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Understanding Racism
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Understanding Racism
Theories of Oppression and Discrimination



August 2020 | 232 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Recipient of a 2022 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA)

The author is a proud sponsor of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award—enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop.

Understanding Racism systematically examines the theories and theorists that have contributed the most to our contemporary understanding of racism in its various forms—making it easier for students to understand the multiple dynamics of how racism operates. In every chapter, activist and award-winning sociologist Hephzibah Strmic-Pawl describes the emergence of a theory and the problem it addresses; discusses the scholars who are most closely associated with the theory; and explores the strengths and limitations of the theory. From foundational theories such as Prejudice and White Privilege to contemporary theories such as Color-Blind Racism, Understanding Racism is the first text to present thirteen approaches for explaining racism in one book. The book's systematic organization and pedagogical features will help students think theoretically about race and racism at different levels of analysis, as well as reflect and discuss how to challenge racism.

 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
Part 1: Foundational Theories
 
Chapter 1: Prejudice and Discrimination (Gordon Allport and Robert Merton)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Additional Contribution: Merton’s Typology

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Prejudice

 
Diagram of Merton’s Typology

 
 
Chapter 2: White Privilege (Robert Amico, Peggy McIntosh, Paula Rothenberg, and Tim Wise)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of White Privilege

 
 
Chapter 3: White Supremacy (Charles Mills, Andrea Smith, and hephzibah strmic-pawl)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Additional Contributions to White Supremacy Theory: Smith and strmic-pawl

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Mill’s Theory of the Racial Contract

 
Diagram of Smith’s Theory of the 3 Pillars of White Supremacy

 
Diagram of strmic-pawl’s The White Supremacy Flower

 
 
Part 2: Micro Level Theories
 
Chapter 4: Implicit Bias (Anthony Greenwald, Mahzarin Banaji, and Brian Nosek)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Implicit Bias

 
 
Chapter 5: Microaggressions (Derald Wing Sue)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Microaggressions

 
 
Part 3: Macro Level Theories
 
Chapter 6: Racial Formation (Michael Omi and Howard Winant)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Racial Formation

 
 
Chapter 7: Systemic Racism (Joe Feagin)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Systemic Racism

 
 
Chapter 8: Critical Race Theory (Derrick Bell)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Critical Race Theory

 
 
Part 4: From “Old Racism” to “New Racism”
 
Chapter 9: Laissez-Faire Racism (Lawrence Bobo, James Kluegel, and Ryan Smith)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Laissez-Faire Racism

 
 
Chapter 10: Structure and Culture (William Julius Wilson)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Structure and Culture

 
 
Chapter 11: Color-Blind Racism (Eduardo Bonilla-Silva)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Color-Blind Racism

 
 
Part 5: More Than Race
 
Chapter 12: Colorism (Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Ronald Hall, Margaret Hunter, and Kimberly Norwood)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Colorism

 
 
Chapter 13: Intersectionality (Kimberlé Crenshaw)
Why This Theory

 
Description of the Theory

 
How to Challenge Racism

 
By the Numbers

 
Evaluation

 
Conclusion

 
Reflect and Discuss

 
Diagram of Intersectionality

 
 
References
 
Index

This is a fascinating and insightful book really starts to identify on pick some of the significant areas for academic discussion.

Mrs Toni Benaton
Health and Social Care at Derby, Derby University
January 26, 2022
Key features
KEY FEATURES:
  • The book’s five-part structure groups theorists with similar contributions and orientations.
  • Each chapter is organized around the same primary headings and pedagogical features, including:
    • Why This Theory?—explains the issue or question that a theory is attempting to address
    • Description of the Theory
    • An Evaluation section—briefly discusses the methodological benefits and limitations of the theory
    • How to Challenge Racism—puts theory into practice by providing students with insight into how theories can be used to address racism
    • By the Numbers—a collection of statistics on racial equality that align with the theory’s perspective
    • Key Terms
    • Key People—empower students to learn more about the people who write scholarship and reach out to them personally via social media or their personal website
    • A Conceptual Diagram—visually illustrates the relationships among a theory’s key components
  • Hephzibah Strmic-Pawl is the founding pedagogy editor of the journal Sociology of Race and Ethnicity and a recipient of the Joseph B. Gittler Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems. She is also the founder and director of the campaign Support Ella Baker Day, which aims to create a holiday in honor of the civil rights movement activist Ella Baker.

Sample Materials & Chapters

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