offers an examination of white supremacy from the inside, showcasing the culture's efforts to preserve itself by teaching its beliefs to the next generation. In Raising The Socialization of White Children in the Jim Crow South, author Kristina DuRocher reveals how white adults in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries continually reinforced race and gender roles to maintain white supremacy. DuRocher examines the practices, mores, and traditions that trained white children to fear, dehumanize, and disdain their black neighbors. Raising Racists combines an analysis of the remembered experiences of a racist society, how that society influenced children, and, most important, how racial violence and brutality shaped growing up in the early-twentieth-century South.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Race, American History, Social Justice, Anti Racist, 20th Century

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Ginger Stephens]

I have very mixed feelings about this book. While I understand that Kristina DuRocher had a very narrow focus as her topic: how Southern children were indoctrinated into segregated society, the book seemed more about proving that the South is entirely at fault for poor race relations. The descriptions of lynchings are horrific, and the fact that people would take small children to them is hard to comprehend. But, there are some fundamental aspects of American culture that appear to be glossed over to make it seem as if the South were the only place where racism existed prior to World War II.

As an example, there is a section on advertising using dehumanized images of African Americans. One advertisement is for Cream of Wheat in 1917, but it is not mentioned that Cream of Wheat was invented in North Dakota and became part of Nabisco, based in Chicago. Those images were not made in the South, nor were they intended for a Southern-only marketing campaign.

Another example is the section on toys, toys manufactured by Sears & Roebuck and Parker Brothers are mentioned. Sears and Roebuck was based in Chicago. Parker Brothers was based in New Jersey. Again, these games with dehumanized African Americans were not made in the South, nor intended only for sale in the South.

I understand that the purpose of the book was to explain how children were taught racial and gender roles in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, but I was left with the feeling that the focus was too narrow with the focus on one region of the United States. When examples of racist toys and advertising from other regions is being used to show how the South maintain segregation, I ended up feeling like the author really didn't understand American History or how the regions (North, South, Midwest, West) impacted each other.

I don't know if I would recommend this book to anyone since it will be confusing for those without a solid foundation in American History and annoying to those who actually study history.

[Martha]

This is a depressing, somewhat dry, but very convincingly argued assessment of the ways the white south maintained white supremacy after the end of slavery. Without a legal institution officially marking Blacks as inferior, Whites sought other tactics in their drive to teach their children the necessity of upholding Jim Crow. In her exploration, DuRocher follows young, southern Whites from the home, into schools, into the broader marketplace, and finally into racial violence, with several chapters on the ritual of lynching, and the roles played by white children in that ritual.

[Alice]

I listened via audiobook and I’m glad I did. It’s very academic and I think I would’ve had a harder time reading the physical copy. Really well done, should be read by everyone.

[James]

Great look into Jim Crow history

I really enjoyed reading this title as it provided a glimpse into history from WW1 up until then end of the civil rights movement of 1964. It gives you a look into race relations in the south and how a lot of southerners viewed and interacted with African Americans, how media manipulated the minds of Europeans and how through these mediums were able to maintain the ideology of white supremacy. In all it's a great read if you are looking for that missing link between emancipation and the civil rights generation.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer]

I think for Miss DeRocher was looking for racism and she found it. Even when she had to dig deep into the 19th century she did as long as it proved her point. Number one Southerners didn’t make toys, Northerners did, two I don’t know anyone alive who’s been to a lynching number three it was Colorado who passed a law that stood till 1929 to make it illegal for black people to enter the state in California trying to follow those are two states that are not southern. To write a book on raising racist when I’m in mother in the south who would no way raise my children to be racist and I know this is a typical expected response from a white woman, but I know me you don’t enter write a narrow minded book on such a specific region of the country when malicious and orientation or a problem for northern states makes this book Nolan void. If you really want to make A book about racism then do one about the world because racism is everywhere. There is not a race in existence that hasn’t suffered slavery and I have news for you, although bad African-American slavery was not the worst. You really want to help people go help the slaves in Nigeria that are today suffering torches of racism. You’re really into equality go help the slaves and Sarah Lyons but no you won’t you’re doing just like the Masters in the south did and that’s making money off the poor people who have already suffered the tortures of slavery I mean actually suffered not they were related to slaves they actually suffered and now you’re making money off of them too. Shame on you making up lies the sell books. Haven’t you ever heard when you make a general statement tells me you have no proof to back that up because all the south cannot be racist just like all black people aren’t related to slaves. I am so tired of this taking up time in our country when do you have real slaves that need our help not relatives of slaves real slaves. Because you didn’t write this book to help anyone when I read it it just made me angry with your generalizations and you’re misinformed historical contacts. So who did you ride it for African-Americans that’s preaching to the choir right? So you didn’t write this to better anyone’s lives you wrote this to make money off of the misery of slavery and racism shame on you. Let me just say one thing when I say you are preaching to the choir or I know not all black people are going to fall for this my Noosha most of them have a great common sense and no not all Southerners a racist no do we raise our children to be racist or by racist toys for our children and if they did back in the forties, then go build a time machine and go fix it. As I said this book benefits no one just you financially.

