Race and Racism: A Decolonial Approach

Race and Racism: A Decolonial Approach argues that the topics of race and racism need a decolonial framing if we are to understand their genealogy in the modern world, and explores their current iterations and the path forward. The chapters develop this argument in three ways. Chapter One presents an account of racialized identities that foreground their essentially historical nature as created through the shared experiences and collective actions of both elite and non-elite groups. Overcoming racial oppression cannot, then, occur simply by a change in policies, but only through new collective experiences of peaceful and just forms of collaborative cohabitation. Chapter Two argues for an expanded focus on cultural racism over individual attitudinal forms. Cultural racism focuses on, and ranks, peoples, and uses this to justify global inequalities and injustices. In truth, all modern cultures, including the West, are the product of transculturation at every level, not only affecting their music and language but also their sciences and political institutions. Cultural supremacy is thus a myth, and cultural ranking an impossibility. It remains vital to engage in criticism and debate over specific ideas and practices, but these discussions are often marred and made ineffective by cultural racism. Chapter Three dissects the current crisis of white identity that is energizing the far right on both sides of the Atlantic, with a focus on migrants as the source of nearly every social problem. The move to ethno-nationalism can only be forestalled by directly addressing the Replacement Theory and the difficult implications of colonialism's continuing effects on global relations. White identities have been based in false histories about the modern era, yet the truly varied experiences of whites are not well represented in the myths that grounded racial supremacy. If we face the truth about our histories, and understand them with more accuracy and nuance, we can formulate a way forward in unity.