Why does the idea of race continue to exert so much influence in the United States? Because the skin colors and other physical features used to define race were selected precisely because they mirror the country's socioeconomic pecking order.
References
1.
DavisDavid Brion. Challenging the Boundaries of Slavery (Harvard University Press, 2001). A historical account of the relation between race and slavery.
2.
FeaginJoe R.SikesMelvin P.. Living with Racism: The Black Middle-Class Experience (Beacon, 1994). Documents continuing discrimination against middle- and upper-middle-class African Americans.
3.
FieldsBarbara Jeanne. “Slavery, Race and Ideology in the United States of America.”New Left Review181 (May/June 1990): 95–118. A provocative analysis of the relations between class and race.
4.
HarrisMarvin. “How Our Skins Got Their Color.” In Who We Are, Where We Came From, and Where We Are Going (HarperCollins, 1989). An anthropologist explains the origins of different skin colors.
5.
LeeJenniferBeanFrank D.. “Beyond Black and White: Remaking Race in America.”Contexts (Summer 2003): 26–33. A concise analysis of changing perceptions and realities of race in America.
