The Science of Racism - Books.Infosec.Exchange

352 pages

English language

Published by Pan Macmillan.

ISBN:: 978-1-0350-3065-1
Goodreads:: 224034789

Polls show that if you ask the average person even the most basic question - ''Does racism still exist?'' - half the population will say that it does, while the other half will say that it doesn''t. Despite increasingly vocal and polarized opinions on both traditional and social media platforms, as a society we have no more clarity about racism than we did a generation ago. In the ground-breaking The Science of Racism Professor Keon West cuts through the divisive anecdotes and rhetoric with decades'' worth of clear, factual, rigorous, quantitative science, to reveal truths about racism that are shocking and tragic, but also (somehow) funny and entertaining. He explains how we know, for example, that Black people are up to 50 per cent less likely to be called in to interview than identically qualified White people. He shows how we know the financial cost of selling items online while …

Polls show that if you ask the average person even the most basic question - ''Does racism still exist?'' - half the population will say that it does, while the other half will say that it doesn''t. Despite increasingly vocal and polarized opinions on both traditional and social media platforms, as a society we have no more clarity about racism than we did a generation ago. In the ground-breaking The Science of Racism Professor Keon West cuts through the divisive anecdotes and rhetoric with decades'' worth of clear, factual, rigorous, quantitative science, to reveal truths about racism that are shocking and tragic, but also (somehow) funny and entertaining. He explains how we know, for example, that Black people are up to 50 per cent less likely to be called in to interview than identically qualified White people. He shows how we know the financial cost of selling items online while Black. He reveals the effects of racism on our friendships, relationships, healthcare and justice system. And he exposes the continued prevalence of racism, and the inadequacy of many attempts to address it. Whatever you''ve read before, this book will ensure that you never see racism in quite the same way again.

2 editions

Ben Waber reviewed The Science of Racism by Keon West

A Good Introduction to How Racism Persists

4 stars

This is very much a popular introduction to the scientific literature around racism in the US and UK - it's different instantiations, why anecdotes tell you nothing, and how to differentiate scientific claims from bunk. If you're already familiar with the literature there's not going to be a lot new here, but West does a great job synthesizing different strands of research in a single, accessible volume (albeit one with a psychological lens). I didn't like that you have to get 2/3 through the book before West brings up, briefly, that race is a social construct. I also think some historical context for these biases would be helpful. When he does bring in history it's often revelatory - especially relevant today is how the UK's skills based immigration system was explicitly designed to exclude non-white people. Overall, this is an incisive rejoinder to people who claim that racism is in …

This is very much a popular introduction to the scientific literature around racism in the US and UK - it's different instantiations, why anecdotes tell you nothing, and how to differentiate scientific claims from bunk. If you're already familiar with the literature there's not going to be a lot new here, but West does a great job synthesizing different strands of research in a single, accessible volume (albeit one with a psychological lens). I didn't like that you have to get 2/3 through the book before West brings up, briefly, that race is a social construct. I also think some historical context for these biases would be helpful. When he does bring in history it's often revelatory - especially relevant today is how the UK's skills based immigration system was explicitly designed to exclude non-white people. Overall, this is an incisive rejoinder to people who claim that racism is in the past and provides many jumping off points for further reading. Highly recommend

Ben Waber

rated it

September 24

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