Passing for Thin: Losing Half My Weight and Finding My Self

Average customer rating:

Boring, non-motivational-DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY.

More than weight loss

Would be inspiring if she hadn't gained the weight back

Humorous, Honest, and Compelling

Frances, one day at a time

Passing for Thin: Losing Half My Weight and Finding My Self
Frances Kuffel
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Weight Loss | Diets | Diets & Weight Loss | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Weight Maintenance | Diets | Diets & Weight Loss | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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Accessories:

Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 0767912926
Release Date: 2004-12-28

Book Description

An intimate and darkly comic memoir of a woman who does a 180 with her body.

When she was in her early forties, Frances Kuffel lost half her body weight. In Passing for Thin, Frances describes with unflinching honesty and a wickedly dark sense of humor her first fumbling introductions to her newly slender body, shining a light on the shared human experience of feeling uncomfortable in one’s own skin. She gradually moves from observer to player—enjoying for the first time flirting, exercising, and shopping–as she explores the terrain on the “Planet of Thin.” As Frances gradually comes to know—and love—the stranger in the mirror, she learns that her body does not define her, but enables her to become the woman she’s always wanted to be.

Customer Reviews:

Boring, non-motivational-DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY........2007-08-01

I have read several weight loss stories and this book was THE WORST! Most readers buy weight loss stories/books for encouragement and motivation..this book does neither. Ms. Kuffel starts the book in diary form telling of her feelings during her prior fat and boring life. Then she finds a support group (no detail), and voila, she's 168 lbs. She did not even cover ONE DAY on her diet...what foods she ate, her menu, her thoughts or tactics to keep her from straying, etc.. She did not divulge anything!! All she said was to "abstain from sugar & flour". To be honest, I was quite pee'd off. This book left me empty-DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. If you'd like a couple great weight loss (motivational) books, I recommend "The Incredible Shrinking Critic" by Jami Bernard or "The Weight Loss Diaries" by Courtney Rubin. They are honest, funny and offer motivational insight.

More than weight loss.......2007-05-23

This book could have used a patient and nurturing editor. There were some sections which were vividly written (Frances' days on "Planet Fat") and other parts (the "work" of OA) which seemed to be hastily written. And, to discuss the weight loss rather than the book, I would speculate that one reason Frances has difficulty maintaining a healthier weight is that she may have something of an addiction to her prior identity as a "Fat Girl."

All this aside, I read this book as more than just one woman's journey from Planet Fat to the land of the average bodied. What I looked at was how someone was able to change their identity...or at least, work on changing their identity. In the author's case, she found the support to do so in the community of OA, in carefully and consciously restructuring her environment (the weighing and measuring of food, the daily calls). She then found that when she achieved her goal, there was still more work to be done...learning how to dress, relate, handle social rejection, to assimilate herself in middle age to the average sized world with its own issues and problems.

Would be inspiring if she hadn't gained the weight back.......2007-05-19

I read this book last summer when I was on vacation in Cape Cod. It takes a decent book to keep you glued to your beach chair instead of enjoying the ocean, but I was hooked. Then I got home from vacation and Googled "France Kuffel" only to discover that Frances was fat again. What a disappointment. It sort of negated all her efforts and my time. From what I can tell about her life today, she is walking dogs and obsessing about things, which leads me to conclude that the real root of her problems are mental and the fat is just a symptom. Nonetheless, her willingness to reveal all the personal details of her life is commendable, as many of them are very easy to relate to for those of us carrying extra pounds.

Humorous, Honest, and Compelling.......2006-12-28

This is a great book. Frances Kuffel bares her soul and hits the nail on the head describing the sadness and shame of obesity. She also reveals her charm and uniqueness that reminds us of the value of each soul. She did it - she lost the weight and has kept it off. It doesn't change the journey of the lessons of life, but it makes it much easier to move and breath, and be acceptable to society. Parts of this book made me laugh, and parts made me cry. Bravo!

Frances, one day at a time.......2006-10-27

I bought Frances's book about 5 years ago and have read it four times since. I keep going back to her story amongst all my "fat power" and "feminist issue" books. Frances has every right to boost herself up. Any reader who thinks that Frances is over-confident or arrogant in her self-description is completely off track. You see, those of us who have battled with food addiction and extra weight from early childhood are a distinct species, constantly assuaging our pain and insecurity with the comfort of food. No reader can tell me that they have no compulsions, addictions, absurdities or quirks that help them "feel better" in their daily lives. To call Frances ugly or plain or anything derogatory is only revealing your own insecurities, possibly of thinking those very same things about yourself, even if only subconsciously.

No, after reading and re-reading Frances's book, I feel her pain, understand her mentality completely and live the same inner battle every day of my life. Frances, I did find your web site and see that you've re-gained a lot of your weight. This is not the end. I too lost over 80 pounds at one point in my life by severe deprivation and gained all plus some back. Any addict can read your book and identify. Addicts are not quite right in the head and I fall into that category. Addiction runs in my family, both parents. To "beat" the addiction is coming to full awareness of your true nature and finally just letting go and accepting and loving yourself. Frances, I'm not there yet either but you are not alone in your journey.

