Sociology in general, and the sociology of education area in particular, must get a better grasp on the fact that the demographics of race, ethnicity, and social class are far more complex than the black–white or brown–white binaries of the recent past. In this article, I consider several manifestations of the emergent contemporary color lines that require innovative research designs, qualitative as well as quantitative data collection, and vigorous policy analyses by sociologists of education. The color line, how we think about it, and how we take it into account in our analyses are all pertinent and pressing issues especially as we consider the changing demographics of the student population; the definitional fluidity of core concepts like minority, diversity, and segregation; the current resegregation of public education by race, ethnic, linguistic status, and family income; and the relationship of the latter to educational outcomes across the life course.
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