What are the implications of the social constructionist insight about race for the
political struggle against racism? This question has sparked a vigorous
cross-disciplinary debate. At issue is whether the struggle to contain the damage
done by racism is best served by rejecting the concept of race altogether,
rehabilitating it, or partially dismantling it. I aim to accomplish three tasks
here. The first is to provide a much-needed overview of this debate about race and
essentialism. Second, I advance a critique of this debate, arguing that the main
participants in this debate commit a shared error: they implicitly advance a binary
white/non-white framework that falsely homogenizes the experiences of non-white
groups and obscures the fact that differential racialization processes have
generated a complex structure of multiple group positions in American society.
Finally, I conclude by considering what strategies progressive scholars might employ
in challenging the differential positioning of racialized groups.
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