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crschu's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
this book is extremely informative — Bonilla-Silva does a great job explaining and exploring color-blind racism. this book shows how people use color-blindness to avoid acknowledging race based discrimination and all the while support and uphold the very systems that perpetuate racism.
in the last chapter, Bonilla-Silva offers his white readers steps to becoming anti-racist, and ends the book with a call to action. i recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding the nuanced dynamics and sinister ways color-blindness maintains (and furthers) the racist status quo in the US.
in the last chapter, Bonilla-Silva offers his white readers steps to becoming anti-racist, and ends the book with a call to action. i recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding the nuanced dynamics and sinister ways color-blindness maintains (and furthers) the racist status quo in the US.
saintakim's review
4.0
La partie théorique offre un solide cadre pour approcher le racisme moderne. La partie exemples et études de terrains est juste hilarante tellement les cas sont aberrants et communs.
rimill's review against another edition
The content was incredibly informative. As such, it was heavily loaded with statistics that blurred together in my head as I listened. This is a book that almost requires a read instead of a listen, at least for me.
It's also a sociology text, or at least reads like one. As a former soci student, I've read so many of these texts that I'm just tired at this point. I hope to finish it one day when I have a little more distance from college!
It's also a sociology text, or at least reads like one. As a former soci student, I've read so many of these texts that I'm just tired at this point. I hope to finish it one day when I have a little more distance from college!
11corvus11's review
5.0
While I did find this dry and repetitive at times, like a sociology journal being read cover to cover, the information inside is very valuable. I also give the author props for actually updating his editions along the way, something many people sadly do not do. This made me examine things I've said and believed in the past and some today. I think the main audience for this is white people. Maybe some people of color, too, in order to hear the analysis of colorism. I really liked his suggestions at the end for being actively anti-racist.
I have a slight critique with how he described some data points. Qualitative research always is going to have some form of analysis made by the researcher (as does quantitative research even though less so.) I understand this. I also agree wholeheartedly with his theses. But, there were a couple times where I thought "ehhhhh I think you needed a bit more data to make that statement- and that data exists- just not strongly enough in this particular snippet." If I can see it as someone in agreement, I imagine someone who disagrees could zero in on these few examples. I also think there needed to be a bigger emphasis on tokenism. He regularly encourages multiracial community and workplaces, but without the analysis of tokenism, he risks encouraging bosses to collect people of color rather than actually work with and include them and their needs and concerns.
I have a slight critique with how he described some data points. Qualitative research always is going to have some form of analysis made by the researcher (as does quantitative research even though less so.) I understand this. I also agree wholeheartedly with his theses. But, there were a couple times where I thought "ehhhhh I think you needed a bit more data to make that statement- and that data exists- just not strongly enough in this particular snippet." If I can see it as someone in agreement, I imagine someone who disagrees could zero in on these few examples. I also think there needed to be a bigger emphasis on tokenism. He regularly encourages multiracial community and workplaces, but without the analysis of tokenism, he risks encouraging bosses to collect people of color rather than actually work with and include them and their needs and concerns.
alyshadeshae's review against another edition
5.0
So I know that the writer says he would be interested in a study that follows the participants to see, essentially, how their racism developed as they get older. But I would be curious to see how many evolve into less racist people.
I know as a young adult, college aged, I still accepted at almost face value the things the adults around me said/projected. This resulted in me being kind of a shitty human. However, as I've gotten older, I've definitely grown as a person and, I think, confronted a lot of ingrained racist beliefs that I had. And I'm still learning - hence reading this book. I'll definitely be reading it again because there's so much in here.
I know as a young adult, college aged, I still accepted at almost face value the things the adults around me said/projected. This resulted in me being kind of a shitty human. However, as I've gotten older, I've definitely grown as a person and, I think, confronted a lot of ingrained racist beliefs that I had. And I'm still learning - hence reading this book. I'll definitely be reading it again because there's so much in here.
tani's review
4.0
Like so many others, I felt like this was a good time to read more about race, what with the murders of numerous Black Americans such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by the police, and the global protests of those murders. This is one that I'd had on my to-read for quite some time, so I decided to give it a shot. I was a bit wary, as the last book I'd picked up in this vein had been White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, which felt just a little too basic for me. However, this turned out to be exactly on my level.
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva argues that racism does not require people to be overtly racist. In fact, it is the systematic injustices of our society that truly create racism, although individuals certainly can be prejudiced against certain races. However, it's pretty taboo in present-day society to overtly express those kinds of prejudices, and so a form of color-blind racism has evolved. I'm sure you've heard people say, "I don't see race." Usually, they're white people, and usually they see this as a good thing. After all, isn't the goal to treat everyone the same regardless of race?
This is a book that sets out to remind everyone that 'not seeing race' is no solution for systematic racism. In fact, it only makes it harder to combat. When we are unwilling to think about or discuss race, it makes it that much more difficult to see the things that actually happen. By not seeing race, we can make the assumption that minorities end up in prisons because they're more likely to commit crimes. We can think that the everyday aggressions that people of color face are nothing more than a person that is overly sensitive complaining. We can believe that we, as white people, do not contribute to the oppression of another group of people. In short, not seeing race makes us blind to reality.
