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The Black Middle Class: Social Mobility—and Vulnerability

Benjamin P. Bowser

The widespread presence of successful African Americans in virtually all walks of life has led many in the United States to believe that the races are now on an equal footing—and that color blindness is the most appropriate way to deal with racial difference. In strong contrast, Benjamin Bowser argues that the seemingly comparable black and white middle classes, while inextricably linked, in    More >

The Black Middle Class: Social Mobility—and Vulnerability

Mixed Messages: Multiracial Identities in the "Color-Blind" Era

David L. Brunsma, editor

The experiences and voices of multiracial individuals are challenging current categories of race, profoundly altering the meaning of racial identity and in the process changing the cultural fabric of the nation. Exploring this new reality, the authors of Mixed Messages examine what we know about multiracial identities—and the implications of those identities for fundamental issues of justice    More >

Mixed Messages: Multiracial Identities in the "Color-Blind" Era

Republicans and the Black Vote

Michael K. Fauntroy

The Republican Party once enjoyed nearly unanimous support among African American voters; today, it can hardly maintain a foothold in the black community. Exploring how and why this shift occurred—as well as recent efforts to reverse it—Michael Fauntroy meticulously navigates the policy choices and political strategies that have driven a wedge between the GOP and its formerly stalwart    More >

Republicans and the Black Vote

Race and Justice: Wrongful Convictions of African American Men

Marvin D. Free, Jr. and Mitch Ruesink

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! In this investigation of some 350 wrongful convictions of African American men, Marvin Free and Mitch Ruesink critically examine how issues of race undercut the larger goals of our criminal justice system. Free and Ruesink expand the focus of wrongful conviction studies to include not only homicide, but also sexual assault, drug dealing, and nonviolent    More >

Race and Justice: Wrongful Convictions of African American Men

Queer People of Color: Connected but Not Comfortable

Angelique Harris, Juan Battle, and Antonio (Jay) Pastrana, Jr.

As individuals who historically have faced multiple forms of oppression, queer people of color often find themselves struggling to "fit in." What impact does this have on their sociopolitical involvement within their communities of color? Within the queer community? And to what effect? Based on one of the largest surveys to date of African American, Latina/o, Asian American, and Pacific    More >

Queer People of Color: Connected but Not Comfortable

Neva Again: Hip Hop Art, Activism, and Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Adam Haupt, Quentin Williams, H. Samy Alim, and Emile Jansen, editors

The culmination of decades of work on hip hop culture and activism, Neva Again weaves together the many varied and rich voices of the dynamic South African hip hop scene. The contributors—including scholars, activists, and the artists themselves—present a powerful reflection of the potential of youth art, culture, music, language, and identities to shape both politics and world views.    More >

Neva Again: Hip Hop Art, Activism, and Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Roots of African American Violence: Ethnocentrism, Cultural Diversity, and Racism

Darnell F. Hawkins, Jerome B. McKean, Norman A. White, and Christine Martin

What explains the well-documented racial disparities in rates of homicide and other acts of criminal violence in the United States? Critically confronting the conventional narratives that purport to answer this question, the authors of Roots of African American Violence offer an alternative framework—one that acknowledges the often hidden cultural diversity and within-race ethnocentrism    More >

Roots of African American Violence: Ethnocentrism, Cultural Diversity, and Racism

Black Bostonians: Family Life and Community Struggle in the Antebellum North, Revised Edition

James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton

Updated and expanded in this revised edition to reflect twenty years of new research, when published in 1979 Black Bostonians was the first comprehensive social history of an antebellum northern black community. The Hortons challenged the then widely held view that African Americans in the antebellum urban north were all trapped in "a culture of poverty." Exploring life in black    More >

Black Bostonians: Family Life and Community Struggle in the Antebellum North, Revised Edition

Black Asset Poverty and the Enduring Racial Divide

Lori Latrice Martin

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! Claims of a postracial society notwithstanding, there are enormous and even expanding differences in the level of assets owned by various racial and ethnic groups—and black families are vastly overrepresented among the asset poor. Lori Martin provides an in-depth exploration of the causes and consequences of racial wealth inequality. Drawing on both    More >

Black Asset Poverty and the Enduring Racial Divide

The Borders of Race: Patrolling “Multiracial” Identities

Melinda Mills

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! Who is "multiracial"? And who decides? Addressing these two fundamental questions, Melinda Mills builds on the work of Heather Dalmage to explore the phenomenon—and consequences—of racial border patrolling by strangers, family members, friends, and even multiracial people themselves.    More >

The Borders of Race: Patrolling “Multiracial” Identities

Black Men on the Blacktop: Basketball and the Politics of Race

A. Rafik Mohamed

What is it about basketball that makes it "the black man’s game"? And what about pickup basketball in particular: can it tell us something about the state of blackness in the United States? Reflecting on these questions, Rafik Mohamed presents pickup games as a text of the political, social, and economic struggles of African American men. In the process, he tells a story about    More >

Black Men on the Blacktop: Basketball and the Politics of Race

Biko: Philosophy, Identity, and Liberation

Mabogo Percy More

Why write a new book about Steve Biko? Are there untapped lessons to be learned or principles to be gleaned from Biko’s work? As he answers these questions, Mabogo More presents an unparalleled critique of Biko's philosophy and social theory. Perhaps most important, he shows how Biko's ideas speak to the present human condition, especially the black condition, not only in South    More >

Biko: Philosophy, Identity, and Liberation

Race, Class, and the State in Contemporary Sociology: The William Julius Wilson Debates

Jack Niemonen

A comprehensive guide to the current race-class debate in sociology, Race,Class, and the State traces the evolution of the controversy and analyzes current trends in the field. Focusing on the work legacy of William Julius Wilson and the arguments of his longstanding critics, Niemonen deftly illustrates the strengths, weaknesses, and influence of Wilson's work. His fair-minded but critical    More >

