Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States - Softcover

Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo

4.26

3,382 ratings by Goodreads

9780742516335: Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0742516334 ISBN 13: 9780742516335

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2003

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Many Americans believe racism has all but disappeared, and that we live in a truly colorblind society. Yet people of color lag behind whites in almost all social indicators. They are poorer, less educated, and have less access to health care. If race has become largely irrelevant—and racists are few and far between—how can these conditions persist? This new book challenges our racial common sense, showing that new, more subtle forms of discrimination have emerged that help preserve white privilege. This 'new racism' has produced a powerful ideology of 'color- blind racism' that justifies contemporary inequities. The voices of whites and African Americans heard in this book expose how white America manufactures nonracial accounts of persistent realities like residential and school segregation. Bonilla-Silva calls for a new civil rights movement anchored in the working-class, which is made up increasingly of female and minority members. While acknowledging the obstacles this movement will face, he demonstrates why equality of results, reparations, and the end of all structures of racial discrimination are vital to America's future. Feature points: —A powerful counterpoint to the writings of widely-read authors such as D'Souza, W. J. Wilson, and Steele. —Shows how racism has been transformed into new forms. —Contrasts the experiences of whites and minority Americans —Describes how cognitive, cultural and aesthetic factors shape racial constructions and experiences.

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About the Author:

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva is associate professor of sociology at Texas A&M University.

Review:

Color-blindness—the notion that we no longer have to take race into account in our public policies because racism has been overcome—is the ideology that currently sustains racial inequality in the United States. So argues Eduardo Bonilla-Silva in this powerful and incisive book. Only those whose minds and hearts are closed to the strong evidence of persistent prejudice and discrimination will fail to be convinced. (George Fredrickson)

An empirically rich and provocative account. Professor Bonilla-Silva has produced a study that will allow all Americans to think more deeply about how we talk about race. (Young, Alford A., Jr.)

Racism without Racists will make many readers uncomfortable, as it should. With care and a wicked sense of humor, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva explores the kind of subtle, everyday racism that some of 'our best friends' unconsciously perpetuate. (Robin D. G. Kelley)

Every generation of white Americans retools the old racist rationalizations to fit its era. With forthright directness, Bonilla-Silva exposes the current circumlocutions involving so-called 'color blindness.' (Tom Pettigrew)

Racism without Racists is one of the most clearly written and astute examinations of racial discourse to be found anywhere in the literature. (Jim Sidanius)

A tour de force probing of white racial attitudes that challenges the individualistic interpretations of leading survey researchers! One of the brilliant new talents in U.S. social science, Bonilla-Silva dissects and demolishes with his data-honed scalpel the ideological framework of 'colorblind racism' that is now dominant across white America. (Feagin, Joe R.)

This excellent book—suggested for more than just social scientists—is one of the few that provides ammunition for those who are seriously interested in breaking away from nonproductive discussions of race and ethnic relations. This is a must-read for all. Essential. (Choice Magazine)

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