Racism without Racists: Color-blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States: Color-blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America

Product Information

There's a very interesting chapter on Obama's presidency and how he was much more centre or centre-right than his public image would lead people to believe. Whether this was a strategic choice to get votes or part of his own socialization, it ended in people voting for an abstract liberalism that looked and sounded good on the surface, but which didn't live up to its potential and was ultimately disappointing for people of colour on a policy level. (I'd still take it over Trump and the current political climate in a heartbeat, though)

If you ask someone on the hiring committee, none of them are going to say they’re racially biased,” Ames says. “They’re not lying. They’re just wrong.” Eduardo Bonilla-Silva is one of the most influential, insightful, and engaging scholars writing on race. His pathbreaking book, now in its sixth edition, continues to be the gold standard for understanding the dynamics of racism and developing a blueprint for what Whites and people of color must do to dismantle white supremacy and create a more ‘humane, inclusive, and democratic’ world. It is difficult to describe my thoughts on this book. Perhaps the most suitable descriptor, ironically, would be that it is "problematic." The book's premise is an interesting one; that racism is still prevalent, having evolved beyond, for the most part, the overt Jim Crow-style racism and into a new color-blind racism that makes no reference to race while maintaining many injustices and inequalities, and how that color-blind avoidance of discussing race can exacerbate this. This thesis is not without merit. To those who doubt that such injustices and inequalities still exist, a chapter is dedicated to outlining relevant data and to build a case which I don't think can be credibly denied.This is the processing that allows us to drive while thinking of other things, and which alerts us if an unexpected situation calls for attention (a dog runs out into the road for instance). It’s the processing that allows me to type while thinking about what to say, leaving both finger movements and grammar to sort themselves out.

we need to nurture a large cohort of antiracist whites to begin challenging color-blind nonsense from within.

Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America, Sixth Edition

Professor Bonilla-Silva’s Racism without Racists is a seminal text in the study of race and racism. Racism without Racists is theoretically rich, empirically grounded, and suitable for a range of undergraduate and graduate courses. Always current, the sixth edition includes a new chapter on systemic racism that further strengthens an already excellent text. Those who read and study Racism without Racists will be better equipped to identify and refute the unceasing deluge of color-blind nonsense presented as intelligent thought on racial matters. I’ve assigned Racism without Racists to my students for more than a decade, and each semester students share with me the transformative impact it had on both their intellectual and personal development. This book will change how you think about race and racism in the United States. It is a must read. A deeply sophisticated yet accessible and engaging analysis of how it is we find ourselves in a society with so much racial inequality and so little 'racism.' Amanda Lewis One thing I found especially interesting was the notion of incoherence. Bonilla-Silva's argument is that when whites have to express their internalized prejudice in a color-blind fashion, they increasingly resort to verbal flailing that ends up becoming almost word salad. One example was a student asked about interracial marriage: Interviewer: "So what do you think about people who are absolutely against it, you know, who want to keep the races pure or whatever?" We can also begin the hard work of trying to alter our biases. Here again, we must be humble: few people manage entirely to free themselves of biases. They are often acquired very early (we all learn the cultural stereotypes associated with gays, and women, and Aborigines, and other groups, very early, and learning them may be enough to cause some biases in unconscious processes). We counter these biases not by rational argument but by setting up new associations. Things we’re conscious of may also influence us, without our being conscious either that or how they influence us.

Part of being careful is expanding our definition of racism, says Bonilla-Silva, author of “Racism Without Racists.” Or, in the words of another commenter who wrote about white flight, “As real as the push and pull factors may be, building stronger communities and reducing implicit and explicit bias requires us to journey beyond our comfort zones.” Still, some people are suspicious of focusing on the word bias. They prefer invoking the term racism because they say it leaves bruises. People claiming bias can admit they may have acted in racially insensitive ways but were unaware of their subconscious motivations. Racism without Racists is the most important book I have used to teach on racism and what it looks and sounds like today. It has consistently proven to be the most significant reading I assign. Students often say it has changed their lives and that they use it in conversations beyond the classroom and see it in the everyday interactions they have and witness on various forms of media. Viviane Saleh-HannaThey were asked whether the number of people with jobs had gone up, down, or stayed about the same,” Ross wrote. “Many, looking straight at the graph, said down.” New Chapter 2 , “What is Systemic Racism? Coming to Terms with How Racism Shapes ‘All’ Whites (and Non-Whites)” explains how all members of society participate in structural racism. We humans Creating a contract -- yes, a contract! -- could help you get what you want from your relationship Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America, Fourth Edition". Duke University . Retrieved 23 June 2017.