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The invisible weight of whiteness: the racial grammar of everyday life in contemporary America

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bonilla-Silva, E
Published in: Ethnic and Racial Studies
February 1, 2012

Racial domination, like all forms of domination, works best when it becomes hegemonic, that is, when it accomplishes its goal without much fanfare. In this paper, based on the Ethnic and Racial Studies Annual Lecture I delivered in May 2011 in London, I argue there is something akin to a grammar - a racial grammar if you will - that structures cognition, vision, and even feelings on all sort of racial matters. This grammar normalizes the standards of white supremacy as the standards for all sort of social events and transactions. Thus, in the USA one can talk about HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities), but not about HWCUs (historically white colleges and universities) or one can refer to black movies and black TV shows but not label movies and TV shows white when in fact most are. I use a variety of data (e.g., abduction of children, school shootings, etc.) to illustrate how this grammar works and highlight what it helps to accomplish. I conclude that racial grammar is as important as all the visible practices and mechanisms of white supremacy and that we must fight its poisonous effects even if, like smog, we cannot see how it works clearly. © 2012 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

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Published In

Ethnic and Racial Studies

DOI

EISSN

1466-4356

ISSN

0141-9870

Publication Date

February 1, 2012

Volume

35

Issue

2

Start / End Page

173 / 194

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociology
  • 44 Human society
 

Citation

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Bonilla-Silva, E. (2012). The invisible weight of whiteness: the racial grammar of everyday life in contemporary America. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35(2), 173–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.613997
Bonilla-Silva, E. “The invisible weight of whiteness: the racial grammar of everyday life in contemporary America.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 35, no. 2 (February 1, 2012): 173–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.613997.
Bonilla-Silva E. The invisible weight of whiteness: the racial grammar of everyday life in contemporary America. Ethnic and Racial Studies. 2012 Feb 1;35(2):173–94.
Bonilla-Silva, E. “The invisible weight of whiteness: the racial grammar of everyday life in contemporary America.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 35, no. 2, Feb. 2012, pp. 173–94. Scopus, doi:10.1080/01419870.2011.613997.
Bonilla-Silva E. The invisible weight of whiteness: the racial grammar of everyday life in contemporary America. Ethnic and Racial Studies. 2012 Feb 1;35(2):173–194.

Published In

Ethnic and Racial Studies

DOI

EISSN

1466-4356

ISSN

0141-9870

Publication Date

February 1, 2012

Volume

35

Issue

2

Start / End Page

173 / 194

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociology
  • 44 Human society