My road trip tells the tale of racial segregation, abetted by Uncle Sam, by local governments, by business interests, and by individuals, all of which say they are offering or chasing powerful “nonracial” incentives. It is a story that needs to be spoken out loud.

The first edition of this best-selling book showed that alongside the subtle forms of discrimination typical of the post-Civil Rights era, new powerful ideology of "color-blind racism" has emerged. Bonilla-Silva documented how beneath the rhetorical maze of contemporary racial discourse lies a full-blown arsenal of arguments, phrases, and stories that whites use to account for and ultimately justify racial inequities.

African American writer Rich Benjamin spent two years living in — and writing about — America’s whitest neighborhoods. The response to his book (and TED Talk) was honest, raw — and sometimes misunderstood his purpose. Here, he responds to the response.

To examine the prevalence and demographic distribution of each ideological type, we analyzed data on white participants from the American National Election Studies (ANES) 2016 Time Series Study ( N=2530). This survey of United States-based citizens aged 18 years and older (ANES 2016 was carried out between September 7 and November 7, 2016, and from as many as possible of the same participants between November 9, 2016, and January 8, 2017. Though old-fashioned, institutional, symbolic, laissez-faire, and color-blind theories of racism are discussed and analyzed separately in this article, this does not imply that these are mutually exclusive categories; rather, individuals can adopt any number of orientations on varying issues, and at different times over their life course.

If I were EBS, here's how I would have framed my argument; this is sort of a toned-down version of his case. Overall, these interviews show that white Americans too often use colorblind frames and language to act as if we as a country had transcended race when we have not. It is the substitution of wish for inconvenient reality, and it colors a great deal of our politics and culture. It is, in short, a powerful denial mechanism. This belief can then be A. a way of justifying ongoing racial inequality B. A way of eschewing any responsibility C. A de facto defense of the racial status quo. This book shows how this mindset acts to undercut movements for racial progress given how many people simply don't think critically about race, our history, and their own lives/roles in these wider stories. Even though racism as a whole has declined and PoC have made significant progress in many ways, colorblind racism remains a major obstacle to change. The majority of the subjects failed to notice the switch, and confabulated reasons why they chose the picture they had been given (saying, for example, that they chose the picture of the blonde “because I prefer blondes”, when in fact they had chosen the picture of the brunette). Because confabulation may involve the production of a plausible story, we may have good consciences, even when our actions express racist or sexist implicit attitudes.The audiobook is especially hilarious during the interview recitation sections since the narrator has a deadpan voice. As he reads aloud a lot of the white interviewees' either outlandish or incredibly awkward responses (since they are struggling to articulate their racist thoughts without sounding racist), I can't help but laugh, but also be sad because I have heard a lot of these statements in real life. I have also once held some of those beliefs in the past. One of the most provocative and effective books for helping students understand contemporary racial theory and how it connects with their lives

New Chapter 10, “Color-Blind Racism in Pandemic Times” provides coverage of racial disparities in mortality, the role of essential workers, and hunger during the pandemic – particularly how public discourse did not reflect how these problems are worse for communities of color. One thing that I noticed on my journey through Whitopia: most Whitopians interacted pleasantly with me on a one-to-one basis. I even hung out with the members of a white supremacist group in Idaho; this interaction would not have ended so benignly mere decades ago. Here’s an example of how this kind of thing can occur, from a 2005 American study. In this study, participants were asked to choose the better applicant for the job of police chief. There were two candidates. One was “street wise” while the other had more formal education. One was male, one was female. Some experimental subjects were given the choice between a male street wise applicant and a female formally educated applicant, while some got the options reversed, with the female applicant being the street wise one.Even though some exploitative practices may be in the past, the legacy of their unjust structures remains, and carries through into decision-making about climate change today, he says. "Ultimately our economic system has at its core this notion that in the pursuit of capital accumulation and profit, some people can be sacrificed, and that has overwhelmingly been people in the Global South," he says. "So we have to understand the connection between slavery, colonialism and racialised capitalism, which creates the conditions for the climate crisis." Huang, Carol (October 2005). "Review of Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States". Educational Studies. 38 (2): 177–179. doi: 10.1207/s15326993es3802_9. S2CID 142991877. There's a very interesting chapter on Obama's presidency and how he was much more centre or centre-right than his public image would lead people to believe. Whether this was a strategic choice to get votes or part of his own socialization, it ended in people voting for an abstract liberalism that looked and sounded good on the surface, but which didn't live up to its potential and was ultimately disappointing for people of colour on a policy level. (I'd still take it over Trump and the current political climate in a heartbeat, though)

Ullucci, K. (1 September 2006). "Book Review: Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States". Urban Education. 41 (5): 533–540. doi: 10.1177/0042085906291929. S2CID 144091498. These experiences of climate breakdown generally don't make the news. In an overview of the most under-reported humanitarian crises of 2021, Zambia came in at number one.What’s going on here is that people’s implicit attitudes are altering their perception of what skills and qualifications are needed for a job. People judged that a particular qualification was relevant only because they had sexist assumptions, about women and policing. But they couldn’t detect the processes at work in them. Climate change and racism are two of the biggest challenges of the 21st Century. They are also strongly intertwined. There is a stark divide between who has caused climate change and who is suffering its effects. People of colour across the Global South are those who will be most affected by the climate crisis, even though their carbon footprints are generally very low. Similar racial divides exist within nations too, due to profound structural inequalities laid down by a long legacy of unequal power relationships. Remember that change does not occur overnight and be patient when it seems like the progress being made is slow; even small changes can lead to big results when you are consistent in your actions. It's actually a much more academic work than I expected it to be. When my wife recommended it to me she didn't say much about it, so I went in thinking it was going to be more of a mass-market explanation of contemporary racism--a sort of Brief History of Time for American social structures--but it's actually an analysis of two studies conducted on racial attitudes in Americans, one on adults in Detroit and one on college students. The book thus repeatedly refers to quotes from the surveyed individuals to illustrate its points, which are pretty enlightening.