Eduardo Bonilla-Silva

Last updated
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
Born (1962-02-06) February 6, 1962 (age 62)
Education University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras (BA)
University of Wisconsin, Madison (MA, PhD)
Known for Systemic racism and racial "colorblindness" in the United States
SpouseMary Hovsepian
Children1
Scientific career
Fields Sociology
Institutions Duke University
Thesis Squatters, Politics, and State Responses: The Political Economy of Squatters in Puerto Rico, 1900–1992  (1993)
Doctoral advisor Charles Camic

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (born February 6, 1962 [1] ) is an American sociologist and professor of sociology at Duke University. He was the 2018 president of the American Sociological Association. [2]

Contents

Early influences

Bonilla-Silva was educated in Puerto Rico, where he double majored in Sociology and Economics. In his work White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-civil Rights Era, he says: "Myriam Muniz, Arturo Torrecillas, Carlos Buitrago, Juan Jose Baldrich, Carlos Ramos [...] shaped my sociological imagination." [3] Bonilla-Silva has stated that Jose A. Padin and Charles Camic were two mentors who influenced his development as a sociologist. [3]

As an early sociologist, Bonilla-Silva was focused on Marxist ideas. [4] He learned this from his mentor, Arturo Torrecillas. Torrecillas served as a professor of the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Bonilla-Silva's undergraduate university. [5]

Family and early life

Born in Pennsylvania, [6] Silva grew up in a family of intellectuals. His father, Jacinto Bonilla, [6] was a university lecturer and his mother, Ruth Maria Silva, [3] was a sociologist, like her son.

Bonilla-Silva married Mary Hovsepian [6] He has a son named Omar Francisco Bonilla from a previous marriage. [3]

Education and career

Bonilla-Silva received his BA in sociology and economics from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, in 1984, and his MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1987 and 1993, respectively. He taught at the University of Michigan from 1993–1998 and at Texas A&M University from 1998 to 2005, after which he joined the Duke faculty. [7]

Work and views

Bonilla-Silva is known for researching the role of race in public life. [8] In 2003, he published the book Racism Without Racists: Colorblind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States , which discusses his view that systemic racism is a major problem in the United States, despite the fact that Americans do not do or say something overtly racist on a regular basis. As of 2014, it was his best-selling book. [9] He has said that systemic racism in the United States did not disappear in the 1970s, as many Americans believe, but merely became less overt and harder to identify. [10] [11] He has also blamed the fact that formerly all-white colleges in the United States did not change their curriculum or culture after integrating for racist incidents re-occurring on the campuses of these colleges. He has described these colleges as "historically white", [12] and has said that this problem is not one of bad apples, but that it may be one of the entire apple tree. [11]

In October 2017, Bonilla-Silva criticized Supreme Court Justice John Roberts for referring to social science as "sociological gobbledygook." [13]

Publications and evolution of sociological views

In both his personal life and as a student, Bonilla-Silva encountered many influences. His professors, friends, coworkers, and eventually his own students all impacted his growth and development as a sociologist. As a student, he was influenced by Marxist teachings. [14] However, he changed his focus soon as he learned and encountered racial prejudice and felt a calling to deal with the racism in the United States. This is evidenced by the explosion of published literature centering the structure of race in society and its influence on people.

In one of his earliest literature, Bonilla-Silva suggested a "structural" understanding of racism, a relatively unexplored and revolutionary way of approaching this idea. This was shown in his work Rethinking racism: Toward a structural interpretation. [15] This work was done near the end of his time while the scholar was at the University of Michigan, before he started working at Texas A&M University. [7]

As Bonilla-Silva continued to expand the boundaries of the understanding of racism, his literature reflected these new findings. Examples include:

Awards

Bonilla-Silva received the 2011 Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award from the American Sociological Association (ASA). [24] In 2009, he and Tukufu Zuberi both received the Oliver C. Cox Award from the ASA's Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities for their book White Logic, White Methods: Racism and Methodology. [25]

Related Research Articles

Racism is discrimination and prejudice against people based on their race or ethnicity. Racism can be present in social actions, practices, or political systems that support the expression of prejudice or aversion in discriminatory practices. The ideology underlying racist practices often assumes that humans can be subdivided into distinct groups that are different in their social behavior and innate capacities and that can be ranked as inferior or superior. Racist ideology can become manifest in many aspects of social life. Associated social actions may include nativism, xenophobia, otherness, segregation, hierarchical ranking, supremacism, and related social phenomena. Racism refers to violation of racial equality based on equal opportunities or based on equality of outcomes for different races or ethnicities, also called substantive equality.