[Alan Mills]

The idea behind this book is fascinating: while maintaining legal oppression of Blacks was relatively easy, perpetuating the cultural myth of white superiority after slavery was abolished required creativity as adults were in constant fear that children would come to reject Black inferiority. Without the crutch of slavery, adults used books, community youth groups, and above all the ritual of lynching to indoctrinate white youth in the cultural belief in white superiority, and the flip-side, the dangerous nature of blacks, and in particular the drive of black men to have sex with white women.

The problem is the repetitive nature of the discussion. This book reads very much like a reworked PhD thesis, loaded with footnotes, and repeated discussion of the same cases to illustrate different points.

Overall, well worth reading, but not an easy read.

[Sarah]

This book was a hugely eye opening read about how racist ideas and ways of life were able to be preserved in the southern states for so long. The author has clearly researched this extremely well and shows how socialisation was achieved from multiple angles. It does, however, beg the question (given, for example, recent legal changes in Mississippi and things that their governor Tate Reeves has been quoted as saying on systemic racism), how far has the south moved away from this perpetuation of white supremacy?

[Matthew Rohn]

A valuable book but often difficult to read (because of the content, not because it's written poorly)

[Rania❤️]

“I’m saving you a seat in the future, just in case you want to be part of my journey.” (DuRocher 102) Raising Racists is an emotional book that talks about the previous experience of a young white lady that couldn’t have children, and resolves to adopt three. This white person which the name was unknown, raised black youngsters that grew up with no knowledge about the external world. The adult wanted her children to have an education, but not knowing what was the feeling to be picked on based on race. Finally decides to bring her three boys to school, because of the fact that they needed education and couldn’t stay home doing nothing. That lady was walking with her boys and everyone starting staring at them, screaming at the white girl “These colored people are dangerous! Get away, don’t help them.” (DuRocher 220) Tears started to come out of the immature girl with all the comments that all whites made and insulted her children. The black boys didn’t realize what was going on, even the oldest who was 12 years old. The white lady didn’t let go of them with tears and got them to school. The first day of school was not excessively bad, except that the oldest brother kept on asking his mother what was the meaning of the word nigga. His mom was not that surprised because she expected it to happen one day or another, and found an excuse that he must have misheard because the word does not exist. After weeks of the school had past and the boys did not understand why the white kids that past with their fancy cars kept on laughing and screaming at them. The mom had enough and made a speech that only had influenced black women, but the other white race didn’t care. The white lady made a final decision that her children are going to be homeschooled and supervised by her. The three boys didn’t know what was having a real friend apart from his brothers and mother, the mom wanted them to grow without knowing what was the meaning of racism. The young lady was always there for them and supported her three boys for the rest of their lives.



The novelist gives a lot of opinion about this book and published it for a specific reason. Kristina supports all races, she is not a racist person at all, when her grandfather told her about this story she cried so hard for a week and didn't believe that it was the reality. White people were never picked on because of their vividness, but Kristina DuRocher was bullied younger and couldn’t imagine how worst it could be about you skin color. “I hope all the efforts and emotion I had put in this book will finally open people’s eyes.” (DuRocher 396) It took a long time and so much effort for this amazing writer to finally conclude what she expected her record to achieve. The authors perspective is everything because it brings the reader to trust a historical story and bring us back to the past and feel the moment of when the blacks were treated as slaves. I think that it was a personal conflict people the author takes it to much to heart and wants people to understand the importance of this conflict. Even though it happened in the past Kristina knows that there are a lot of racist people out there who are wrong. The generator express her feelings too much in this book, by giving a lot of her beliefs on this topic.



While I was reading this book I had tears knowing that the mother always stood up for her children, that was not really her own because she adopted them, but seemed like her own. Innocent little boys that were called names because of their race was unacceptable and was the part that I had least enjoyed, that didn’t really make sense in my perspective. Neither the part in the few first pages when white adults kept on bossing around the brave lady, that only wanted to help these black boys grow in a positively in their minds. Knowing that the author Kristina DuRocher accurately compose books and novel with emotions transferred to the readers make me want to read more and more of her books. This book would be recommended in my perspective to all white students, to make them feel what this lady had gone through and always picked up her boys away from the negative opinions. All English teachers would enjoy it as well, it is a long and interesting book that makes the person want to give that emotion and show it to others like students for example. Even though Raising Racists had bad parts, it didn't make the book uninteresting at all the emotion was transferred well which makes me want to read more.

[Yellow-craion]

zajebista ksiazka, trzeba kupic! (pdf)
White southerners recognized that the perpetuation of segregation required whites of all ages to uphold a strict social order -- especially the young members of the next generation because their participation was crucial to ensuring the future of white supremacy. White adults continually reinforced race and gender roles to maintain white supremacy. - not just racial relations, white men dominating, unsexing black men in lynches (castration) as they feared them, but also their control over white female sexuality - the one thing that had to stay pure and be protected if the supremacy was to survive