Racecraft

Racecraft is a work of social and historical argument by sociologist Karen E. Fields and historian Barbara J. Fields. It takes on a common assumption: that people first notice differences between groups, and racism follows from them. The authors reverse that order.

Their claim is that racism, as a practice, produces the illusion of race. They call the process racecraft. It is bound up with other forms of inequality in American life and cannot be understood apart from them.

The book looks for racecraft in American history, economic doctrine, politics and everyday thinking. These devices are so widespread that the authors hold they usually go unseen, even by people who study the subject.

The authors also address the post-racial age that was promised and has not arrived. In their view, Americans have never built a sound language for thinking and talking about inequality. They argue that this gap should concern anyone who cares about democratic institutions.

The book is a short, analytic argument rather than a narrative, written for readers who want to question how race is usually explained.