Michael Phillips (historian)
Encyclopedia
Michael Phillips is a scholar of Texas
race relations and the author of White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001 which chronicles white domination of Dallas, Texas
, during the first 150 years of its history.
After an award-winning career as a reporter and columnist for the University of Texas at Arlington student newspaper, The Shorthorn
, Phillips received a journalism degree in 1983.
in January 2006, represents an update of his dissertation. White Metropolis won the Texas Historical Commission's 2007 T.R. Fehrenbach Award for best book on Texas history.
, where he earned his Ph.D.
in 2002. He began teaching at Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas in 2007. He was formerly a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
. He was highly criticized for arrogance by forcing his students to purchase his own book because doing so he would be biased. Deeply influenced by his University of Texas mentor Neil Foley, author of The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture, Phillips argues that in the mid-19th century Dallas leaders attempted to conceal class conflict within the infant city by convincing lower class whites that the only important social division was the line drawn between African American
s and Anglo
s. Phillips writes that after the American Civil War
, following waves of immigration to Dallas that included Jews, Mexicans and other cultural minorities, elites re-defined white racial identity. Whiteness became contingent upon not just European ancestry, but conformity to a number of political beliefs, including acceptance of elite rule, as well as belief in free market
capitalism and in black inferiority. As Phillips suggests, in Dallas “whiteness was most clearly defined by what it was not: it was not black, communal, or socialist”. Those accepted as white were rewarded with higher incomes, life in better neighborhoods, increased health, and access to superior schools. Phillips suggests, however, that whiteness gained can become whiteness lost. The fear of racial demotion has kept the poor and struggling in Dallas loyal to a political system that primarily serves elite interests.
Phillips’ book has received a number of positive reviews, including from the Dallas Morning News, D Magazine, the Journal of Southern Religion, the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Legacies and the East Texas Historical Journal. Phillips is currently completing an oral history project on Texas House speakers at the Center for American History in Austin. Phillips and Dr. Patrick Cox, author of Ralph Yarborough: The People’s Senator, are finishing a book based on the project, "The House Will Come To Order: How The Texas Speaker Became A Power in State and National Politics," which will be published by the University of Texas Press in February 2010. He is also collaborating on "Houston and the Birth of the Urban South" with longtime Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter and editor Betsy Friauf.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
race relations and the author of White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001 which chronicles white domination of Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, during the first 150 years of its history.
Early life
Phillips grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.After an award-winning career as a reporter and columnist for the University of Texas at Arlington student newspaper, The Shorthorn
The shorthorn
The Shorthorn is the campus newspaper for the University of Texas at Arlington. It is published Monday through Thursday during the fall and spring semesters. During the summer, it is published on Wednesday. The Shorthorn contains News, Sports, Opinion, and Scene sections as well as a Classifieds...
, Phillips received a journalism degree in 1983.
Journalism
From 1984 to 1990, he wrote for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, starting at its Arlington affiliate, The Arlington Citizen-Journal. Phillips graduated with a Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002. His dissertation, The Fire This Time: The Battle Over Racial, Regional and Religious Identities in Dallas, Texas, 1860-1990, won the University of Texas’ Outstanding Dissertation Award. Phillips’ first book, White Metropolis, published by the University of Texas PressUniversity of Texas Press
The University of Texas Press is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texana, anthropology, U.S...
in January 2006, represents an update of his dissertation. White Metropolis won the Texas Historical Commission's 2007 T.R. Fehrenbach Award for best book on Texas history.
Academic career
Michael Phillips is a former researcher at the Center for American History at the University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, where he earned his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 2002. He began teaching at Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas in 2007. He was formerly a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned...
. He was highly criticized for arrogance by forcing his students to purchase his own book because doing so he would be biased. Deeply influenced by his University of Texas mentor Neil Foley, author of The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture, Phillips argues that in the mid-19th century Dallas leaders attempted to conceal class conflict within the infant city by convincing lower class whites that the only important social division was the line drawn between African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s and Anglo
Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
s. Phillips writes that after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, following waves of immigration to Dallas that included Jews, Mexicans and other cultural minorities, elites re-defined white racial identity. Whiteness became contingent upon not just European ancestry, but conformity to a number of political beliefs, including acceptance of elite rule, as well as belief in free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
capitalism and in black inferiority. As Phillips suggests, in Dallas “whiteness was most clearly defined by what it was not: it was not black, communal, or socialist”. Those accepted as white were rewarded with higher incomes, life in better neighborhoods, increased health, and access to superior schools. Phillips suggests, however, that whiteness gained can become whiteness lost. The fear of racial demotion has kept the poor and struggling in Dallas loyal to a political system that primarily serves elite interests.
Phillips’ book has received a number of positive reviews, including from the Dallas Morning News, D Magazine, the Journal of Southern Religion, the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Legacies and the East Texas Historical Journal. Phillips is currently completing an oral history project on Texas House speakers at the Center for American History in Austin. Phillips and Dr. Patrick Cox, author of Ralph Yarborough: The People’s Senator, are finishing a book based on the project, "The House Will Come To Order: How The Texas Speaker Became A Power in State and National Politics," which will be published by the University of Texas Press in February 2010. He is also collaborating on "Houston and the Birth of the Urban South" with longtime Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter and editor Betsy Friauf.