Why Everyone Hates White Liberals (Including White Liberals) - by Kevin M Schultz (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A bracing, accessible history of white American liberals--and why it's time to change the conversation about them.

If there's one thing most Americans can agree on, it's that everyone hates white liberals. Conservatives hate them for being culturally tolerant and threatening to usher in communism. Libertarians hate them for believing in the power of the state. Socialists hate them for serving as capitalism's beard. Even liberals hate liberals--either because they can't manage to overcome their own prejudices, or precisely because they're so self-hating.

This is the starting point for Kevin M. Schultz's lively new history of white liberals in the United States. He efficiently lays out the array of objections to liberals--ineffective, spineless, judgmental, authoritarian, and more--in a historical frame that shows how protean the concept has been throughout the past hundred years. It turns out, he declares, that how you define a "white liberal" is less a reflection of reality and more a Rorschach test revealing your own anxieties.

Sharply assessing how decades of attacks on liberals and liberalism have steadily hollowed out the center of American political life, Schultz also explains precisely what needs to be done to avoid digging ourselves even further into the hole of polarization. The ultimate goal, he argues, is to achieve political fragmentation that will fuel the rise of a true multiparty system, where ideology will matter more, not less.

With a tight command of postwar American history and a spirited voice, Why Everyone Hates White Liberals (Including White Liberals) is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand--and envision a way forward in--the complicated landscape of American politics.

Review Quotes

"A concise overview of the many and various understandings of the term liberal. In a tone that is persuasive without being combative and a style that is conversational rather than pedantic, Schultz nimbly traces the evolution of the concept of liberalism. . . . Well researched, skillfully argued, and engagingly accessible to just about anyone who wants to make sense of our present political context."-- "The Christian Century"

"In these divisive political times, there is one thing that both the Left and the Right share: their disdain for white liberals. Schultz investigates the roots of this rallying cry in his new book."-- "Chicago"

"A timely reminder of what happens to those who don't know history. . . . Though our current moment of political polarization and constitutional crises is often thought of as an unprecedented phenomenon, Schultz highlights the people and ideas that our political ecosystem lives downstream of."-- "Chicago Review of Books"

"Award-winning historian of contemporary American history Schultz takes on explaining liberalism: what the term means, how the ideology unraveled in the late twentieth century, and when anti-liberal sentiments emerged. . . . Written in a style that will have mass appeal to readers who aren't experts in this area."-- "Booklist"

"An important and highly relevant history of the rise and fall of the 'liberalism' label in US politics from the 1930s to the present. With lively and accessible prose, Schulz's ability to make readers care about this battle of words and labels is infectious."-- "Daniel Rodgers, author of As a City on a Hill"

"Since the days of Franklin Roosevelt, antiliberals with little in common have delighted in attacking the same enemy. Schultz masterfully surveys the many attempts to scapegoat American liberalism for any number of crimes and mistakes--and how liberals responded. It is necessary exercise, especially for anyone who wants to make accurate and fair criticisms today, for the sake of reclaiming liberalism or (like Schultz) developing a successor label and movement."-- "Samuel Moyn, author of Liberalism against Itself"

About the Author

Kevin M. Schultz is professor and chair of history at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). He is the author of Buckley and Mailer and Tri-Faith America.