White supremacist groups often point to medievalism and the Middle Ages in an attempt to justify their prejudices. They say during that time in history, Europe was quintessentially white.
University of Pennsylvania medievalist David Wallace studies how contemporary hate groups misappropriate the Middle Ages. He's in town for presentations at the University of Rochester, but first, he joins us on Connections to talk about the history of race. In studio:
- David Wallace, Judith Rodin Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania
- Tom Hahn, professor in the Department of English at the University of Rochester