Keywords

Jewish identity, Mormon identity, liminal whiteness, simulacra, imbrication, paralipsis

Abstract

Jews and Mormons have pasts as racialized Others. Although they appear dissimilar, both groups have been inscribed historically as non-White. Both groups responded to these inscriptions by attempting to achieve Whiteness, making numerous and radical concessions to U.S. American culture. As a result, both groups became "liminally White". We argue that such liminal status demonstrates the fissures in Whiteness and provides creative new grounds for critiquing Whiteness as a rhetorical construct.

Original Publication Citation

Moshin, Jamie and Richard Benjamin Crosby. “Liminally White: Jews, Mormons, and Whiteness.” Communication, Culture, and Critique 11.3 (2018): 436 - 454.