Systemic Racism in America: Sociological Theory, Education Inequality, and Social Change

Racist policies are identified as "opportunity killers," and the disparities created by them often have racism sustained through race-neutral policies. Systemic Racism in America: Sociological Theory, Education Inequality, and Social Change situates our contemporary moment within a historical framework and works to identify forms, occurrences, and consequences of racism as well as argue for concrete solutions to address it.

This volume assembles renowned and thought-provoking social scientists to address the destructive impacts of structural racism and the recent, incendiary incidents that have driven racial injustice and racial inequality to the fore of public discussion and debate. The book is organized into three parts to explore and explain the ways in which racism persists, permeates, and operates within our society. The first part presents theoretical perspectives to analyze the roots and manifestation of contemporary racism; the second concentrates on educational inequality and structural issues within our institutions of learning that have led to stark racial disparities; and the third and final section focuses on solutions to our current state and how people, regardless of their race, can advocate for racial equity.

Urgent and needed, Systemic Racism in America is valuable reading for students and scholars in the social sciences, as well as informed readers with an interest in racism and racial inequality and a passion to end it.

Rashawn Ray is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research at University of Maryland. He is also a Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution. Ray has published over 50 academic publications and over 50 op-eds.

Hoda Mahmoudi is Research Professor and Chair at the Baha’I Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland. Mahmoudi is the co-author of numerous books on human rights.