Raising Racists: The Socialization of White Children in the Jim Crow South

White southerners recognized that the perpetuation of segregation required whites of all ages to uphold a strict social order, especially the young members of the next generation. White children rested at the core of the system of segregation between 1890 and 1939 because their participation was crucial to ensuring the future of white supremacy. Their socialization in the segregated South offers an examination of white supremacy from the inside, showcasing the culture’s efforts to preserve itself by teaching its beliefs to the next generation.

In Raising Racists: The Socialization of White Children in the Jim Crow South, author Kristina DuRocher reveals how white adults in the late 19th and early 20th centuries continually reinforced race and gender roles to maintain white supremacy. DuRocher examines the practices, mores, and traditions that trained white children to fear, dehumanize, and disdain their black neighbors.

The book combines an analysis of the remembered experiences of a racist society, how that society influenced children, and, most importantly, how racial violence and brutality shaped growing up in the early 20th century South.

The book is published by The University Press of Kentucky. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

“Thoroughly exposes a crippled southern society in the wake of the Civil War.” (Southern Historian)

“DuRocher’s study promises a great deal. Her thoughtful analysis frequently offers valuable observations about children’s experiences.” (Ohio Valley History)

“Hard-hitting…reveals the multiple interlocking and mutually reinforcing methods white Southerners used to perpetuate white supremacy in the post-Reconstruction South.” (Register of the Kentucky Historical Society)