Racism Without Racists

When I was in high school, I saw a quote attributed to Morgan Freeman claiming he said that he “didn't see race”, wanted to eliminate the idea of race from our thinking, and to treat everyone equally. In my immature liberal high schooler brain, that resonated with me and I wanted to adhere to that ideology as well. It didn't take long to see how incredibly illogical the idea of ignoring race is in this highly racialized world.

You can't ignore race because when those in power don't also ignore race, race continues to be a material reality. If I look at data about how many people get pulled over by police, but I've ignored their perceived race, I am blinding myself to reality. If I ignore race and see injustice, I may fail to identify it.

And yet a large portion of white folk in this country, especially self-described “progressives” and “liberals” adhere to this foolish idea, helping to reinforce unjust systems of power that coincidentally benefit those same people.

This book does an excellent job showcasing those who hold these beliefs and how to counteract them. The basis of its thesis is based on conversations with college kids and adults in like 1999. I wish they would redo the interviews with more people. Also I love any author or book who criticizes Obama from the left. That was a great chapter.

There was a great theory about what the future racial order might look like in the USA as we get closer to becoming a majority minority country. Instead of having a biracial order, it will be more like South & Central Americas' tri-racial order. The way he described it made my skin crawl because, ya know, the idea of racial hierarchies is gross and wrong. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I'll post a link to his theory in the comments.

I also found out there's a 6th edition coming out in October, which is lame. But it'll probably just be more appended chapters like this edition.

I would recommend this book to every white person and/or anyone interested in expanding their understanding about race and racism in the USA and/or anyone who thinks that they couldn't be racist because they...like...don't say the N word or voted for Obama or something.

Great book