Race and power in the world: The current climate

Wilson, William Julius. "The Declining Significance of Race"

William J. Wilson’s 1978 classic reading on race in America is significant today in illustrating the perspective of those living in that crucial “bubble” era of civil rights. As one who had lived in a pre- and post-Civil Rights society, Wilson has a unique contribution to make to any discussion of power and race today. Though his title suggests that he considers race an insignificant issue by his time of writing, actually his thesis is more complex. Rather, he suggests two things: First, that whereas overt institutionalized racism held blacks back in the previous era, many social barriers have now crumbled, and there is much more flexibility for individual black people than ever before. This is a fact that cannot and ought not be overlooked.

Second, however, he holds that while discrimination has shifted from being one of mainly biological race to one of social class, it was the “history of discrimination and oppression [that] created a huge black underclass, and the technological and economic revolutions have combined to insure it a permanent status” – a troubling state indeed. His conclusion is that discrimination and racial conflicts in 1978 had not disappeared “or even been substantially reduced”; they still existed and were still racial in nature, even if no longer merely racial in origin. I wonder if the same could be said today; I'm not sure.


Bhattacharyya, Gargi, John Gabriel and Stephen Small. “Changing configurations of whiteness.”

This chapter is helpful in describing the “other side” of racial thought: exploring the context of the 'oppressor' rather than the 'oppressed', it makes important observations about the meaning of whiteness in a world of “minorities.” The idea that whiteness is not merely the default or neutral human state is important; being white carries a distinct worldview, just as being of any other race shapes one’s identity as well. At the same time, the assumption that whiteness is neutral has helped to subtly make whiteness the standard by which all other cultures and races are measured. Whiteness, like blackness, means much more than skin color; the concept embodies individualism, empowerment, idealism, and enlightened rationality.


Emerson, Michael O. & Christian Smith. Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America.

Divided by Faith is a thorough and crucial treatise on the influence and current state of white evangelicalism and black-white race relations in America. It confirms through case studies and anecdotal evidence that many white evangelicals do not see a problem with race today at all, except to be inconvenienced and discomforted by liberals’ and minorities’ insistence that the problems are huge and must be remedied. It also points out several ways in which white evangelicals, though well meaning and genuinely trying to follow biblical commands, have still succeeded in leaving out or even pushing out members of minority groups, even when they are fellow Christians.