Thinking Race: Social Myths and Biological Realities

Thinking Race argues that racism results from a misguided blending of biological facts with pernicious socially constructed ideas. This book aims to help readers accept the reality of human difference while understanding human unity.

The esteemed author team of Richard A. Goldsby, a biologist, and Mary Catherine Bateson, an anthropologist, recognize race as primarily socially constructed but also having biological reality. They argue that misunderstanding the nature of race stands in the way of addressing and solving the problems of our current racial climate. The book addresses controversial subjects, exploring whether or not race-associated biological differences are differences that might impact mental ability, medical practice, or athletic performance. Because the black/white divide is a dominant and continuing theme of U.S. history and culture, the book devotes a good deal of attention to these groups, while also covering Native Americans and Asian Americans.

Thinking Race provides a thoughtful and nuanced case for viewing race as a cultural play in an ancestral theater. This perspective, anthropological and biological, will build a framework for thinking about race and provide conceptual tools for better understanding and addressing this charged and often pernicious notion.