Possible Racial Futures

Abstract

The preceding chapters have addressed the question whether American society has become post-racial. This is an important question because the country’s racial history has undermined the claims it has made about itself. By this I mean that the United States has seen itself as an open, democratic society in which hard work can bring a comfortable life and the promise of such a life for one’s children. This is the American dream. Conceptually speaking, race is external to this dream because the principle that rewards should be unequally distributed according to phenotype is an exclusive one. The American dream, on the other hand, is meant to be inclusive. In reality, racial exclusivity has often trumped democracy, thereby — though, sometimes, with difficulty — shaping the American dream around white Americans, while excluding minorities.