often speak to issues that cross national lines, and therefore I hope they remain of use to those not working in the United States. In writing this book, I aimed to be critically reflexive on how my social position informs my thinking and writing, to be aware of the opportunities given to me, and to remain committed to pushing our conversations and our activism on racism forward.
Works Cited
Abend, Gabriel. 2008. “The Meaning of ‘Theory.’” Sociological Theory 26(2):173–99.
Alexander, Jeffrey C. 1987. Twenty Lectures: Sociological Theory since World War II. New York: Columbia University Press.
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. 2003. Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Feagin, Joe. 2006. Systemic Racism: A Theory of Oppression. New York: Routledge.
Gannon, Megan. 2016. “Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue.” Scientific American, February 5. Retrieved January 2, 2020 (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-is-a-social-construct-scientists-argue).
Golash-Boza, Tanya. 2016. “A Critical and Comprehensive Sociological Theory of Race and Racism.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 2(2):129–41.
Joas, Hans and Wolfgang Knöbl. 2009. Social Theory: Twenty Introductory Lectures. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lanham, David and Amy Liu. 2019. “Not Just a Typographical Change: Why Brookings Is Capitalizing Black.” Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, September 23. Retrieved January 2, 2020 (https://www.brookings.edu/research/brookingscapitalizesblack).
Mills, Charles W. 1997. The Racial Contract. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
National Human Genome Research Institute. 2018. “Genetics vs. Genomics Fact Sheet.” Retrieved January 2, 2020 (https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Genetics-vs-Genomics).
Oxford English Dictionary. 2019. “Oppression, n.” Retrieved January 2, 2020 (https://www-oed-com.librda.mville.edu/view/Entry/132008?redirectedFrom=oppression&).
Race Forward. 2015. “Race Forward’s Race Reporting Guide.” New York: Author.
Simón, Yara. 2018. “Hispanic vs. Latino vs. Latinx: A Brief History of How These Words Originated.” Brooklyn, NY: Remezcla, September 14. Retrieved January 9, 2020 (https://remezcla.com/about-us).
Steinmetz, Katy. 2018. “Why ‘Latinx’ Is Succeeding while Other Gender-Neutral Terms Fail to Catch On.” Time, April 2. Retrieved January 9, 2020 (https://time.com/5191804/latinx-definition-meaning-latino-hispanic-gender-neutral).
Turner, Bryan S. 2016. “Introduction: A New Agenda for Social Theory?” Pp. 1–16 in The New Blackwell Companion to Social Theory, edited by B. S. Turner. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.
Notes
1. Abend (2008); Turner (2016).
2. Abend (2008:179).
3. Alexander (1987:3).
4 Joas and Knöbl (2009:4).
5. Ibid. (5).
6. Alexander (1987:3).
7. National Human Genome Research Institute (2018).
8. Gannon (2016).
9. Oxford English Dictionary (2019).
10. Bonilla-Silva (2006); Feagin (2006); Golash-Boza (2016); Mills (1997).
11. Mills (1997).
12. Race Forward (2015).
13. Lanham and Liu (2019).
14. Simón (2018); Steinmetz (2018).
15. Golash-Boza (2016).
Acknowledgments
This book, like most, has been a long process, and many people have helped and encouraged me along the way. I am incredibly lucky to be surrounded by a large group of supportive students, colleagues, friends, and family.
As a professor at a liberal arts college, I am heavily invested in teaching and have been afforded the opportunity to teach several courses on race and racism. It is in these classes that students often push me to be clearer and engage me in nuanced dialogue, for which I am very grateful. Thank you to all the students in African American Communities, Race and Ethnicity, Race and Housing, and Social Inequality classes. A special shout-out to students who read chapter drafts and provided their insightful feedback. Thank you Ariel Abdul-Mateen, Lia Garcia Berrido (who read multiple chapters), Monica Keel (who also helped with editing), and Moriah McDuffie.
Many colleagues have helped with this book by talking with me through this process, providing critical feedback, and reading chapter drafts; I could not have written this book without their assistance. A huge thank-you to David Brunsma, Erica Chito Childs, Woody Doane, Corey Dolgon, David Embrick, Chip Gallagher, Amanda Koontz, Cameron Lippard, Emalee Quickel, Saher Selod, James Thomas, Milton Vickerman, Johnny Williams, Beth Williford, and George Wilson. I am fortunate to say that many of these colleagues are also very good friends, and they have supported this process in more ways than one.
I also have a significant group of friends who keep me propped up in so many ways; I send a special thanks to Psusennes Nurisha Bey, Ben Carrington, Garfield Charles, Clay Clark, Ali Cohen, Laura Coleman, Danielle Dirks, Alicia Escott, Jessi Frazier, Anthony Freeman, James Gantt, Drea Jacobs, Meghan Johnston, Mary Beth Lineberry, Manouchehr Mohajeri, Anthony Peguero, Debbie Perkins, Louise Rasmussen, and Damien Tillman. To Teddy Adolphe, whose friendship brought me so much and whom I miss greatly, I keep close these words you gave me: “When it comes to living life, live each new day doing something worth living more.”
I am grateful to my family for keeping me grounded while also believing in my goals. I particularly appreciate the persistent question that now has become a joke: Are you finished writing that book yet? I’m so very thankful for my siblings, who are always there for me; thank you Matthew, Mark, Gabriel, and Gudrun. A special recognition to my nieces and nephews, who bring me silliness and smiles, because that’s important: thank you Annabelle, Cypri, Essie, Hailey, Mila, Parker, Peyton, River, Sam, and Vera. And I especially thank my parents, Mildred Strmic and Charles Pawl, who are unwavering in their encouragement and support, which are reflected in so many ways. A particularly massive thank-you has to go to my mother, who read and edited every page of this book. She is a serious critic and grammarian, and I don’t know how I could write anything without her. My mom’s ability to be simultaneously a critical editor and a supportive mother reflects her infinite patience, incredible dedication, and immeasurable love.
And finally, this book would not have come to fruition without the encouragement of acquisitions editor, Jeff Lasser, and the team at SAGE. Since the initial conversation about this project, Jeff has been supportive, and I sincerely thank him for believing in me and in this book.
About the Author
hephzibah v. strmic-pawlis Associate Professor of Sociology at Manhattanville College in New York, where she researches and teaches in the areas of race, racism, multiracialism, and history of activism. She is the author of Multiracialism and Its Discontents: A Comparative Analysis of Asian-White and Black-White Multiracials (Lexington Books) and coeditor with Milton Vickerman