I've had so many "Day One" days that finally, one of these days, "Day One" will be the first day of a lot of hard work to put the pieces back together inside of me and start healing. To all the women out there who know what I'm talking about...feel free to email me and we'll do this journey together. You too, Frances. I'll check into your blog regularly. Chin up.

Book Description

The epic story of one of the most bitter and dramatic battles fought between German and Allied forces during the whole of the Second World War. The decisive action took place within five days, and twice its outcome hung in the balance. By the third day, the number of German dead exceeded their losses in all other theatres since the outbreak of hostilities. The German parachutists were confined for supply and reinforcements to a single airstrip at Maleme, yet on this one foothold they managed to land over eight thousand men, who defeated an Allied army nearly five times as numerous. With its vivid and compelling description of the battle for Crete, Clark confirmed his reputation as a military historian first recognised with The Donkeys, his account of the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1914.

Customer Reviews:

The Deep Fall of an Editor.......2006-09-17

I will be more generous than other readers giving this books three stars. The shortcomings they mention, though probably well and fairly pointed, does not substract, but even perhaps adds to the book. We must consider that History is not and never has been an exhaustive scientific endeavour, so a degree -even high- of sheer speculation cannot be dismissed just like that. If well written, it can be at least entertainning. And Clark writes well enough to make -sometimes- of his dubious statements pieces of literary reading. The section about the flaws of german soldiery is noteworthy for that. The main defect of the book, in my opinion, is the almost absolute lack of maps to follow the operations. For a book about a battle developped in an unknown place for 99% of the readers, as Crete is, it is unacceptable. Even less if you consider that the geography of the island was and is very complex and that it played a very important role in the operations. Once and again the reader read about positions, natural accidents and features of the lanscape without not even a poor map to understand what's going on. In this I put blame mostly in the editor of the book. After all, Clark has been enough mauled by others reviews to date...

Datd.......2003-01-01

The book is dated, and written very much from the british point of view. As the other reviewer notes the book makes moral judgements as to the participants with no basis to support, other than preconceptions.

More Opinions rather than history........2002-02-25

When young (1964) I read Alan Clark's book Barbarossa and was quite impressed by, what I then thought, was it's scholarship and balance (though today it is rather dated and too opinionated, given the ever growing mass of new information available from sources such as the former Soviet Union and the volume of available memoirs and histories). I therefore expected to find in the 'Battle of Crete' a well researched historical narrative. Instead the author, far from supplying the reader with details on unit strengths, attrition rates by those involved, memories and details from both sides in the fighting, engages in disjointed flights of irrelevant and unsubstantiated whimsical fancy.

For instance he claims that the Australians were free men and thus militarily superior to their German counter parts, who suffered, we are told, from a mental mélange of Wagnerian fantasy, Nazi beastliness and general lack of 'moral Fibre'- they didn't perform to their usual standard of dedicated evil skill, but were just nasty, sloppy and silly. Though the Australian Army divisions (the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th in World war II) at times, even quite often, peformed very creditably, their soldiers winning numerous bravery awards with an alleged cheery disrespect for the turgid British authority and of couse we in Australia continue to maintain this myth - that the average Digger was always a better performer than for instance the repressed, spindly comic English or the overpaid, oversexed and overpampered American ally, in fact it is wise to remember that there were also instances of regretable collapse, such as at Singapore (the desertation and hooliganism by elements of the 8th are well documented) or the 6th division's performance in Greece, which proved that 'Aussies' could run with the best of them. I recommend Clark read 'The Myth of the Australian Digger'. It is absurd for Alan Clark, who does not appear to be across recent Australian and New Zealand military history (which does recognise that lapses of discipline as well as war crimes were committed by some of their men against their Japanese and German foes) to make such an extravagant claim about the nationalities engaged for the battle for Crete. Has he actually met any of the German, Australian or New Zealand service men involved? To suggest in 2002, after the terrible performance by White Australians during most of their history towards their indigenous Aboroginal charges, that those in Crete were imbued by a spirit of 'being free' (whatever this may mean and Clark does not bother to explain) is quite ridiculous.

There are quite a number of sensible and interesting books on the Battle of Crete, some written by New Zealanders and Australians!, but this is most certainly not one of them. Indeed I find it hard to recall in recent years a work that is as poorly researched and constructed, riddled with prejudice and lacking a sufficient skeletal frame to hang a text upon. Maybe he is looking for an academic post at the University of Dunedin!

