Table of Contents
Preface ix
Introduction: Why Critical Race Theory Matters xix
What Is Critical Race Theory? xix
White Backlash Is Also a Racial Reckoning xxiv
Critical Race Theory Shows How Race Has Been Foundational to the Law xxix
Fighting Against Racism Is Also Central to American History xxxv
Chapter 1 The Social Construction of Race 3
Race Is a Collective Hallucination 3
Racial Categories Are Reflections of Power 7
Chapter 2 Structural Racism 17
Racism Is Common, Routine, and Ordinary 17
Structural Racism Is a Political System 20
Evidence of Structural Racism Is Compelling and Overwhelming 23
Chapter 3 Colorblind Racism 32
The Historical Roots of Colorblind Racism 38
Racism Without Racists 41
Chapter 4 Racial Progress 48
The Alluring Mythology of Inevitable Progress 48
Progress Is Fragile and Reversible 50
Chapter 5 Interest Convergence 60
The Space Traders 60
The Geopolitics of Converging Interests 61
Chapter 6 Whiteness as Property 71
The Wages of Whiteness 75
Chapter 7 Counternarratives 82
Challenging America's Dominant Stories 85
Chapter 8 Racialized Organizations 92
Organizations Are Racial Structures 94
Chapter 9 Intersectionality 101
Intersectionality and Legal Invisibility 103
The Black Feminist Roots of Intersectionality 106
Chapter 10 Identity Politics 112
The Uses and Abuses of Identity Politics 114
White Identity Politics 117
Conclusion: Against the Propaganda of History 125
Acknowledgments 131
Notes 135
Index 163