Overview

Within the dusty catalog of long-discarded theories about the universe and humankind' s place in it, one idea continues to permeate the popular imagination as much today as it did at its ignominious invention: the idea of ""race."" As a society, we treat the racial categories that were invented centuries ago as if they are, in truth, inescapable and permanent aspects of reality. We organize, divide, and judge people based on our belief in race- and we often define ourselves and our relationships with others based on this same belief. Many scholars and activists argue that this type of racialization is necessary because even if race is not real, racism is. While such an approach might help lessen some effects of racism, it inevitably strengthens the very foundation of racism. As Sheena Michele Mason argues in The Raceless Antiracist, fighting racism by reifying the idea of race is like trying to stop a flood by dousing it with water. To end racism, we must end the very idea of race itself, beginning with seeing ourselves and others as raceless humans who can and must stop racializing one another.

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9781634312523

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Reviews

""The Raceless Antiracist shows the way out of the maze. I am tempted to call it a masterwork. However, it seems that Dr. Mason's masterwork is ever in process and developing on a practical, empirical, and interpersonal level. The book should be required reading for all educators, activists, politicians, and anyone interested in justice and global harmony."" -- Arnett Duncan. EdD, Executive Director, Kweli Educational Enterprises, Inc. ""One of the most important books of the twenty-first century. A challenge to racists and antiracists, the colorblind and color-conscious, 'woke' and 'anti-woke' alike, The Raceless Antiracist is the solution to social division we've been waiting for. Dr. Sheena Michele Mason expertly guides us toward finally shedding the pernicious fiction of race, recognizing our common humanity, and realizing our true potential--together."" -- Angel Eduardo, Senior Writer, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and Board Chair, Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism ""The concept of race is itself a tool of oppression, and celebrating it, however well-intentioned, is promoting the white supremacist project. The Raceless Antiracist is a wonderfully clear and accessible guide and call to arms, explaining why it is that if we want to get rid of racism, we've got to get rid of race, and charting the way forward to a truly post-racist world."" -- David Livingstone Smith, author of Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization ""Dr. Sheena Michele Mason has penned a moving and courageous elegy to an age-worn belief and custom-the noxious notion and practice of race as a scientific reality. Mason argues that if we are ever to progress as a species, we must rid ourselves of the hidebound notion of race and its concomitant pseudoscientific methodologies that consign all to a more limited humanity. Mason ushers in shimmering new possibilities of collaboration, communion, and collective care."" -- Hoda Mahmoudi, Research Professor and Chair, The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace, University of Maryland, College Park ""Sheena Michele Mason is a timely and refreshing voice in the antiracist soundscape. The Raceless Antiracist, at once descriptive and didactic, educates and even invites its readers to a more nuanced, honest look at the inner workings of what we'd otherwise call 'race.' The sooner the togetherness wayfinder makes its way into graduate seminars, journal articles, academic books, popular press, and public discourse . . . the better."" -- Russell Galloway, Graduate Teaching Assistant, PhD Student, University of Alabama

"""The Raceless Antiracist shows the way out of the maze. I am tempted to call it a masterwork. However, it seems that Dr. Mason's masterwork is ever in process and developing on a practical, empirical, and interpersonal level. The book should be required reading for all educators, activists, politicians, and anyone interested in justice and global harmony."" -- Arnett Duncan. EdD, Executive Director, Kweli Educational Enterprises, Inc. ""One of the most important books of the twenty-first century. A challenge to racists and antiracists, the colorblind and color-conscious, 'woke' and 'anti-woke' alike, The Raceless Antiracist is the solution to social division we've been waiting for. Dr. Sheena Michele Mason expertly guides us toward finally shedding the pernicious fiction of race, recognizing our common humanity, and realizing our true potential--together."" -- Angel Eduardo, Senior Writer, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and Board Chair, Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism ""The concept of race is itself a tool of oppression, and celebrating it, however well-intentioned, is promoting the white supremacist project. The Raceless Antiracist is a wonderfully clear and accessible guide and call to arms, explaining why it is that if we want to get rid of racism, we've got to get rid of race, and charting the way forward to a truly post-racist world."" -- David Livingstone Smith, author of Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization ""Dr. Sheena Michele Mason has penned a moving and courageous elegy to an age-worn belief and custom-the noxious notion and practice of race as a scientific reality. Mason argues that if we are ever to progress as a species, we must rid ourselves of the hidebound notion of race and its concomitant pseudoscientific methodologies that consign all to a more limited humanity. Mason ushers in shimmering new possibilities of collaboration, communion, and collective care."" -- Hoda Mahmoudi, Research Professor and Chair, The Bah�'� Chair for World Peace, University of Maryland, College Park ""Sheena Michele Mason is a timely and refreshing voice in the antiracist soundscape. The Raceless Antiracist, at once descriptive and didactic, educates and even invites its readers to a more nuanced, honest look at the inner workings of what we'd otherwise call 'race.' The sooner the togetherness wayfinder makes its way into graduate seminars, journal articles, academic books, popular press, and public discourse . . . the better."" -- Russell Galloway, Graduate Teaching Assistant, PhD Student, University of Alabama"

Author Information

Sheena Michele Mason is an assistant professor of English at SUNY Oneonta, where she specializes in Africana literature. She is also co-founder of Theory of Racelessness, an educational firm that helps people achieve truly antiracist outcomes through racelessness, and author of The Theory of Racelessness. She holds a PhD in English literature from Howard University and lives in upstate New York.

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