He devotes a great deal of effort in decribing the fearful casualties suffered by the (poorly performing) Fallschirmjäger in their drop on Crete plus how vast amounts of their weapons as well as ammunition fell into the defenders hands and how fragmented as well as disorganized the various surviving units were on the ground (valid points) and then proceeds to tell us that the valiant, in tact, rested, cohesive, but 'out numbered?' superbly organised, trained, spirited and talented Commonwealth troops managed to do better than hold their own (false), causing great execution on the numerically greater Hunnish hordes! He does not even give us the unit strength of the Fallschirmjäger Division, 5th Gebirgs Division, the actual numbers engaged in the various skirmishes, when nor those of the Australians, New Zealanders nor English who actually greatly outnumbered the attacker but their generalship was inadequate. A not altogether consistent yarn. He also makes much of the cruelty by the Germans but fails to mention the atrocities committed by some of the defenders, or the peculiar mental horizons of some of the Commonwealth soldiers - ie: Upham for instance! (a relative of mine, who jumped in the afternoon, was treated extremely brutally and in a cowardly manner by his English captors when taken a wounded prisoner). Indeed it is hard to understand from his narrative how the Germans managed to win at all and collect such a booty of prisoners...

Average customer rating:
Ariadne's Brother: A Novel On The Fall Of Bronze Age Crete
John Dempsey
Manufacturer: Kalendis & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
ASIN: 9602190620

Book Description

A vivid tale of action and the love of life, of conflict and passionate vision and political change at the dawn of Western Civilization. Ariadne---new young Queen of Minoan Crete, beloved of the narrator, Deucalion---struggles to uphold her family's and her people's ways amid threats of natural disaster and military invasion by the Achaian/Mycenean "future Greeks," whose Homeric histories our world knows too well. Did you know that Crete really was/is the longest continuous period of Western cultural development? What happened to bring on a Dark Age? Was it "inevitable," or a matter of choices made and still being made? This is an epic adventure blending myth and new decades of archaeological and other evidence into a story of real people who lived long ago and whose extraordinary legacy is still ours to embrace.

The Destruction of Knossos The Rise and Fall of Minoan Crete

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The Destruction of Knossos The Rise and Fall of Minoan Crete
H.E.L. Mellersh
Manufacturer: Weybright & Talley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J2ZPHC

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The Fall of Crete
Alan Clark
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H46NKA

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The Fall of Crete
Alan Clark
Manufacturer: Efstathiadus Group Publ.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NQ8EFY

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The Fall of Crete
Alan Clark
Manufacturer: New Amer. Lib.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0450002551

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The Fall of Crete

Manufacturer: Blond
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0000CLEIE

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Fall of Crete
Alan Clark
Manufacturer: CASSELL LBS (ORIO)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K4M1A8

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The Fall of Crete
Alan Clark
Manufacturer: Efstathiadis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000URKO72

Book Description

Â”Henry Lopez has provided a piece of scholarship worthy of brining out for a curtain call on its 10th anniversary.Â”
— "Whiteness pays. As White by Law shows, immigrants recognized the value of whiteness and sometimes petitioned the courts to be recognized as white. Haney Lopez argues for the centrality of law in constructing race."--Voice Literary Supplement

" White by Law's thoughtful analysis of the prerequisite cases offers support for the fundamental critical race theory tenet that race is a social construct reinforced by law. Haney Lopez has blazed a trail for those exploring the legal and social constructions of race in the United States."
--Berkeley Women's Law Journal

Lily white. White knights. The white dove of peace. White lie, white list, white magic. Our language and our culture are suffused, often subconsciously, with positive images of whiteness. Whiteness is so inextricably linked with the status quo that few whites, when asked, even identify themselves as such. And yet when asked what they would have to be paid to live as a black person, whites give figures running into the millions of dollars per year, suggesting just how valuable whiteness is in American society.

Exploring the social, and specifically legal origins, of white racial identity, Ian F. Haney Lopez here examines cases in America's past that have been instrumental in forming contemporary conceptions of race, law, and whiteness. In 1790, Congress limited naturalization to white persons. This racial prerequisite for citizenship remained in force for over a century and a half, enduring until 1952. In a series of important cases, including two heard by the United States Supreme Court, judges around the country decided and defined who was white enough to become American.

White by Law traces the reasoning employed by the courts in their efforts to justify the whiteness of some and the non- whiteness of others. Did light skin make a Japanese person white? Were Syrians white because they hailed geographically from the birthplace of Christ? Haney Lopez reveals the criteria that were used, often arbitrarily, to determine whiteness, and thus citizenship: skin color, facial features, national origin, language, culture, ancestry, scientific opinion, and, most importantly, popular opinion.

Having defined the social and legal origins of whiteness, White by Law turns its attention to white identity today and concludes by calling upon whites to acknowledge and renounce their privileged racial identity.

Customer Reviews:

Yet another "Blame The Whites For All Our Problems" book.......2007-06-23

This book may have been relevant 60 years ago, but in a post civil rights era, this book has no merit. It's the same old and tired diatribe "blame the white man for all hispanic's shortcomings". That is nonsense. Hispanics are to blame for themselves. If White America is so racist, why is it that Asians excel in this country... usually far beyond whites??? Why do Jews (who are White but ethnically different than WASP's) consistently reach the highest levels of leadership, academics, and business? Asians don't need affirmative action or racial quotas, in fact they view such programs as insulting. The simple reason Asians & Jews excel in the USA and hispanics don't is rooted in a fundamental cultural difference - Asians & Jews value education greatly and hispanics don't (refer to Herman Badillo's book on this topic concerning Hispanic's disinterest in education).