Race, Class, and the State in Contemporary Sociology: The William Julius Wilson Debates

Archie Mafeje

Bongani Nyoka

Noted for his academic prowess, quick wit, and tireless struggle both for pan-Africanist ideals and for the political emancipation of South Africans living under apartheid, Archie Mafeje has been hailed as a giant not only as a thinker, but also as a human being. His work addressed a broad range of issues critical to sub-Saharan Africa, among them agrarian reform, democracy, the politics of    More >

Archie Mafeje

Surviving Katrina: The Experiences of Low-Income African American Women

Jessica Warner Pardee

Jessica Pardee documents and examines the experiences of low-income African American women during Hurricane Katrina to uncover the ways that race, class, and gender shape the experiences of disasters. Drawing on intimate interviews to explore the complex challenges that these women faced in the course of the hurricane and its aftermath, Pardee reveals how, with so few material resources, they    More >

Surviving Katrina: The Experiences of Low-Income African American Women

Equal Work, Unequal Careers: African Americans in the Workforce

Rochelle Parks-Yancy

Why do some people get ahead in the workplace, while others, equally qualified, fall behind? Rochelle Parks-Yancy uses the experience of African American workers across the US to reveal how the forces of inequality and social capital shape long-term occupational success. Parks-Yancy's mixed-methods approach probes the ways that people find jobs, lose jobs, and get promoted, illuminating the    More >

Equal Work, Unequal Careers: African Americans in the Workforce

Brazil's New Racial Politics

Bernd Reiter and Gladys L. Mitchell, editors

As the popular myth of racial equality in Brazil crumbles beneath the weight of current grassroots politics, how will the country redefine itself as a multiethnic nation? Brazil’s New Racial Politics captures the myriad questions and problems unleashed by a growing awareness of the ways racism structures Brazilian society. The authors bridge the gap between scholarship and activism as    More >

Brazil's New Racial Politics

Ralph Bunche: The Man and His Times

Benjamin Rivlin, editor

Illuminating the many facets of his career and exploring his extraordinary legacy, a distinguished group of authors examine Nobel peace laureate Ralph Bunche's ideas and activities ranging from his involvement in the civil rights movement to his work at the United Nations. As they reflect on Bunche's responses to some of the crucial problems that confronted the United States during his    More >

Ralph Bunche: The Man and His Times

The Black Academic's Guide to Winning Tenure—Without Losing Your Soul

Kerry Ann Rockquemore and Tracey Laszloffy

For an African American scholar, who may be the lone minority in a department, navigating the tenure minefield can be a particularly harrowing process. Kerry Ann Rockquemore and Tracey Laszloffy go beyond standard professional resources to serve up practical advice for black faculty intent on playing—and winning—the tenure game. Addressing head-on how power and the thorny politics of    More >

The Black Academic's Guide to Winning Tenure—Without Losing Your Soul

Reproducing Race: The Paradox of Generation Mix

Rainier Spencer

Is postraciality just around the corner? How realistic are the often-heard pronouncements that mixed-race identity is leading the United States to its postracial future? In his provocative analysis, Rainier Spencer illuminates the assumptions that multiracial ideology in fact shares with concepts of both white supremacy and antiblackness. Spencer links the mulatto past with the mulatto present    More >

Reproducing Race: The Paradox of Generation Mix

Black Nationalism in the United States: From Malcolm X to Barack Obama

James Lance Taylor

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! Black nationalism. Is it an outdated political strategy? Or, as James Taylor argues in his rich, sweeping analysis, a logical response to the failure of post–civil rights politics? Taylor offers a provocative assessment of the contemporary relevance and interpretation of black nationalism as both a school of thought and a mode of mobilization.    More >

Black Nationalism in the United States: From Malcolm X to Barack Obama

The Young Black Leader’s Guide to a Successful Career in International Affairs: What the Giants Want You to Know

Aaron S. Williams, Taylor A. Jack, and Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff

Young people of color confront a myriad of challenges that deter them from considering, pursuing, and succeeding at careers in international affairs. The authors of The Young Black Leader’s Guide address these challenges, drawing on the experiences of Black American giants in the field to provide systematic, practical advice. From getting started to learning to lead, from overcoming    More >

The Young Black Leader’s Guide to a Successful Career in International Affairs: What the Giants Want You to Know

Metaracism: Explaining the Persistence of Racial Inequality

Carter A. Wilson

The black/white gaps in income, education, and wealth are expanding. Prisons are crowded with black men. There is an increasing concentration of urban poverty. While individuals and communities reject biological determinism and find bigotry offensive, structural inequalities remain. Why? Addressing this fundamental question, Carter Wilson focuses on the elusive dynamics of contemporary    More >

Metaracism: Explaining the Persistence of Racial Inequality

Interracial Contact and Social Change

George Yancey

In this thought-provoking analysis, George Yancey reevaluates the controversial "contact hypothesis" as he explores if and when interracial contact can combat the racial animosity and inequality permeating US society. Yancey draws on quantitative and qualitative investigations of interracial religious congregations, families, and friendships to demonstrate that extensive interactions    More >

Interracial Contact and Social Change

Who Is White?: Latinos, Asians, and the New Black/Nonblack Divide

George Yancey

"By the year 2050, whites will be a numerical racial minority, albeit the largest minority, in the United States." This statement, asserts George Yancey, while statistically correct, is nonetheless false. Yancey marshals compelling evidence to show that the definition of who is "white" is changing rapidly, with nonblack minorities accepting the perspectives of the current    More >

Who Is White?: Latinos, Asians, and the New Black/Nonblack Divide