Skip to main content

Lee D. Baker

Professor of Cultural Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology
Box 90091, Durham, NC 27708-0042
210 Friedl Bldg, Durham, NC 27708-0042

Selected Publications


The Gamble and the Game: Reflections on Writing From Savage to Negro

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 1, 2023 Full text Cite

Franz Boas: the emergence of the anthropologist

Journal Article JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE · 2022 Open Access Cite

The Racist Anti-Racism of American Anthropology

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 1, 2021 In 1909 Franz Boas conducted a massive study entitled Changes in Bodily Forms of Descendants of Immigrants. In this study, he demonstrated that Eastern and Southern European immigrants to the United States were not racially different from other Europeans b ... Full text Open Access Cite

From the President

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 1, 2019 Full text Cite

Is it Worth it? Science Education of the Talented 2%

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 1, 2016 This essay critiques mismatch theory in science education, a theory supported by opponents of affirmative action who strive to derail efforts to diversify institutions of higher education. Can high-achieving students survive and thrive in an academic envir ... Full text Open Access Cite

Voicing the ancestors: Readings in memory of George Stocking

Journal Article HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory · January 1, 2016 In this Forum, four anthropologists have chosen an "ancestral" figure to give voice to. Anthropologists' ancestors are generally teachers, mentors, or, less proximally, canonized scholars of prior generations. Anthropologists draw on their ancestors for th ... Full text Cite

Seizing the time: Transforming anthropology at a crossroads

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 1, 2010 Full text Cite

The cult of Franz Boas and his "conspiracy" to destroy the white race.

Journal Article Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society · March 2010 Featured Publication Cite

Anthropology and the Racial Politics of Culture

Book · 2010 Featured Publication Cite

Franz Boas and his “Conspiracy” to Destroy the White Race

Journal Article American Philosophical Society Proceedings · 2010 Papers from the Symposium: Cultural Subjects and Objects: The Legacy of Franz Boas and Its Futures in Anthropology, Academe, and Human Rights. ... Cite

Notes on “Post-Racial” Society

Journal Article North American Dialogue · 2010 Featured Publication Cite

Racism, risk, and the new color of dirty jobs

Chapter · November 24, 2009 Featured Publication Cite

The Location of Franz Boas within the African-American Struggle [reprint]

Journal Article · 2009 2009 The Location of Franz Boas within the African-American Struggle. In Franz Boas: Kultur, Sprache, Rasse. Friedrich Pöhl & Bernhard Tilg, eds. Pp. 111-129. Wege einer antirassistischen Anthropologie, Wien, LIT Verlag. ... Cite

The Location of Franz Boas within the African-American Struggle [reprint]

Chapter · 2009 2009 The Location of Franz Boas within the African-American Struggle. In Franz Boas: Kultur, Sprache, Rasse. Friedrich Pöhl & Bernhard Tilg, eds. Pp. 111-129. Wege einer antirassistischen Anthropologie, Wien, LIT Verlag. ... Cite

The Gamble and the Game: Reflections on Writing From Savage to Negro

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 1, 2023 Full text Cite

Franz Boas: the emergence of the anthropologist

Journal Article JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE · 2022 Open Access Cite

The Racist Anti-Racism of American Anthropology

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 1, 2021 In 1909 Franz Boas conducted a massive study entitled Changes in Bodily Forms of Descendants of Immigrants. In this study, he demonstrated that Eastern and Southern European immigrants to the United States were not racially different from other Europeans b ... Full text Open Access Cite

From the President

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 1, 2019 Full text Cite

Is it Worth it? Science Education of the Talented 2%

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 1, 2016 This essay critiques mismatch theory in science education, a theory supported by opponents of affirmative action who strive to derail efforts to diversify institutions of higher education. Can high-achieving students survive and thrive in an academic envir ... Full text Open Access Cite

Voicing the ancestors: Readings in memory of George Stocking

Journal Article HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory · January 1, 2016 In this Forum, four anthropologists have chosen an "ancestral" figure to give voice to. Anthropologists' ancestors are generally teachers, mentors, or, less proximally, canonized scholars of prior generations. Anthropologists draw on their ancestors for th ... Full text Cite

Seizing the time: Transforming anthropology at a crossroads

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 1, 2010 Full text Cite

The cult of Franz Boas and his "conspiracy" to destroy the white race.

Journal Article Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society · March 2010 Featured Publication Cite

Anthropology and the Racial Politics of Culture

Book · 2010 Featured Publication Cite

Franz Boas and his “Conspiracy” to Destroy the White Race

Journal Article American Philosophical Society Proceedings · 2010 Papers from the Symposium: Cultural Subjects and Objects: The Legacy of Franz Boas and Its Futures in Anthropology, Academe, and Human Rights. ... Cite

Notes on “Post-Racial” Society

Journal Article North American Dialogue · 2010 Featured Publication Cite

Racism, risk, and the new color of dirty jobs

Chapter · November 24, 2009 Featured Publication Cite

The Location of Franz Boas within the African-American Struggle [reprint]

Journal Article · 2009 2009 The Location of Franz Boas within the African-American Struggle. In Franz Boas: Kultur, Sprache, Rasse. Friedrich Pöhl & Bernhard Tilg, eds. Pp. 111-129. Wege einer antirassistischen Anthropologie, Wien, LIT Verlag. ... Cite

The Location of Franz Boas within the African-American Struggle [reprint]

Chapter · 2009 2009 The Location of Franz Boas within the African-American Struggle. In Franz Boas: Kultur, Sprache, Rasse. Friedrich Pöhl & Bernhard Tilg, eds. Pp. 111-129. Wege einer antirassistischen Anthropologie, Wien, LIT Verlag. ... Cite

Review of The social sciences and theories of race

Journal Article JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE · March 2008 Full text Link to item Cite

Boas, Franz

Journal Article · 2008 Cite

"Anthropology, History of."

Journal Article · 2008 Cite

Review of The Social Sciences and Theories of Race by Vernon J. Williams, Jr.

Journal Article Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · 2008 Cite

Boas, Franz

Chapter · 2008 Cite

Risk Avoidance and Transfer: Thoughts on New Directions for Africana Studies

Journal Article International Journal of Africana Studies · 2008 Cite

When the “good one” is “baaad”: Modern racism in john singleton’s shaft

Journal Article Souls · January 1, 2008 John Singleton's 2001 version of the blaxploitation film Shaft reinterprets this iconic representation of Black masculinity within an explicit and self-conscious treatment of the problem of racism. The film moves from a powerfully counter-stereotypical ope ... Full text Cite

Black Women in the Ivory Tower, Womanism, and Segregated Scholars

Journal Article Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Soceity · 2008 Link to item Cite

Mission Improbable and the Possible Mission

Journal Article Anthropology News · 2008 Link to item Cite

Signing Off

Other Transforming Anthropology · October 2007 Cite

Transforming Anthropology

Other · April 2007 Cite

Signing Off

Chapter · 2007 Cite

W.G. Pearson’s Uniforms about Distinction

Other Durham Herald Sun · 2007 Cite

Mad or Meditative in Maricopa

Other Transforming Anthropology · October 2006 Cite

Mad or Meditative in Maricopa

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · October 2006 Link to item Cite

Hate Crime, Plain and Simple

Other Durham Herald Sun · June 2006 Cite

Thinking Through Genre

Other Transforming Anthropology · April 2006 Cite

Thinking Through Genre

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · April 2006 Link to item Cite

Missionary Positions.

Chapter · 2006 Cite

Taking the Plunge and Seizing the Time- -Again

Other Transforming Anthropology · October 2005 Cite

Melville J. Herskovits and the Racial Politics of Knowledge

Journal Article American Anthropologist · September 2005 Full text Cite

Taking the Plunge and Seizing the Time- -Again

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · 2005 Cite

Naming Moments Properly.

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · 2005 Cite

Rethinking Black Studies: You Can't Do That With Out Organization

Journal Article Souls A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society · November 2004 Link to item Cite

A Model Approach for Studying Race: Provocative Theory, Sound Science, and Very Good History

Journal Article American Anthropologist · March 2004 The Problem of Race in the Twenty‐First Century. Thomas C. Holt. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. 146 pp.Race in Mind: Race, IQ, and Other Racisms. Alexander Alland Jr. ... Full text Cite

Life in America: Identity and Everyday Experience

Book · 2004 Life in America: Identity and Everyday Experience is a fascinating collection of readings that explores how people negotiate identity in the United States today. Brings together readings that provide a thoroughly engaging and fascinating look at central is ... Cite

Review of Racism: A Short History by George M. Fredrickson

Journal Article New West Indian Guide · 2004 Cite

You can’t do that without organization

Journal Article Souls · January 1, 2004 Full text Cite

Franz Boas out of the Ivory Tower

Journal Article Anthropological Theory · 2004 Link to item Cite

Message from the President

Journal Article North American Dialogue · 2004 Link to item Cite

Affirmative Action and Anthropological Research

Journal Article Anthropology News · October 2003 Cite

Delimiting Anthropology: Occasional Inquiries and Reflections. George W. Stocking, Jr.

Journal Article Journal of Anthropological Research · July 2003 Full text Cite

Review of Delimiting Anthropology: Occasional Inquiries and Reflections. George W. Stocking, Jr.

Journal Article Journal of Anthropological Research · 2003 2003 Review of Delimiting Anthropology: Occasional Inquiries and Reflections. George W. Stocking, Jr. Journal of Anthropological Research 59:252-253. ... Cite

Why Students Get A’s

Other New York Times · 2002 Cite

Frederic Ward Putnam

Chapter · 2002 Cite

The Color Blind Bind

Chapter · 2001 Cite

Uncommon Ground: From Pastures to Protest

Journal Article UPDATE: The Newsletter of the African Burial Ground Project · 2001 Cite

Response to 'Philosophical Aspects of the "AAA Statement on 'Race' "

Journal Article Anthropological Theory · 2001 2001 Response to 'Philosophical Aspects of the "AAA Statement on 'Race' " Anthropological Theory Vol. 1(4)467- 471. ... Link to item Cite

Profit, Power, and Privilege: The Racial Politics of Ancestry

Journal Article Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society · 2001 2001 Profit, Power, and Privilege: The Racial Politics of Ancestry. Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, & Soceity 3(4):66-72. ... Cite

Review of African-American Pioneers in Anthropology, edited Faye V. Harrison and Ira E. Harrison

Journal Article American Anthropologist · 2000 2000 Review of African-American Pioneers in Anthropology, edited Faye V. Harrison and Ira E. Harrison. American Anthropologist 102(2):368-370. ... Cite

Daniel G. Brinton's success on the road to obscurity, 1890-99.

Journal Article Cultural anthropology : journal of the Society for Cultural Anthropology · January 2000 Full text Cite

Commitment to Scientific Truth

Journal Article Anthropology Newsletter · April 1999 Cite

Review of The Roots of African American Identity: Memory and History in Free Antebellum Communities, by Elizabeth Rauh Bethel

Journal Article Social Forces · 1999 1999 Review of The Roots of African American Identity: Memory and History in Free Antebellum Communities, by Elizabeth Rauh Bethel. Social Forces 78(1)372-374. ... Cite

From Savage to Negro: Anthropology and the Construction of Race, 1896-1954

Book · 1998 Lee D. Baker explores what racial categories mean to the American public and how these meanings are reinforced by anthropology, popular culture, and the law. Focusing on the period between two landmark Supreme Court decisions– Plessy v. Ferguson (the so-ca ... Cite

New Directions in the History of United States Anthropology

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · 1998 Cite

Unraveling the Boasian Discourse: The Racial Politics of "Culture" in School Desegregation, 1944-1954.

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · 1998 1998 Unraveling the Boasian Discourse: The Racial Politics of "Culture" in School Desegregation, 1944-1954. Transforming Anthropology 7:(1)15-32. ... Cite

Columbia University's Franz Boas: He led the undoing of scientific racism

Journal Article JOURNAL OF BLACKS IN HIGHER EDUCATION · 1998 Full text Cite

Rethinking Race: Franz Boas and His Contemporaries.Vernon J. Williams, Jr.

Journal Article American Journal of Sociology · November 1996 Full text Cite

Reflections in the National Mirror

Journal Article Anthropology Newsletter · February 1996 Cite

Review of Rethinking Race: Franz Boaz and His Contemporaries, by Vernon J. Williams, Jr.

Journal Article American Journal of Sociology · 1996 1996 Review of Rethinking Race: Franz Boaz and His Contemporaries, by Vernon J. Williams, Jr. American Journal of Sociology 102(3):909-910. ... Cite

It Helps to Understand the Pressures on Marshall

Other The Raleigh News and Observer · 1996 Cite

America’s Intractable ’Race Problem’

Journal Article Chronicle of Higher Education · 1995 Cite

For Whom the Bell Curve Tolls: Poverty & Power

Journal Article Voice of Black Studies · 1995 Cite

Racism in Professional Settings: Forms of Address as Clues to Power Relations

Journal Article Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences · 1995 Link to item Cite

Savage Inequality: Anthropology in the Erosion of the Fifteenth Amendment

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · January 1, 1994 Full text Cite

From Cannibal to Animal: Exhibiting Ota Benga

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · 1994 Cite

Roots of Reform

Other The Atlanta Journal · 1994 Cite

From Cannibal to Animal: Contextualizing the Image on the Cover

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · January 1, 1994 Full text Cite

Race, Racism, and the History of U.S. Anthropology

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · January 1, 1994 Full text Cite

Race, Racism, and the History of U.S. Anthropology

Journal Article Transforming Anthropology · 1994 Baker, Lee D. and Thomas C. Patterson 1994 Race, Racism, and the History of U.S. Anthropology. Transforming Anthropology (5)1:1-7. ... Link to item Cite

Ota Benga, Story of A Tragic Travesty

Journal Article Teaching Anthropology · 1993 Cite

Race and Class

Other New York Times · 1992 Cite

Doing the Right Thing in Anthropology

Journal Article Teaching Anthropology · 1991 Cite