This book will go over well with hispanics who practice ethnic politics; it will feed into their self pity and victimization syndrome. Oh....... how we always love to blame someone else for our shortcomings, in this case it's the "evil white man". That song and dance is so worn out.

In light of the raging debate over illegal immigration (mostly from Mexico), here is something to ponder... the two ethnic groups who are most hurt by illegal immigration are blacks and Hispanic Americans (ie. LEGAL citizen Hispanics). Illegal aliens take jobs primarily from these two ethnic groups. Further, it's the U.S. middle class that pays for most of the social services which illegal aliens take full advantage of and don't pay for. Most illegal aliens are paid in cash thus they pay no income tax and those who work "on the books" generally earn too little to pay any income tax as they are in the lowest tax bracket (further they engage in identity theft in stealing an American's social security number to satisfy their criminal employer who has hired them). Illegal alien activists commonly like to talk about the "huge" sums of money illegal workers pay into social security which, "they will never get back". The truth is that, 1) About 1/2 of all illegal workers are paid in cash, thus they pay no income tax including no SS tax, 2) Those illegal workers who are "on the books" generally earn very little, maybe at most $26,000/year, meaning they pay at most $1500/year in SS tax. In this case, it is true that they ARE contibuting to Social Security and if they are never legalized, they won't see that money. But there is another angle to the equation - it's called EIC, Earned Income Credit, which many illegal workers apply for by using a TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) or the SS# they are fraudulantly using. EIC is basically free money from the federal gov't (an illegal alien can get up to $4,000 if he/she has at least 3 kids). EIC in theory is supposed to bring poor people above the poverty level. Trouble is, we all pay for it, even for illegal aliens who apply. Go to any Mexican neighborhood in the USA during tax season and you'll see signs in Spanish (usually in strip malls) that basically say, "Rebate... Free money", they are referring to EIC. Spanish speaking tax preparers are more than happy to give away American taxpayer's money to their illegal alien bretheren. Even if an illegal Mexican worker doesn't apply for EIC, they often have lots of babies here and each baby costs on average $10,000 in hospital bills, not a dime of which the illegal alien woman pays... you and I pay for it. Don't forget about the free K - 12 public education that child will get, courtesy of the American tax payer, usually about $9,000/year for each child. Don't forget about WIC, food stamps, federal welfare, housing subsidies, etc. - all free for the taking by illegal aliens with the bill passed onto the American taxpayer.

Regarding property tax?? Of course illegals pay no property tax as the vast majority of them rent.

Debunking Attacks.......2003-12-26

One of the many attacks Lopez receives regarding White By Law is his alleged "white pessimism" that keeps him from genuinly wanting to deconstruct whiteness, because he would lose his White benefits. This is backed up by his many contradictions throughout the book. Though I agree he does contradict himself quite often, he does not cave into the idea of White superioroity as some critics on this page say. Critics of Lopez who are well versed in Race Theory and who want to deconstruct whiteness, fault him for simotaneously stating that whiteness is a "fantasy" and yet still "exists." To put it in common-man's English, this makes sense. Whiteness DOES exist, but only as a socially constructed idea. To blindly say that Race does not exist in any form is like saying that Liberalism doesn't exist. I mean, you can't touch liberalism. There is no genetic way of identifying liberals. Same with religion. Catholocism doesn't really exist, only in social construct. Critics of Lopez would have him write his entire book with out mention of racial existance because acknowledging race would go against Critical Race Theory. However, this book was not written to be read solely by the most enlightened intellectuals. It was written for any lay-person with a vocabulary large enough to understand it (which should be everyone, but sadly isn't.)
One point I would agree with critics on is that White By Law has large moments of useless contradictory ranting. This is especially obnoxious to the average American who is trying to educate themselves. If Lopez wants to gain more support for his theories, he needs to take the first step in the new intellectual revolution: the uniting between scholars and the average-joe's and the removal of the painfully obvious elitest attitude in the intellectual world. A book more to the point would be a great resource for the masses.
Overall, the book is beneficial. Lopez is not absorbed in his own personal conflict. He admits the painful truth, that race does exist in America. A critical race thesis should read as this "Race exists right now, but it didn't used to and it doesn't have to anymore."

an intellectual surprise the size of a pin.......2002-04-11

Here's his argument: White dominated courts ruled against nonwhite immigrants from seeking political inclusion. If you're interested in spending a couple of hundred pages watching a guy try to prove this, enjoy.

Mischievious surprises and intellectual deft? Afraid not.

