Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Read - "Nickel and Dimed: On (not) Getting by in America" “New Racism.” Eduardo Bonilla-Silva

How is race socially constructed? A woman named Susie Phipps unsuccessfully sued to have her racial classification changed from black to white. Phipps had both black and white ancestry A 1970 Louisiana law stated that someone with 1/32 “Negro blood” is black

Race Creation of culture that reflects social distinctions and power. Bonilla-Silva investigates the current racial relationships and racial inequality in the US

Whiteness An identity Embodied racial power Visible uniform of the dominant racial group White, Not Yet White, Not White but “colored”

Post-Civil Rights Racism 1. increasingly covert nature of racial discourse and practices 2. avoidance of racial terminology and “reverse racism” 3. invisibility of most mechanisms to reproduce racial inequality 4. Safe minorities to signify the nonracialism of the polity (Colin Powell) 5. rearticulation of some racial practices characteristic of Jim Crow

Covert Acts Shown fewer apartments; higher rents VP of trade assoc. kept in charge of “Minority Affairs.” Law partner as “black litigator.” Restaurants: Stared at; seated in poor spot, poor service; mistaken as employees Not hired; Denied promotions; harassment by police Retail: surveillance, poor service, etc

Racism & Socio-Economic Status If poor, probably live in an ethnic neighborhood, therefore, they don’t experience a lot of racism. If middle class, then they experience much more racism. If upper class, they are the “model” minority and racism is more covert.

What about Affirmative Action? Affirmative Action is the practice of giving minorities and women preference in hiring and admission to college – especially in spheres that lack minorities and women.

Abstract Liberalism “I’m all for equal opportunity, that’s why I oppose Affirmative Action.” This ignores the effects of past and contemporary discrimination on the social, economic, and educational status of minorities. This, then, safeguards white privilege.

Naturalization Limited contact between Whites and minorities. People tend to group with others like themselves. . . “birds of a feather, flock together” as my mom used to say. It’s “natural”; everyone does it. White neighborhoods followed by white schools and churches followed by racial isolation.

Population Change – Researchers predict that by 2050, whites will be a minority in the U.S.

Latin-Americanization of Whiteness White supremacy will become more salient. The “White” population will become the numerical minority, therefore, the US will develop a triracial system with “whites” at the top; an intermediary group of “honorary whites” and a nonwhite group or the “collective black” at the bottom.

“Whites” Whites New whites (Russian, Albanian, etc) Assimilated light-skinned Latinos Some multiracials Assimilated (urban) Native Americans A few Asian-origin people

“Honorary Whites” Light-skinned Latinos Japanese Americans Korean Americans Asian Indians Chinese Americans Middle Eastern Americans Most multi-racials

Collective Black Filipinos Vietnamese Hmong Laotians Dark-skinned Latinos Blacks New West Indian and African immigrants Reservation-bound Native Americans

21st Century Make visible what remains invisible (ie housing; banks, retail, jobs, etc) Prime Time, 20/20 Equality of results New civil rights movement