DAVID MURA – The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narratives

David Mura is a third generation Japanese-American author, poet, novelist, playwright, critic and performance artist whose writings explore the themes of race, identity and history. He earned his B.A. from Grinnell College and his M.F.A. in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

He is the author of “The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narratives.”

ABOUT THE BOOK
The police murders of two Black men, Philando Castile and George Floyd, frame this searing exploration of the historical and fictional narratives that white America tells itself to justify and maintain white supremacy.

From the country’s founding through the summer of Black Lives Matter in 2020, “The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narratives” unmasks how white stories about race attempt to erase the brutality of the past and underpin systemic racism in the present.
The book looks back to foundational narratives of white supremacy (Jefferson’s defense of slavery, Lincoln’s frequently minimized racism, and the establishment of Jim Crow) to show how white identity is based on shared belief in the pernicious myths, false histories, and racially segregated fictions that allow whites to deny their culpability in past atrocities and current inequities.

GET THE BOOK
Visit Every Day Is Juneteenth – the Black-owned online bookstore curated by @mrwelltravelled – to get this book and explore more titles on the Whiteness Studies reading list:

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