A history of American white male identity by the author of "So You Want to Talk About Race" imagines a merit-based, non-discriminating model while exposing the actual costs of successes defined by racial and sexual dominance. What happens to a country that tells generation after generation of white men that they deserve power? Oluo shows how, throughout the last 150 years of American history, white male supremacy has wrought devastating consequences for people of color, women and nonbinary people, and white men themselves. She shows that the erasure and oppression of everyone else in America causes racist and sexist behavior, and imagines the possibilities for a new white male identity, free from racism and sexism. -- Adapted from jacket.

Introduction: Works according to design -- Cowboys and patriots: how the West was won -- For your benefit, in our image: the centering of white men in social justice movements -- The Ivy League and the tax eaters: white men's assault on higher education -- We have far too many Negroes: white America's bitter dependency on people of color -- Fire the women: the convenient use and abuse of women in the workplace -- Socialists and quota queens: when women of color challenge the political status quo -- Go fucking play: football and the fear of black men -- Conclusion: Can white manhood be more than this?