What does White have to do with it?

For many White Americans, myself included, our own Whiteness can seem practically invisible for much of our lives. For others, what it means to be White is found under different names: family, patriotism, freedom, music, our manners, our homes, our education, our culture, the list goes on.

Our Whiteness, our racial identity, has a significant impact on others, the world around us, and our own minds. Whiteness has shaped the key ideas of what it means to be a valued member of American society for the last 400 years. Yet, White Americans will admit that they are not forced to consciously experience their racial identity (let alone confront or talk about it) during our daily lives.

For many of us, the idea of what it means to be White is kept below the surface. Just out of reach of our own personal stream of consciousness and definitely out of reach of conversation.

And that's unusual, because we invented Whiteness.

The Invention podcast intends to talk about America's silent invention and engage in a deeper conversation of how Whiteness has shaped the concept of race and American life. We seek to understand how being White affects the relationships we have with each other and how we choose to create our society with others.

To know if we can become an inclusive nation that truly offers equal opportunity and protection under the law to all people regardless of race, we first have to understand our place in that nation's story.

So take the journey with us at Invention and find out, "Who invented White?"