White By Law: A self-Portrait Part 2.......2001-11-08

One hundred pages into his work, Lopez begins a barrage of questions raised in response, it seems, to the answers that have been given in the preceding chapters. It is here that Lopez restates his thesis that "law constructs race" and then questions how the law accomplishes this, although his chapters on the "prerequisite cases" seem to have clearly answered the question of method. The law, as aforementioned, was depicted as having the official word on the race of an individual and assigns particular meaning to that determination based on whatever views are convenient for the upholding of false hierarchy: popular opinion, science or a combination of the two. Lopez himself states, "law influences...the meanings ascribed to our looks, and material reality that confirms the meanings of our appearance". And although he writes that law is squarely to blame for the enforcement of inequality based on race, he also claims "there are no `laws'" only "ill-coordinated social practices" and that these practices are "incoherent". It is this rehashing of already addressed questions that give rise to some of the most blatant contradictions in Lopez's arguments and makes way for Whiteness to prevail yet again, in a critical analysis. It is here that he makes plain his reversals of opinion and contradictory statements that reveal the inconclusive and useless arguments being articulated. (Re)opening his question as to the relationship of the law to whiteness, Lopez says that the prerequisite cases showed the "multiple levels on which legal rules and actors construct the social systems of meaning we commonly refer to as race". However, further down the page he poses the questions, "What role do legal actors play?" and asks if these actors are merely consuming social concepts or if they are defining them. It is apparent that the opening line of the paragraph has already addressed the answers to these questions. This inability to recognize answers to the "more difficult question[s]" that he has already generated is characteristic of ranting; his refusal to recognize legitimate notions of whiteness he argued leads one to question the real commitment to unmasking the law. Lopez seems willing enough to expose the law, but unwilling to believe the reality of what is revealed, willing to see the equation of whiteness and the legal system, but unwilling to dismantle the law the way he suggests whiteness should be. He is unwilling to give up his role in whiteness and therefore seeks to defend it against his own harsh criticisms. Even though he is a professor of law at a reputable university and authors a book asserting his understanding the processes of whiteness in law, he calls whiteness the "pillar of racial inequality in America", but shies away from making an attack on the law by perverting it's image as "incoherent." Lopez's position as a "minority", as a non-white, and in that sense from outside the legal system, leads him to damn the law, but his position inside the system as a professor requires him to maintain a fundamental faith that keeps him aligned with law and thus, with whiteness. The contradictions in Lopez's writings arise from the contradictions in his personal identity and politics.

In the latter half of the book, Lopez reverts back to his original contradictions. His assertion that whiteness can exist in another form suggests the birth of a positive white identity, but one that will never happen. Initially, Lopez rejects the creation of a race consciousness centered on the elaboration of a positive white racial identity. It is when Lopez refutes Barbara Flagg's argument for "a conscious attempt to develop a positive (laudatory) White racial identity" (172) that his non-white perspective prevails. Lopez asserts that this conscious attempt will be "redundant and dangerous" in that the creation of a positive white identity will only elevate whiteness and the practice of a white superiority. Says Lopez, "an uncritical celebration of positive (laudatory) White attributes might well reinforce these established stereotypes" (Lopez, 172). He insists that this new White identity will only recreate the Whiteness that is constituted through the denigration of Blackness. Thus, "celebrating Whiteness seems likely only to entrench the status quo of racial beliefs" (Lopez, 172) implying that no White racial positive identity can exist. Although Lopez and his non-white criticism prevail in this instance, his whiteness comes shining through when (on the next page) he implies that a positive white identity can exist without the denigration of minorities. He utterly destroys his non-white approach by stating that a white racial identity can be problematic, but "Perhaps with great care a self -conscious White identity could be elaborated in a manner that did no unduly laud Whites or denigrate minorities" (Lopez, 173). Here, his limitations in the analysis of whiteness are exceedingly apparent. This contradiction suggests Lopez cannot lose his own whiteness because he falls back, like most whites, onto an argument of a white positive identity, thus freeing himself from the guilt of his own whiteness. In doing so, Lopez buys into the hierarchical structure of Whiteness, that he deems a fantasy, when he suggests "a positive White identity that, while race-based... might not be harmful to minorities, and might even lead to a `happily cacophonous universe' (Lopez, 173). Thus, in suggesting that a White race consciousness can exist "while race-based" represents Lopez's inability to step outside of his whiteness. The illusion that whiteness can be deconstructed through a White race consciousness maintains the idea of a racial hierarchy instead of recognizing that it is a lie. A White race consciousness cannot be race based because race is fantasy, a social construction.

Lopez not only offers a solution to Whiteness that includes the possibility of a White positive identity and White race consciousness that will dismantle Whiteness, but he later goes so far as to say that the implementation of a White race consciousness is the only way in which whiteness can be eliminated. However, Lopez nullifies his idea of a solution by concluding that an elimination of whiteness will never occur because "for whites even to mention their racial identity puts notions of racial supremacy into play" (Lopez, 175). Therefore, he suggests that it is possible, but not realistic for Whites to adopt a White positive identity and White race consciousness that is not based on their White privilege and White superiority. This is a horrifically contradictory suggestion that enraptures his white identity. He states that it may not be possible for Whiteness to be dismantled, but he fails to mention to what extent it can be dismantled-in its entirety or partly. In the next sentence, he reveals, "efforts to challenge whiteness are already underway". This infers that Whiteness is already being dismantled. This statement contradicts his former suggestion that the deconstruction of Whiteness may fail stating, "Whiteness is so deeply a part of our society it is impossible to know even whether Whiteness can be dismantled" (Lopez, 188). Once again, Lopez is lost in his White pessimism.

