While there are numerous studies of racism and racial inequality at the macro-level of analysis, there has been little work done on the experience of everyday racism for black people. Philomena Essed′s brilliant work fills this gap. This landmark volume compares contemporary racism in the United States and the Netherlands through in-depth interview data from more than 2,000 experiences of black women. As an interdisciplinary analysis of gendered social constructions of racism, it breaks new ground. Essed problematizes and reinterprets many of the meanings and everyday practices that the majority of society has come to take for granted. She addresses crucial but largely neglected dimensions of racism: How is racism experienced in everyday situations? How do black women recognize covert expressions of racism? What knowledge of racism do black women have, and how is this knowledge acquired? How do they challenge racism in everyday life? To answer these questions, over two thousand experiences of black women are analyzed within a theoretical framework that integrates the disciplines of macro- and micro-sociology, social psychology, discourse analysis, race relations theory, and women′s studies. Samples include only black women with higher education. Many of their experiences of racism involve the "elite" among the dominant group. The book seriously challenges both the notion of Dutch tolerance and the idea that U.S. racism is a problem of the past. With this concept in mind, Understanding Everyday Racism is urgent reading. Essed′s volume represents a landmark in the study of race and ethnicity and will interest researchers, lecturers, students, and professionals of discourse analysis, policy and women′s studies, sociology, psychology, management, psychotherapy, and qualitative methodology. "Without getting bogged down in nit-picking about the definition of racism, the author has succeeded in presenting the true face of racism and has investigated the sociology and psychology of racism. A marvellously subtle and skillful report of everyday racism." --Counselling Psychology Quarterly "In this provocative book, Philomena Essed weaves insights from psychology, sociology, discourse analysis, and women′s studies into an original and important new theoretical framework. She combines a phenomenological approach of describing the experiences of individuals with a structural account of inequality." --Contemporary Psychology "Racism remains a contested concept in both popular and scholarly discourse. Typically unaware of the extent of institutionalized racism, whites generally deny that racism exists. People of color typically see things differently and interpret the dominant group perspective as insensitive and insincere. Philomena Essed′s groundbreaking volume, Understanding Everyday Racism tackles this ambiguity surrounding both popular and scholarly interpretations of racism and sheds considerable light on the difference between dominant and subordinate group views. . . . Essed′s volume makes an extremely important and unique contribution to our understanding of contemporary racism." --Contemporary Sociology

Table of Contents:
PART ONE: TOWARDS AN INTEGRATION OF MACRO AND MICRO DIMENSIONS OF RACISM Racism Today The Social-political Context The Netherlands Some Notes on Contemporary Racism in the US Women and Racism Black Women with Higher Education Conceptualizing Racism as a Process Racism A Working Definition The Notion of Everyday Racism PART TWO: METHODOLOGICAL QUESTIONS Introduction Methodology within Methodology Accounts The Interviewees Interviewing Method of Analysis PART THREE: KNOWLEDGE AND COMPREHENSION OF EVERYDAY RACISM Introduction General Knowledge and Scenarios of Racism Comprehending Racism Subjective and Objective Assessments of the Comprehension of Racist Events A Procedure for the Assessment of Racist Events Assessing Real-life Explanations of `Unfair Treatment′ Relating Cognitive to Social Processes of Understanding The Acquisition of Knowledge of Racism Reconstructing Black Women′s General Knowledge of Racism PART FOUR: ANALYZING ACCOUNTS OF RACISM Introduction Analyzing Accounts of Racism Knowledge About Racism as an Evaluative Category in Verbal Accounts Heuristics, Interpretations and Evaluations in Reconstructions of Racist Events Racist Complications in Job Applications What happened? Examples of Real-life Accounts Conclusions PART FIVE: THE INTEGRATION OF RACISM IN EVERYDAY LIFE: THE STORY OF ROSA N. Introduction Rosa N. A Fragmentary Representation of Everyday Racism The Process of Everyday Racism in the Experience of Rosa N. The Macro Context of Experiences of Racism Conclusions Rosa N. and the Shared Experience of Racism PART SIX: THE STRUCTURE OF EVERYDAY RACISM Racism as Conflict Maintaining Process Hidden Agendas The Dominations of Euro-American Values The Basic Agenda Perpetuation of Exclusion and Subordination The Agenda of the Agenda Problematizing those who Problematize Racism The Structure of Everyday Racism CONCLUSIONS APPENDICES Appendix 1. Interview Guide Appendix 2. General Statements about Racism Appendix 3. `Rosa N. File′