Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America [Paperback]

I decided to purchase this book after reading a journal article by Dr. Bonilla-Silva in which he critiqued the tendency among some social scientists to take the "social construction of race" arguments to extreme and ridiculous degrees. For example, among some guilty white liberal sociologists and anthropologists the fact that race is a "social construction" has been misused to argue that, somehow, ethnicity doesn't really exist either and that those who claim an ethnic identity are guilty of "reifying race." This ridiculous argument is made by people who are too ignorant to realize that "race" and "ethnicity" are two entirely different concepts. Additionally, while race is indeed a socially-defined variable that differs across nations and societies and throughout time, one can not deny the social importance of race as a factor in American (or any other) society.

After reading that article by Bonilla-Silva, I was excited to take a look at "Racism Without Racists." In plain and simple language, Bonilla-Silva analyzes the racial rhetoric so common among white Americans in the post-Civil Rights era. How many times have you heard a white person utter the passive-aggressive qualifier of "I'm not a racist, but..."? or "I'm not prejudiced, but..."? Such phrases are used as intended buffers to qualify hostile, bigoted, racist, and/or angry statements about people of color - and they are used all the time. Even white teachers in my high school frequently issued these kind of prejudiced statements in class.

Another common tendency in the post-Civil Rights era is to automatically link "people of color" with "unqualified" and "whites" to "qualified." Bonilla-Silva analyzes this trend as well. Any time a non-white person occupies a position of authority, prestige, or power, they come under suspicion of getting a "free ride" or "handout." The ironic thing about this is that, since its inception, affirmative action has benefitted middle-class white females more than any other group in American society. White females account for approximately 80 percent of affirmative action's beneficiaries since the policies were originated in the early 1970s. Yet, how often do you hear white women angrily moaning that they are enjoying "free rides" and "hand outs" at the expense of white males?

Yet another one of my favorite arguments is the "Why can't we all just be Americans?" song and dance. This line is ususally uttered in conjunction with white anger about things such as Black History Month, the Puerto Rican Parade, Hispanic Heritage Month, or other public displays of non-white ethnic heritage. The commonplace rhetoric is to accuse such events as being "anti-white." In other words, Black History Month and the Puerto Rican Parade are "anti-white" and "racist" because "we don't have a 'white history month' or 'white parade." Ironically enough, white folks fail to become unglued over events like the St. Patrick's Day Parade, Irish-American Heritage Month, the Columbus Day Parade (which is, for all intents and purposes an Italian-American festivity), Jewish History Month, or any of the other numerous ethnic events honoring Greek, Polish, Russian, German, French, Cajun, Scottish and any other European heritage. A Puerto Rican Parade is "racist" and "anti-white", yet the St. Patrick's Day Parade is fine and acceptable...and Puerto Rico is part of the United States, while Ireland is not! Go figure.

This book hits the nail on the head. The Civil Rights legacy has brandished overt, explicitly racist sentiments as taboo and socially unacceptable. The result has been a reconfiguration of racial rhetoric, where people boldly declare that they "are not racists," construct whiteness as a social disadvantage, and white U.S.-born citizens have allegedly become an "oppressed majority" (in Rush Limbaugh's own terms). Bonilla-Silva's analysis is dead-on and for those who consciously or unconsciously subscribe to the rhetoric that the author critiques, well, this book is sure to rile their emotions.

This book may annoy, irritate, and even infuriate some, but if any of these emotions arise, you might ask yourself "why do I feel so defensive?"...and I promise, you will gather a bit of enlightment. The book portrays the perspective of minority peoples in a way that will open your eyes. It IS one-sided, but not because the author is a "racist", rather, he feels (it's in his Author's Note) that enough books are written ABOUT minorities from a "white perspective" view of the world, so he thought he would write a book that showed a distinct minority perspective on "white" culture. It is not meant to arise aggression, it is written to give realizations and enhance communications between the races.

This is a powerful, clearly written and argued book on the nature of racism in contemporary America! I have not read many other books by social scientists that cut through the chase and tell it as it is. His claim, that there is a new game in town (he labels it "color-blind racism"), is backed up by interviews with young and old Americans. I STRONGLY endorse this book and will check out all the other books written by this scholar who represents a refreshing voice in the usually boring, pompous,
and unengaged work of academics in the USA.

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