The Raceless Antiracist
The Raceless Antiracist
"The Raceless Antiracist is a scholarly yet down-to-earth deep dive into the most vexing issue of our time. It is universally acknowledged that color-coded human races are an illusion and that racism is a highly destructive problem. Yet race is used universally all day, every day. The illusion of race is almost always used in strategies to resolve the difficulties racism creates. The Raceless Antiracist shows the way out of the maze. I am tempted to call it a masterwork. However, it seems that Dr. Mason's masterwork is ever in process and developing on a practical, empirical, and interpersonal level. The book should be required reading for all educators, activists, politicians, and anyone interested in justice and global harmony."
—Arnett Duncan, EdD, Executive Director, Kweli Educational Enterprises, Inc.
About the Book
Many scholars and activists argue that the practice of racialization and belief in race are necessary because even if race is not real, racism is. While such an approach might help lessen some effects of racism, it inevitably strengthens the very foundation of racism. As Sheena Michele Mason argues in The Raceless Antiracist, fighting racism by ignoring or upholding the idea of race and practice of racialization is like trying to stop a flood by dousing it with water. To end racism, particularly antiblack racism, we must question, acknowledge, and translate race as an integral part of racism itself. In presenting her case for charting a future without racism, Mason weaves insights from philosophy, sociology, statistics, biology, history, and literary studies. She presents a map, which she refers to as the "togetherness wayfinder," for how to discuss, teach, identify, and stop the causes and effects of racism without hardening any of its components. With this guide, we can end the idea of race and practice of racialization and finally start to more effectively navigate toward a post-racist world.
About the Author
Sheena Michele Mason is an assistant professor of English at SUNY Oneonta. She holds a Ph.D. with distinction in English from Howard University in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., and specializes in Africana and American literature studies and philosophy of race. She is the founder of Togetherness Wayfinder, an educational firm.
Details
ISBN: 9781634312523
Format: paperback
SRP: $17.95
Page count: 256 pages
Trim size: 6 x 9
Pub date: October 2024
More Praise
"One of the most important books of the twenty-first century. A challenge to racists and antiracists, the colorblind and color-conscious, 'woke' and 'anti-woke' alike, The Raceless Antiracist is the solution to social division we've been waiting for. Dr. Sheena Michele Mason expertly guides us toward finally shedding the pernicious fiction of race, recognizing our common humanity, and realizing our true potential—together."
—Angel Eduardo, Senior Writer, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and Board Chair, Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism"The concept of race is itself a tool of oppression, and celebrating it, however well-intentioned, is promoting the white supremacist project. The Raceless Antiracist is a wonderfully clear and accessible guide and call to arms, explaining why it is that if we want to get rid of racism, we've got to get rid of race, and charting the way forward to a truly post-racist world."
—David Livingstone Smith, author of Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization"Dr. Sheena Michele Mason has penned a moving and courageous elegy to an age-worn belief and custom-the noxious notion and practice of race as a scientific reality. Mason argues that if we are ever to progress as a species, we must rid ourselves of the hidebound notion of race and its concomitant pseudoscientific methodologies that consign all to a more limited humanity. Mason ushers in shimmering new possibilities of collaboration, communion, and collective care."
—Hoda Mahmoudi, Research Professor and Chair, The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace, University of Maryland, College Park"Sheena Michele Mason is a timely and refreshing voice in the antiracist soundscape. The Raceless Antiracist, at once descriptive and didactic, educates and even invites its readers to a more nuanced, honest look at the inner workings of what we'd otherwise call 'race.' The sooner the togetherness wayfinder makes its way into graduate seminars, journal articles, academic books, popular press, and public discourse . . . the better!"
—Russell Galloway, Graduate Teaching Assistant, PhD Student, University of Alabama"The Raceless Antiracist is a vital and timely intervention in a world suffering from a crisis of equitable solutions to the extreme challenges we face. Sheena Michele Mason's togetherness wayfinder charts a path toward addressing the inequities and damages of racism while simultaneously emphasizing the positive power of our collective humanity to come together for our future and future generations. Pursuing and committing to the sincere social justice the wayfinder can facilitate is about actually sustaining the conditions for our survival and the survival of all biological life on the earth.”
—Virginia Kennedy, Adjunct Lecturer, SUNY Oneonta
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