Race and racism: Towards a global future

Abstract

There is a deepening and worldwide contradiction in the meaning and structure of race and racism. The age of empire is over; apartheid and Jim Crow have ended; a significant consensus exists that the concept of race lacks an objective basis; and yet the concept persists, as idea, as practice, as identity, and as social structure. This suggests that the global racial situation remains not only volatile but also seriously undertheorized.Five key racial problems of the 21st-century are stressed: (1)Nonracialism vs. Race Consciousness; (2)Racial Genomics; (3)The Nation and its Peoples; (4)Race/Gender/Class "Intersectionality"; and (5) Empire, Race, and Neoconservatism.I propose a radical pragmatist approach, which recognizes the ineluctable link between racialized experience and racialized social structure. Drawing on the Duboisian legacy as well as racial formation theory, I argue that racial hegemony has not been secured. Because racial rule is essential to rule itself, these contradictions are destined to deepen, not diminish. The article concludes with some preliminary programmatic ideas for contemporary racial justice movements.

Race and racial ideology in classrooms through teachers’ and students’ voices

“…Rather -and here is the perversity of color-blindness -to banish racewords redoubles the hegemony of race by targeting efforts to combat racism while leaving race and its effects unchallenged and embedded in society, seemingly natural rather than the product of social choices. (Haney Lopez 2006, 125-6) Therefore, the central task for researchers, educators and policy makers under the current racial ideology of the United States is to recognize the continuing significance and ongoing instabilities inherent to the concept of race and racial rule; to argue against color-blindness as the social structure while its institutions continue to function along racial lines, shaping human beings socially and experientially (Winant 2006).…”

Pushing intoPrecious: Black Women, Media Representation, and the Glare of the White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchal Gaze

“…Those committed to "post-" ideology as an indication of transcendence understand our current era as one in which identity is no longer a significant marker of systemic privilege or marginalization (Joseph, 2009;Moshin & Jackson, 2011;Squires et al, 2010). Troubling contemporary articulations of the "post-" as transcendent and racism as antiquated, with a mindful eye toward history, Winant (2009) offers "none of the 'posts-'-postcivil rights, post-apartheid, post-coloniality-is sufficiently 'post'; none denotes a full break with the conditions their very names contain" (p. 684). Usefully outing the value of "post-" racial ideology, particularly to the workings of Whiteness and benefit of White people, is Ono (2010) who describes "postracism" as "the perfect elixir to help society forget about the icky historical abomination known as racism" (p. 227).…”

Essentialism and attribution of monstrosity in racist discourse: Right‐wing internet postings about Africans and Jews

“…Although national and international politics in Europe have seen some success in abolishing open racism in public discourse and official statements, there are some dark corners left in public life where racism -and its weaker form: xenophobia -are able to flourish unimpeded. The political, sociological and psychological reasons for the stubborn persistence of racism in some people's heads are certainly manifold (Winant, 2006), but one cause may well be built into the normal workings of human cognition: the perception of some social categories as natural kinds and the associated attribution of essence. In the present paper, we use qualitative methodology to examine the discourse unfolding on the Internet forum website of an extreme right-wing political party in Germany (NPD).…”