It is clear that Haney Lopez fails to make any argument in his entire work that he does not himself contradict or repudiate later. Lopez's arguments are self-defeating and useless to the non-white community that seeks to critique whiteness with the goal of change. Without such a goal, a critique is meaningless and perpetuates the mental slavery prevalent in oppressive relationships like that of White to non-white. By eliminating the real possibility of deconstructing whiteness, Lopez again buys into the fantasy of the hierarchy and white privilege and also, undermines the power of revolution. Lopez fails to recognize the repercussions of his own greatest argument: if whiteness is indeed a fantasy, then white privilege is merely perceived. If this privilege is merely perceived, then it is possible to enlighten whites to the costs of this "privilege" and hence deconstruct the lie of anyone benefiting from whiteness. It is in this task that Lopez undermines the power of non-whites in enlightening white to their own delusions, to rouse them from their slumber, to rest power by exposing the emptiness of whiteness. It is Lopez's own attachment to whiteness that is responsible for his confused analysis and keeps him from making crucial connections and thinking critically about his own arguments. Due to his position as a professor of law, his underlying faith in the system leads him to defend it at the cost of implicating the very victims of its racism. His role as an enforcer of the status quo, of the law and therefore whiteness leaves Lopez straddling the fence, critiquing whiteness on one hand and upholding it on the other. His pessimism about ever deconstructing whiteness is evidence as to how whiteness coerces people into believing their "inferior" status, believing in their own perceived powerlessness. Through all his fiery insight and intense opinions, Lopez has yet to truly r

White By Law: A Self Portrait--.......2001-11-08

In his book White By Law, Ian F. Haney Lopez argues that law creates race. To state that Lopez argues anything further than this basic point is moving into dangerous territory. Although Lopez asserts that Whiteness is a "hierarchical fantasy" that should be dismantled, he simultaneously "embraces and protects" Whiteness through arguments of complicitness and gross reversals of opinion, ultimately leading his writing to useless and uninspired conclusions. Through defense of the law, Lopez's personal affiliation with whiteness becomes increasingly apparent, cast in stark contradiction to his own "minority" identity. His own "unconscious whiteness" is more detrimental than David Roediger's because it leads Lopez to believe that the real possibility of deconstructing Whiteness is non-existent. Most telling is the pessimism of the conclusion itself, as only whites can afford to be so down on the possibility of greater racial equality. Lopez's indecisiveness within his own arguments create a sense of inert ranting, useless bitching about Whiteness in which prescriptions are suggested and defeated, depicting the solutions to whiteness as an infinite `catch 22'. Handing whites the sole ability to deconstruct whiteness, Lopez perpetuates the hierarchical fantasy, the non-reality of a perceived "white privilege", a perspective that backs deconstruction into a corner and usurps the power in critiquing whiteness at all.
White By Law opens with a harsh critique of whiteness calling it bluntly, "nothing good". From this beginning, Lopez advances himself as non-white asserting a critical analysis of whiteness. He states that law attaches meaning to race, that white people "cannot be measured or found in nature" and the definition of white is "socially fashioned" (p. 9) with the aid of the law's authority. He most brilliantly describes whiteness as a "hierarchical fantasy" that relies on "inferior minority identities" (p. 31). Despite this, Lopez fails to follow through with the fierce intensity of his arguments. Instead, within this seemingly brutal attack, Lopez contradicts himself incessantly within these first few chapters. The danger of these contradictions lies within their subtlety (his reversals evolutionarily become more apparent in future chapters). Only through scrutinizing examination of his word choice and phrasing does his internal struggle and "white" analysis of whiteness and its construction by law become painfully apparent. A prime example of his contradictory self-defeat lies within the same aforementioned sentence and the entire following page in which he seems to pin point the very nature of Whiteness "Because whiteness is a hierarchical fantasy that requires inferior minority identities, Whiteness as it currently exists should be dismantled" (p.31). In this sentence Lopez simultaneously damns and saves whiteness. The second part of this statement reneges his earlier assertion that Whiteness is void of all positives and his argument that Whiteness is socially fashioned, a fantasy, not real, tangible or measurable in two severely detrimental ways. First, the phrase "as it currently exists," suggests that Whiteness can exist in some other form which is not oppressive or offensive. As long as Whiteness "exists", so does the myth of a racial hierarchy and as long as that myth "exists" people are placed in imaginary boxes with various connotations attached. There is no other form in which whiteness can "exist" without it necessitating dismantling. But, this is not the most contradictory aspect of this sentence. The word "exist" itself entirely, contradicts Lopez's former assertion. For if Whiteness is a "fantasy", then it does not exist. Referring to it as existing demonstrates that Lopez has not denounced Whiteness and its mentality continues to enslave him. If this reference to whiteness as existing was simply a poor word choice, the repercussions may be different, but Lopez refers to Whiteness' "existence" two more times on page thirty-one alone. Therefore the crux of his critique of Whiteness, its instability and falsity, is reputed and the idea of real existence of a white race is, yet again, given credibility. As this page continues he does not in anyway redeem himself, instead he further digs himself into a hole of contradictory statements. He asserts that "in this violent context, Whites should renounce their privileged racial status," once again calling for the deconstruction of whiteness and following this sentence with a buffer, "They should do so, however, not simply out of guilt or any sense of self-depreciation...but because ...whiteness in its current incarnation necessitates and perpetuates patterns of superiority" (p.31). Lopez again suggests there is another incarnation for whiteness that could somehow be good, that would not necessitate superiority. But, because Whiteness originates as a fantasized lie, it is impossible for it to be reincarnated into some form of truth.