A lot of this book focuses on the stories that we tell ourselves and others about race. Bonilla-Silva spends a lot of time breaking down the different frames that white people tend to use to try and disguise their own hidden prejudices. Although the interviews that are used as examples are a bit dated, to be honest, I found them to still be entirely relevant. I have heard people use them today. "Some of my best friends are Black." "My cousin's friend went out for a job interview and didn't get the job because they had to hire a Black guy." "I don't have anything against interracial marriage, but what about the children?" "They're just playing the race card." It's almost scary how very relevant many of the frames described remain.
There are also two chapters that deal with future predictions. In the first, Bonilla-Silva predicts that the US is headed toward a three-part system of race, much like Latin American countries, and explains why that would be a bad thing. In the second, Bonilla-Silva takes on Obama and the argument that racism must be over, since we've had a Black President. In particular, I would say I learned a lot from the Obama chapter. My knowledge of politics has definitely evolved over the years, and I'll admit, I wasn't very knowledgeable of what was going on at that time, so I found this very illuminating indeed.
Over all, I would say that this is a read on race of intermediate difficulty. If you've done a bit of reading or other self-education before now, this could be a very good one to pick up. It has a very academic feel to it, which might be boring for some, but I found that it moved along at a good clip, with just the right number of examples to drive home the point without going completely overboard. Each chapter seems long at first, but the chapters are extensively footnoted, so they're generally much shorter than they seem at first glance.
My only regret with this book is that I now very desperately want Bonilla-Silva's analysis of everything that's happening now. I think he would view the protests as a very good thing, but I'm sure that there are nuances he would see that I'm completely missing, and I'd love to have more of his insight. I guess that's just more motivation to keep on educating myself, so that maybe someday I can develop something resembling his critical eye.
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva argues that racism does not require people to be overtly racist. In fact, it is the systematic injustices of our society that truly create racism, although individuals certainly can be prejudiced against certain races. However, it's pretty taboo in present-day society to overtly express those kinds of prejudices, and so a form of color-blind racism has evolved. I'm sure you've heard people say, "I don't see race." Usually, they're white people, and usually they see this as a good thing. After all, isn't the goal to treat everyone the same regardless of race?
This is a book that sets out to remind everyone that 'not seeing race' is no solution for systematic racism. In fact, it only makes it harder to combat. When we are unwilling to think about or discuss race, it makes it that much more difficult to see the things that actually happen. By not seeing race, we can make the assumption that minorities end up in prisons because they're more likely to commit crimes. We can think that the everyday aggressions that people of color face are nothing more than a person that is overly sensitive complaining. We can believe that we, as white people, do not contribute to the oppression of another group of people. In short, not seeing race makes us blind to reality.
A lot of this book focuses on the stories that we tell ourselves and others about race. Bonilla-Silva spends a lot of time breaking down the different frames that white people tend to use to try and disguise their own hidden prejudices. Although the interviews that are used as examples are a bit dated, to be honest, I found them to still be entirely relevant. I have heard people use them today. "Some of my best friends are Black." "My cousin's friend went out for a job interview and didn't get the job because they had to hire a Black guy." "I don't have anything against interracial marriage, but what about the children?" "They're just playing the race card." It's almost scary how very relevant many of the frames described remain.
There are also two chapters that deal with future predictions. In the first, Bonilla-Silva predicts that the US is headed toward a three-part system of race, much like Latin American countries, and explains why that would be a bad thing. In the second, Bonilla-Silva takes on Obama and the argument that racism must be over, since we've had a Black President. In particular, I would say I learned a lot from the Obama chapter. My knowledge of politics has definitely evolved over the years, and I'll admit, I wasn't very knowledgeable of what was going on at that time, so I found this very illuminating indeed.
Over all, I would say that this is a read on race of intermediate difficulty. If you've done a bit of reading or other self-education before now, this could be a very good one to pick up. It has a very academic feel to it, which might be boring for some, but I found that it moved along at a good clip, with just the right number of examples to drive home the point without going completely overboard. Each chapter seems long at first, but the chapters are extensively footnoted, so they're generally much shorter than they seem at first glance.
My only regret with this book is that I now very desperately want Bonilla-Silva's analysis of everything that's happening now. I think he would view the protests as a very good thing, but I'm sure that there are nuances he would see that I'm completely missing, and I'd love to have more of his insight. I guess that's just more motivation to keep on educating myself, so that maybe someday I can develop something resembling his critical eye.
uffdawn's review
4.0
While I felt like a lot of this was stuff I was already aware of, it was a good read. I kind of wish I got a good sense on how big their census scale was for some of the surveys in the book. Hearing a lot of the correspondents responses was kind of eye widening in how far we have to get, but sometimes it felt as if it leaned into those anecdotes in a weird way versus leaning into the data. I understand it's importance in understanding the data or in clarifying some ambiguous or conflicting answers, but it seemed to often pull from the content the book was trying to communicate.
I appreciate how the book goes out of its way not to villify people but say this is how things are, and here's probably why. And here are some avenues and things to combat the softer, quieter colorblind racism we tend to see now.
The last chapter I super appreciated as it probably applied the most to where I find myself standing.
Overall, good informative read.
I appreciate how the book goes out of its way not to villify people but say this is how things are, and here's probably why. And here are some avenues and things to combat the softer, quieter colorblind racism we tend to see now.
The last chapter I super appreciated as it probably applied the most to where I find myself standing.
Overall, good informative read.
doublen's review against another edition
4.0
Great book, but some of the arguments towards the end were a little weak (probably due to deadlines, etc). A must read.