Racial color blindness refers to the belief that a person's race or ethnicity should not influence their legal or social treatment in society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Sociological Association</span> Non-profit organization

The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fifty people, the first president of the association would be Lester Frank Ward. Today, most of its members work in academia, while around 20 percent of them work in government, business, or non-profit organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public sociology</span> Subfield of sociology

Public sociology is a subfield of the wider sociological discipline that emphasizes expanding the disciplinary boundaries of sociology in order to engage with non-academic audiences. It is perhaps best understood as a style of sociology rather than a particular method, theory, or set of political values. Since the twenty-first century, the term has been widely associated with University of California, Berkeley sociologist Michael Burawoy, who delivered an impassioned call for a disciplinary embrace of public sociology in his 2004 American Sociological Association (ASA) presidential address. In his address, Burawoy contrasts public sociology with what he terms "professional sociology", a form of sociology that is concerned primarily with addressing other academic sociologists.

Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic field focused on the relationships between social conceptions of race and ethnicity, social and political laws, and media. CRT also considers racism to be systemic in various laws and rules, not based only on individuals' prejudices. The word critical in the name is an academic reference to critical theory rather than criticizing or blaming individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tukufu Zuberi</span> American sociologist (born 1959)

Tukufu Zuberi is an American sociologist, filmmaker, social critic, educator, and writer. Zuberi has appeared in several documentaries on Africa and the African diaspora, including Liberia: America's Stepchild (2002), and 500 Years Later (2005). He is one of the hosts of the long-running PBS program History Detectives. As founder of his own production company, he produced the film African Independence, which premiered at the San Diego Black Film Festival in January 2013. He is the Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations, professor and chair of the sociology department, and professor of Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Reverse racism, sometimes referred to as reverse discrimination, is the concept that affirmative action and similar color-conscious programs for redressing racial inequality are forms of anti-white racism. The concept is often associated with conservative social movements, and reflects a belief that social and economic gains by Black people and other people of color cause disadvantages for white people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">France Winddance Twine</span> Native American ethnographer

France Winddance Twine is a Black and Native American sociologist, ethnographer, visual artist, and documentary filmmaker. Twine has conducted field research in Brazil, the UK, and the United States on race, racism, and anti-racism. She has published 11 books and more than 100 articles, review essays, and books on these topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Feagin</span> American sociologist

Joe Richard Feagin is an American sociologist and social theorist who has conducted extensive research on racial and gender issues in the United States. He is currently the Ella C. McFadden Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University.

Laissez-faire racism is closely related to color blindness and covert racism, and is theorised to encompass an ideology that blames minorities for their poorer economic situations, viewing it as the result of cultural inferiority. The term is used largely by scholars of whiteness studies, who argue that laissez-faire racism has tangible consequences even though few would openly claim to be, or even believe they are, laissez-faire racists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sociology of race and ethnic relations</span> Field of study

The sociology of race and ethnic relations is the study of social, political, and economic relations between races and ethnicities at all levels of society. This area encompasses the study of systemic racism, like residential segregation and other complex social processes between different racial and ethnic groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Race relations</span> Sociological concept of relationship between races

Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the United Kingdom. As a sociological field, race relations attempts to explain how racial groups relate to each other. These relations vary depending on historical, social, and cultural context. The term is used in a generic way to designate race related interactions, dynamics, and issues.

Donald Trump, the president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, has a history of speech and actions that have been viewed by scholars and the public as racist or sympathetic to White supremacy. Journalists, friends, family, and former employees have accused him of fueling racism in the United States. Trump has repeatedly denied accusations of racism.

<i>Racism without Racists</i> 2003 book about color-blind racism

Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States is a book about color-blind racism in the United States by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, a sociology professor at Duke University. It was originally published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2003, and has since been re-published four times, most recently in June 2017. The fourth edition was published soon after Barack Obama's election, and includes a new chapter on what Bonilla-Silva calls "the new racism". It was reviewed favorably in Science & Society, Urban Education, Educational Studies, and Multicultural Perspectives.

The W.E.B. Du Bois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award is given annually by the American Sociological Association to a scholar among its members, whose cumulative body of work constitutes a significant contribution to the advancement of sociology. Formerly called simply the Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award, the award was renamed in 2006 to honor pioneering American sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois.

