White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era - Softcover

Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1588260321 ISBN 13: 9781588260321

Publisher: Lynne Rienner Pub, 2001

Synopsis

Bonilla-Silva (sociology, Texas A&M U.) addresses the reasons that black Americans and other racial minorities lag behind whites in terms of income, wealth, occupational and health status, educational attainment, and other social indicators. Providing a new formulation of what "racism" and "prejudice" are, Bonilla-Silva argues that white supremacy and racial ideology are the most important sociological variables to explain the status of minorities. He finds that since the Jim Crow period, a new racial ideology has emerged in which white privilege continues through subtle institutional and apparently nonracial means. He shows how this new "color-blind racism" helps sustain relations of domination, leaving black Americans "at the bottom of the well." Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About this title

From Booklist:

Bonilla-Silva explores the modern structure of American racism with subtleties that make it less obvious, but no less pernicious, than the racism of the slavery and Jim Crow eras. The prime objective of maintaining racial privilege and advantage for whites remains intact for the prototypical "color-blind" racist who avoids racially charged terminology, espouses race-neutral concepts, and may even adapt a liberal veneer. Bonilla-Silva reviews current literature on racial attitudes and analyzes his own surveys on race. Typical narrative responses--the past is past; I never owned slaves; my friend or relative didn't get a job because a black person got it--reveal underlying racial ideology that justifies and maintains the status quo. Unfortunately, according to Bonilla-Silva, most typical studies and popular notions of racism are centered on individual pathologies and don't recognize the ingrained and institutionalized manifestations of racial injustice. However, American public policy and popular opinion ignore the interconnection between disparate results and racial ideology. This is an insightful look at racial politics that will appeal to readers interested in racial issues. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Library Journal:

Though many laws have been put in place to insure the rights of minorities in the United States, there are still questions about whether the beliefs of the white-majority population regarding minorities have changed. Has the push for political correctness encouraged people to rethink their beliefs? This book shows that in many cases the white majority still holds negative stereotypes about minorities and that many still believe that whites are better. Using extensive research and interviews, Bonilla-Silva (sociology, Texas A&M Univ.) discusses the history of discrimination in the United States and how in many cases beliefs have not changed but have just been moved underground. He also shows that institutional racism still plays a role in society. With its extensive bibliography and end notes, this book will find a home in academic libraries. Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Lynne Rienner Pub
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1588260321
• ISBN 13: 9781588260321
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 220