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The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind, “Post-Racial” America

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bonilla-Silva, E
Published in: American Behavioral Scientist
October 4, 2015

In this article, I describe the racial order of America in the post–Civil Rights era. First, I discuss what racism is all about and emphasize the centrality of conceiving the phenomenon in a structural way. Second, I argue that the “new racism,” or the set of mostly subtle, institutional, and seemingly nonracial mechanisms and practices that comprise the racial regime of “post-racial” America, has all but replaced the old Jim Crow order. Third, I describe the racial ideology of color-blind racism and its component parts (i.e., frames, style, and racial stories) and contend that, like the racial order, this new ideology is slippery and has a “beyond race” character. Fourth, I explain that the Obama moment is part of the new racism, color-blind period and justify my claim empirically. I conclude this essay pondering if people of color will wake up and realize that the new, more “civil” way of maintaining and justifying racial things is a more formidable way of maintaining racial domination.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

American Behavioral Scientist

DOI

EISSN

1552-3381

ISSN

0002-7642

Publication Date

October 4, 2015

Volume

59

Issue

11

Start / End Page

1358 / 1376

Related Subject Headings

  • General Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
  • 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
  • 5203 Clinical and health psychology
  • 5202 Biological psychology
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology
 

Citation

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MLA
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Bonilla-Silva, E. (2015). The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind, “Post-Racial” America. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(11), 1358–1376. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215586826
Bonilla-Silva, E. “The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind, “Post-Racial” America.” American Behavioral Scientist 59, no. 11 (October 4, 2015): 1358–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215586826.
Bonilla-Silva E. The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind, “Post-Racial” America. American Behavioral Scientist. 2015 Oct 4;59(11):1358–76.
Bonilla-Silva, E. “The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind, “Post-Racial” America.” American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 59, no. 11, Oct. 2015, pp. 1358–76. Scopus, doi:10.1177/0002764215586826.
Bonilla-Silva E. The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind, “Post-Racial” America. American Behavioral Scientist. 2015 Oct 4;59(11):1358–1376.
Journal cover image

Published In

American Behavioral Scientist

DOI

EISSN

1552-3381

ISSN

0002-7642

Publication Date

October 4, 2015

Volume

59

Issue

11

Start / End Page

1358 / 1376

Related Subject Headings

  • General Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
  • 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
  • 5203 Clinical and health psychology
  • 5202 Biological psychology
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology