Preface
Acknowledgments
I. LAYING THE FOUNDATION
Cherise A. Harris and Stephanie M. McClure
Essay 1: “But My Mother Says It’s Rude to Talk About Race!”: How and Why We Need to Discuss Race in the United States
Daniel Buffington
Essay 2: “Blacks Are Naturally Good Athletes”: The Myth of a Biological Basis for Race
Bradley Koch
Essay 3: “Native American/Indian, Asian/Oriental, Latino/Hispanic . . . Who Cares?”: Language and the Power of Self-Definition
Steve Garner and Saher Selod
Essay 4: “Is Discrimination Against Muslims Really Racism?”: The Racialization of Islamophobia
II. DEBUNKING INDIVIDUAL ATTITUDES
Ted Thornhill
Essay 5: “If People Stopped Talking About Race, It Wouldn’t Be a Problem Anymore”: Silencing the Myth of a Color-Blind Society
Paula Ioanide
Essay 6: “Obama Says Blacks Should Just Work Harder; Isn’t That Right?”: The Myth of Meritocracy
Rashawn Ray
Essay 7: “If Only He Hadn’t Worn the Hoodie . . .”: Race, Selective Perception, and Stereotype Maintenance
Jennifer Domino Rudolph
Essay 8: “My Family Had to Learn English When They Came, so Why Is Everything in Spanish for Them?”: Race and the Spanish Language in the United States
Min Zhou
Essay 9: “Asians Are Doing Great, so That Proves Race Really Doesn’t Matter Anymore”: The Model Minority Myth and the Sociological Reality
Jen’nan Ghazal Read
Essay 10: “But Muslims Aren’t Like Us!”: Deconstructing Myths About Muslims in America
Dana M. Williams
Essay 11: “But It’s Honoring! It’s Tradition!”: The Persistence of Racialized Indian Mascots and Confederate Culture in Sports
III. INSTITUTIONS, POLICIES, AND LEGACIES OF OPPRESSION
Family
Nikki Khanna
Essay 12: “But What About the Children?”: Understanding Contemporary Attitudes Toward Interracial Dating and Marriage
Dawne M. Mouzon
Essay 13: “Black People Don’t Value Marriage as Much as Others”: Examining Structural Inequalities in Black Marriage Patterns
Education
Hersheda Patel, Emily Meanwell, and Stephanie M. McClure
Essay 14: “Well, That Culture Really Values Education”: Culture Versus Structure in Educational Attainment
Stephanie M. McClure
Essay 15: “They Don’t Want to Be Integrated; They Even Have Their Own Greek Organizations”: History, Institutional Context, and “Self-Segregation”
OiYan Poon
Essay 16: “I Had a Friend Who Had Worse Scores Than Me and He Got Into a Better College”: The Legal and Social Realities of the College Admissions Process
Politics, Social Policy, and the State
Kara Cebulko
Essay 17: “We Need to Take Care of ‘Real Americans’ First”: Historical and Contemporary Definitions of Citizenship
Sara Buck Doude
Essay 18: “If Black People Aren’t Criminals, Then Why Are So Many of Them in Prison?”: Confronting Racial Biases in Perceptions of Crime and Criminals
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Essay 19: “What’s the Point of ‘Black Lives Matter’ Protests?”: Black Lives Matter as a Movement, Not a Moment
Dawne M. Mouzon
Essay 20: “If Only They Would Make Better Choices . . .”: Confronting Myths About Ethnoracial Health Disparities
Wendy Leo Moore
Essay 21: “Now All the Good Jobs Go to Them!”: Affirmative Action in the Labor Market
IV. RACE IN EVERYDAY INTERACTIONS
Geoff Harkness
Essay 22: “Why Do They Get to Use the N-Word but I Can’t?”: Privilege, Power, and the Politics of Language
Brittney Dennis
Essay 23: “It’s Appreciation, Not Appropriation! I Don’t Know Why You’re Offended!”: Understanding Exploitation and Cultural Appropriation
Mark Orbe
Essay 24: “#BlackLivesMatter Is Racist; It Should Be #AllLivesMatter!”: #AllLivesMatter as Post-Racial Rhetoric
Cherise A. Harris
Essay 25: “I’m Not Racist; Some of My Best Friends Are . . .”: Debunking the Friends Defense and Revisiting Allyship in the Post-Obama Era
About the Editors