Matthew Windust Hughey is an American sociologist known for his work on race and racism. He is Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut, where he is also an adjunct faculty member in the Africana Studies Institute; American Studies Program; Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, & Policy; Sustainable Global Cities Initiative, and; graduate certificate program in Indigeneity, Race, Ethnicity, & Politics. His work has included studying whiteness, race and media, race and politics, racism and racial assumptions within genetic and genomic science, and racism and racial identity in white and black American fraternities and sororities.

<i>Racism in a Racial Democracy</i> 1997 book by France Winddance Twine

Racism in a Racial Democracy: The Maintenance of White Supremacy in Brazil is a book by anthropologist France Winddance Twine published by Rutgers University Press in 1997.

Gilda Laura Ochoa is an American sociologist and professor. She is Professor of Chicana/o-Latina/o studies at Pomona College in the United States, and the author of Academic Profiling: Latinos, Asian Americans, and the Achievement Gap.

Adia Harvey Wingfield is a professor of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis and the 2018 President of Sociologists for Women in Society. She is the author of several books, including No More Invisible Man: Race and Gender in Men's Work, and articles in peer-reviewed journals including Social Problems, Gender & Society, and Ethnic and Racial Studies. She has lectured internationally on her research.

White habitus is a pattern of socialization among white people that excludes black people and their culture, created as a result of racial segregation.

References

  1. "Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo 1962-". Contemporary Authors. Gale. 2009.
  2. "Duke University Professor Elected President of the American Sociological Association" (Press release). American Sociological Association. 2016-10-12.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo (2001). White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-civil Rights Era. Lynne Rienner Publishers. pp. vii. ISBN   978-1-58826-032-1.
  4. Embrick, David (September 2017). "Introducing Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, 2018 ASA President". www.asanet.org. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  5. Mario, Morales (February 25, 2011). "Arturo Torrecilla disecciona el dilema de los profesores". www.80grados.net. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo 1962-". Contemporary Authors. Gale. 2009.
  7. 1 2 "Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Ph.D." Center on Race and Social Problems, University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  8. Ross, Janell (18 July 2016). "A majority of Americans — white and black — agree that race relations are bad and getting worse". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  9. Large, Jerry (21 September 2014). "Fighting a quiet, nearly invisible brand of systematic racism". Seattle Times. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  10. Shekhtman, Lonnie (25 November 2015). "Is there more racism in the US, or are we just more candid about it?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  11. 1 2 Shoichet, Catherine (24 November 2015). "Is racism on the rise? More in U.S. say it's a 'big problem,' CNN/KFF poll finds". CNN. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  12. Alcindor, Yamiche (11 November 2015). "University of Missouri unrest a signal for other schools, experts say". USA Today. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  13. Flaherty, Colleen (October 12, 2017). "Sociology's 'Mic Drop' Moment". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  14. Embrick, David (September 2017). "Introducing Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, 2018 ASA President". www.asanet.org. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  15. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo (1997). "Rethinking Racism: Toward a Structural Interpretation". American Sociological Review. 62 (3): 465–480. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.618.2918 . doi:10.2307/2657316. JSTOR   2657316.
  16. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo (2014). Racism without Racists. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN   978-1-4422-2054-6.
  17. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo (2017-05-01). "What We Were, What We Are, and What We Should Be: The Racial Problem of American Sociology". Social Problems. 64 (2): 179–187. doi:10.1093/socpro/spx006. ISSN   0037-7791.
  18. "Duke University Professor Elected President of the American Sociological Association" (Press release). American Sociological Association. 2016-10-12.
  19. 1 2 "The new racism: The racial regime of post-civil rights America | Scholars@Duke". scholars.duke.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  20. "Introduction: Examining, debating, and ranting about the Obama phenomenon | Scholars@Duke". scholars.duke.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  21. "The invisible weight of whiteness: the racial grammar of everyday life in contemporary America | Scholars@Duke". scholars.duke.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  22. "The last shall be first: Best Books in the Race Field Since 2000 | Scholars@Duke". scholars.duke.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  23. "The 2008 Elections and the Future of Anti-racism in 21st Century Amerika Or How We Got Drunk with Obama's Hope Liquor and Failed to See Reality | Scholars@Duke". scholars.duke.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  24. "Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Award Statement". American Sociological Association. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  25. "Section Awards". Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities. American Sociological Association.