Lopez's internal battle continues to undermine his assertions in his analysis of Whiteness' construction through the prerequisite cases. With the prerequisite cases Lopez proves that the law determines race through usage of "common knowledge," "science," or both. He demonstrates the fluidity of whiteness, the absence of a definition, how it is "nothing in particular." Case after case judges indiscriminately choose whichever argument most powerfully confines their defendant to the category of non-white, adamantly protecting their personal idea, as defendants of the status quo of who and what is White. But there is a very damaging element to this approach. By utilizing the prerequisite cases as his founding argument to demonstrate the nature of Whiteness, Lopez paints a misleading portrait of non-white complicitness. While these cases did occur in such a manor, Lopez solely demonstrates non-whites surrendering to the laws' construction of race and attempting to become something else (White) to attain citizenship. The argument of complicitness fails to address the foundational decisions that created these naturalization laws and fails to acknowledge a crucial ingredient in the construction and deconstruction of Whiteness; resistance. Cases in which individuals sought to fight for equal rights and to actively deconstruct these laws (vs. play into them) would equally prove Lopez's arguments about the nature of Whiteness and it's legal construction while depicting non-whites power within the situation. By failing to use examples of non-white resistance and solely representing complicitness, Lopez ignores former non-white struggles against the law and current non-white participation in deconstructing Whiteness as represented by law. This perpetuates White mentality that non-white people want to be White while simultaneously arresting non-white power to deconstruct whiteness, thus disregarding an imperative component in the nature of Whiteness and its dismantling. Yet, this is not the height of Lopez's downfall.(...)

White by Law 10th Anniversary Edition: The Legal Construction of Race (Critical America Series)

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It's the White Man's Fault (yaaaaaawn).

White by Law 10th Anniversary Edition: The Legal Construction of Race (Critical America Series)
Ian Haney Lopez
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Discrimination | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0814736947
Release Date: 2006-10-01

Book Description

View the Table of Contents. Read the Preface.

Praise for the 10th Anniversary Edition

" White by Law remains one of the most significant and generative entries in the crowded field of 'whiteness studies.' Ian Haney LÃ³pez has crafted a brilliant study, not merely of how 'race' figures in the juridical logic of U.S. citizenship, but of the ways in which law fully participates in the wholesale manufacture of those naturalized groupings we know as 'races.' A terribly important work."
—Matthew Frye Jacobson, author of Roots Too: White Ethnic Revival in Post-Civil Rights America

"Ten years after its initial publication, White by Law remains the definitive treatment of the naturalization cases, and provides a compelling account of the role of law in constructing race. A wonderful combination of thematic development and historical excavation, one leaves this revised edition with a thoroughgoing understanding of the ways in which citizenship functioned not only to include and exclude but as a process through which people quite literally became white by law."
—Devon W. Carbado, Professor of Law and Associate Dean, UCLA School of Law

" White by Law remains the definitive work on how American law constructed a 'white' race at the turn of the twentieth century. Haney LÃ³pez has added a chapter to the new edition, a sobering analysis of how, in our own time, 'colorblind' law and policy threaten to perpetuate, not eliminate, racial inequality. A must-read."
—Mae M. Ngai, author of Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America

Â“Here is one work that proved challenging to review with a fresh eye, having been widely reviewed and discussed since its original publication more than 10 years agoÂ….While oneÂ's first question upon picking up such a book could easily be Â`why bother?Â' with the re-release of an older work, in this case, the strategy worksÂ….[T]he addition of the authorÂ's personal narrative in the Preface and his intriguing view into the future with the new conclusion will add to the bookÂ's pedagogical value. In sum, Haney Lopez has provided a piece of scholarship worthy of bringing out a curtain call on its 10th anniversary.Â”
—Law and Politics Review

Praise for the 1st edition:

"Haney LÃ³pez performs a major service for anyone truly interested in understanding contemporary debates over racial and ethnic politics. . . . A sobering and crucial lesson for a society committed to equality and fairness."
—Martha Minow, Harvard Law School

"This book is remarkable for sheer information value, but draws its analytic power from the emphasis on whiteness to make sense of racial oppression. . . . Haney LÃ³pez convincingly demonstrates that the US is ideologically white not by accident but by design."
—Choice

White by Law was published in 1996 to immense critical acclaim, and established Ian Haney LÃ³pez as one of the most exciting and talented young minds in the legal academy. The first book to fully explore the social and specifically legal construction of race, White by Law inspired a generation of critical race theorists and others interested in the intersection of race and law in American society. Today, it is used and cited widely by not only legal scholars but many others interested in race, ethnicity, culture, politics, gender, and similar socially fabricated facets of American society.

In the first edition of White by Law, Haney LÃ³pez traced the reasoning employed by the courts in their efforts to justify the whiteness of some and the non-whiteness of others, and revealed the criteria that were used, often arbitrarily, to determine whiteness, and thus citizenship: skin color, facial features, national origin, language, culture, ancestry, scientific opinion, and, most importantly, popular opinion.

Ten years later, Haney LÃ³pez revisits the legal construction of race, and argues that current race law has spawned a troubling racial ideology that perpetuates inequality under a new guise: colorblind white dominance. In a new, original essay written specifically for the 10th anniversary edition, he explores this racial paradigm and explains how it contributes to a system of white racial privilege socially and legally defended by restrictive definitions of what counts as race and as racism, and what doesn't, in the eyes of the law. The book also includes a new preface, in which Haney LÃ³pez considers how his own personal experiences with white racial privilege helped engender White by Law.

Customer Reviews:

It's the White Man's Fault (yaaaaaawn)........2007-06-22

This book may have been relevant 60 years ago, but in a post civil rights era, this book has no merit. It's the same old and tired diatribe "blame the white man for all hispanic's shortcomings". Nonsense. Hispanics are to blame for themselves. If White America is so racist, why is it that Asians excel in this country... usually far beyond whites??? Why do Jews (who are usually white but ethnically different than WASP's) consistently reach the highest levels of leadership, academics, and business? Asians don't need affirmative action or racial quotas, in fact they view such programs as insulting. The simple reason that Asians & Jews excel in the USA and hispanics don't is rooted in a cultural difference - Asians & Jews value education greatly and hispanics don't (refer to Herman Badillo's book on this topic concerning Hispanic's disinterest in education).

This book will go over well with hispanics who practice ethnic politics; it will feed into their self pity and victimization syndrome. Oh how we always love to blame someone else for our shortcomings, in this case the "evil white man". That song and dance is so worn out.

In light of the raging debate over illegal immigration (mostly from Mexico), here is something to ponder... the two ethnic groups who are most hurt by illegal immigration are blacks and Hispanic Americans (ie. legal citizen Hispanics). Illegal aliens take jobs primarily from these two ethnic groups. Further, it's the U.S. middle class that pays for most of the social services which illegal aliens take full advantage of and don't pay for. Most illegal aliens are paid in cash thus they pay no income tax and those who work "on the books" generally earn too little to pay any income tax as they are in the lowest tax bracket (further they engage in identity theft in stealing an American's social security number to satisfy their criminal employer who has hired them). Illegal alien activists commonly like to talk about the "huge" sums of money illegal workers pay into social security which, "they will never get back". The truth is that, 1) About 1/2 of all illegal workers are paid in cash, thus they pay no tax including no SS tax, 2) Those illegal workers who are "on the books" generally earn very little, maybe at most $26,000/year, meaning they pay at most $1500/year in SS tax. In this case, it is true that they ARE contibuting to Social Security and if they are never legalized, they won't see that money. But there is another angle to the equation - it's called EIC, Earned Income Credit, which many illegal workers apply for by using a TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) or the SS# they are fraudulantly using. EIC is basically free money from the federal gov't, at the expense of the legitimate American taxpayers. EIC in theory is supposed to bring poor people above the poverty level. Trouble is, we all pay for it, even for illegal aliens who apply. Go to any Mexican neighborhood in the USA during tax season and you'll see signs in Spanish (usually in strip malls) that basically say, "Rebate... Free money", they are referring to EIC. Spanish speaking tax preparers are more than happy to give away your money to their illegal alien brethern. Even if an illegal Mexican worker doesn't apply for EIC, they often have lots of babies and each baby costs on average $10,000 in hospital bills, not a dime of which the illegal alien woman pays... you and I pay for it. Don't forget about the free public education that child will get, courtesy of the American tax payer, usually about $9,000/year for each child. Don't forget about WIC, food stamps, federal welfare, housing subsidies, etc. - all free for the taking by illegal aliens with the bill passed onto the American taxpayer.

Regarding property tax?? Of course illegals pay no property tax as the vast majority of them rent.

I would like to see the author of this book write a different book, one which talks about the true victims in the current illegal immigration situation: whites, Jews, and Asians.

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