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

Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In this updated edition (just after Trump's election), Bonilla-Silva explores how the blatant racism of yesteryear has been replaced with a racism that is best described as color-blind racism. Color-blind racism is grounded in the idea that if people claim they do not see skin color or to act overtly harsh towards people of color, they are not racists (like white supremacists) and therefore, their actions are motivated by something else (market values, evaluations of self, etc). Bonilla-Silva dumps that ideology on its head and shows exactly how color-blind racism perpetuates racism and white supremacy within the United States. Besides articulating historical and cultural contexts that create this situation, he breaks down two sociological studies that he conducted among white college students and working-class folks to unpack the ways in which racist assumptions are embedded in how they perceive of, discuss, and interact with people of color. Bonilla-Silva is a master in unpacking the assumptions present within how the subjects discuss race and tying it into the hypocrisies of color-blind racism and readers will appreciate this book that provides a language and pathway to articulating the problems of color-blind racism. Furthermore, Bonvilla-Silva's critical take on the Obama presidency and the election of Trump also prove helpful in understanding how much racism pervades the modern US culture.

View all my reviews



Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to browse around and check out some of my other posts!. You might also want to keep up to date with my blog by signing up for them via email.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Comments