Publisher Description
Most people assume that racism grows from a perception of human difference: the fact of race gives rise to the practice of racism. Sociologist Karen E. Fields and historian Barbara J. Fields argue otherwise: the practice of racism produces the illusion of race, through what they call "racecraft." And this phenomenon is intimately entwined with other forms of inequality in American life. So pervasive are the devices of racecraft in American history, economic doctrine, politics, and everyday thinking that the presence of racecraft itself goes unnoticed.
That the promised post-racial age has not dawned, the authors argue, reflects the failure of Americans to develop a legitimate language for thinking about and discussing inequality. That failure should worry everyone who cares about democratic institutions.
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“This book is really so very important. And its arguments ask to be revisited on multiple occasions. You might recall the title if you read Between the World and Me. This book is not personal like Ta-Nehisi Coates’; it is objective and rigorous. Scholars Barbara J. Fields and Karen E. Fields explain what race is, and what it isn’t. I feel I waited my whole life to read their primer, in chapter four, on ideology—what it is, and how it works. Now I know.”
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Rachel Kushner, New York Times bestselling author
About the Authors
Karen E. Fields, an independent scholar, holds degrees from Harvard University, Brandeis University, and the Sorbonne. She is the author of many articles and three published books: Revival and Rebellion in Colonial Central Africa, Lemon Swamp and Other Places: A Carolina Memoir, and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life.
Robin Eller is a narrator, actress, singer, and dance educator. She has appeared on stage, in films, and on such television programs as The Bernie Mac Show, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and General Hospital, as well as numerous commercials. As a dancer, she has traveled the world with the legendary James Brown.
About Robin Eller
Robin Eller is a narrator, actress, singer, and dance educator. She has appeared on stage, in films, and on such television programs as The Bernie Mac Show, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and General Hospital, as well as numerous commercials. As a dancer, she has traveled the world with the legendary James Brown.