White Freedom: The Racial History of an Idea

"The focus of this timely history is the relationship between the concepts of freedom and race in the modern world. Tyler Stovall defines white freedom – which, he demonstrates, has been the foundation of liberty beloved especially by European and North American nations – as “the belief (and practice) that freedom is central to white racial identity, and that only white people can or should be free.” His argument is convincing, and the way he makes it is fascinating, with chapters covering a wide range of topics, from the golden age of piracy to the modern-era limitations on children’s freedom."