Becoming white thesis

In 2017, the ''[[Washington Post]]'' writer David Bernstein wrote an op-ed titled "Sorry, but the Irish were always ‘white’ (and so were Italians, Jews and so on)", arguing that the becoming white thesis was inaccurate. Bernstein states that the Irish, Italians, Jews, and other immigrant groups "were indeed considered white by law and by custom", noting that these groups were never targeted by [[Jim Crow laws]] or laws against [[interracial marriage]].<ref name="KLEW">{{cite web|url=https://klewtv.com/news/nation-world/billionaire-la-mayoral-candidate-says-hes-not-white-because-hes-italian-italy-ethnicity-race-los-angeles-california-rick-caruso |title=Billionaire LA mayoral candidate says he's not white because he's 'Italian' |publisher=[[KLEW-TV]] |accessdate=2025-07-12}}</ref>

In 2017, the ''[[Washington Post]]'' writer David Bernstein wrote an op-ed titled "Sorry, but the Irish were always ‘white’ (and so were Italians, Jews and so on)", arguing that the becoming white thesis was inaccurate. Bernstein states that the Irish, Italians, Jews, and other immigrant groups "were indeed considered white by law and by custom", noting that these groups were never targeted by [[Jim Crow laws]] or laws against [[interracial marriage]].<ref name="KLEW">{{cite web|url=https://klewtv.com/news/nation-world/billionaire-la-mayoral-candidate-says-hes-not-white-because-hes-italian-italy-ethnicity-race-los-angeles-california-rick-caruso |title=Billionaire LA mayoral candidate says he's not white because he's 'Italian' |publisher=[[KLEW-TV]] |accessdate=2025-07-12}}</ref>

In 2019, the ''[[New York Times]]'' editorial board member Brent Staples wrote an op-ed titled "How Italians 'Became' White", stating that "Darker skinned southern Italians endured the penalties of blackness on both sides of the Atlantic." Staples noted that Italian-Americans were sometimes subjected to violence and discrimination. Although Staples notes that Italian-Americans gained citizenship as "free white persons", they often took working-class jobs that were associated with African-Americans.<ref name="KLEW"/>

In 2019, the ''[[New York Times]]'' editorial board member Brent Staples wrote an op-ed titled "How Italians 'Became' White", arguing that "Darker skinned southern Italians endured the penalties of blackness on both sides of the Atlantic." Staples noted that Italian-Americans were sometimes subjected to violence and discrimination. Although Staples notes that Italian-Americans gained citizenship as "free white persons", they often took working-class jobs that were associated with African-Americans.<ref name="KLEW"/>

The academics Philip Q. Yang and Kavitha Koshy have written that the becoming white thesis has been "taken for granted" as true by many Americans, but argue that the history is more complicated. Yang and Koshy state that they could find "no evidence to support the “becoming white thesis” in terms of change in the official racial classification of these groups in the record of social institutions such as U.S. censuses, naturalization laws, and court cases" and that "If “becoming white” did happen to these groups, its real meaning was a change in their social status from a minority group to part of the majority group rather than in racial classification."<ref name="Becoming White">{{cite web|url=https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1096&context=jpps |title=The “Becoming White Thesis” Revisited |publisher=[[Kennesaw State University]] |accessdate=2025-07-12}}</ref>

The academics Philip Q. Yang and Kavitha Koshy have written that the becoming white thesis has been "taken for granted" as true by many Americans, but argue that the history is more complicated. Yang and Koshy state that they could find "no evidence to support the “becoming white thesis” in terms of change in the official racial classification of these groups in the record of social institutions such as U.S. censuses, naturalization laws, and court cases" and that "If “becoming white” did happen to these groups, its real meaning was a change in their social status from a minority group to part of the majority group rather than in racial classification."<ref name="Becoming White">{{cite web|url=https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1096&context=jpps |title=The “Becoming White Thesis” Revisited |publisher=[[Kennesaw State University]] |accessdate=2025-07-12}}</ref>