White Race Discourse

"In White Race Discourse: Preserving Racial Privilege in a Post-Racial Society, John D. Foster examines the numerous contradictions sixty-one white college students exhibit as they discuss a variety of race matters. Foster demonstrates that the whites interviewed possess a sophisticated method of communication to come across as ambivalent, tolerant, and innocent, while simultaneously expressing their intolerance, fear, and suspicion of nonwhite Americans. Whether intended or not, this ambivalence assists in efforts to preserve social inequities while failing to address racial injustices. This book exposes an important way in which racism is reproduced in U.S. society. ... White Race Discourse presents evidence that these white Americans are 'bureaucrats of whiteness' in that they defend the racial status quo through their discourse."--From publisher description.