This book is about white racism. Unlike most books on the subject, however, it is not about prejudice. For reasons that I make clear in the second chapter, I find that concept troublesome: it does not adequately explain the pervasiveness and subtlety of racist beliefs in American life. Thus, instead of assuming that racist sentiments are expressed as prejudice, I explore an alternative: Racism can mean culturally sanctioned beliefs which, regardless of the intentions involved, defend the advantages whites have because of the subordinated position of racial minorities. Viewed through these lenses, racism need not be restricted to the obvious hostilities expressed by bigots, nor found solely among the ranks of lower- and working-class people. It is seen to be more pervasive, existing throughout the American class structure.

I am suggesting that racism is much more subtle, elusive, and widespread than sociologists have acknowledged. Part of the reason they have been unable to see racism in this light is conceptual: They have not “looked” for these expressions of it. The other part is methodological: Traditional instruments used by sociologists in large-scale surveys are not yet sensitive to these manifestations of racism. The structured questions asked in highly systematic research designs also assume a great deal of knowledge about the subject before the questions are posed. Since we know relatively little about that face of racism that I am exploring, traditional sociological methodologies are not much help; in fact they probably get in the way of understanding.