Taking as his starting point African-American autobiography, Crispin Sartwell argues that there is a fundamental elusiveness to white identity. This theory is based on the concept that whiteness defines itself as normative, marking "other" identity as "racial" or "ethnic" deviations.

Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, W.E.B. Du Bois, Neale Hurston, Malcolm X--their words speak firmly, eloquently, personally of the impact of white America on the lives of African-Americans. For Sartwell, as philosopher, cultural critic, and white male, these texts provide a rare opportunity, a means of gaining access to the contents and core of white identity. "A brilliant, brave account of American white identity as both dominance and dependence".--John J. Stuhr, Penn State University.