The science on race is clear. Common categories like “Black,” “white,” and “Asian” do not represent genetic differences among groups. But if race is a pernicious fiction according to natural science, it is all too significant in the day-to-day lives of racialized people across the globe. Inequities in health, wealth, and an array of other life outcomes cannot be explained without referring to “race”—but their true source is racism. What do we need to know about the pseudoscience of race in order to fight racism and fulfill human potential?

In this book, two distinguished scientists tackle common misconceptions about race, human biology, and racism. Using an accessible question-and-answer format, Joseph L. Graves Jr. and Alan H. Goodman explain the differences between social and biological notions of race. Although there are many meaningful human genetic variations, they do not map onto socially constructed racial categories. Drawing on evidence from both natural and social science, Graves and Goodman dismantle the malignant myth of gene-based racial difference. They demonstrate that the ideology of racism created races and show why the inequalities ascribed to race are in fact caused by racism.

Graves and Goodman provide persuasive and timely answers to key questions about race and racism for a moment when people of all backgrounds are striving for social justice. Racism, Not Race shows readers why antiracist principles are both just and backed by sound science.

"Named a Best Nonfiction Book of the Year and One of the Best Books About Being Black in America for 2021" - Kirkus Reviews

"An entertaining and informative read that will serve as a jumping-off point for countless discussions about racism." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Brings a new angle and an accessible approach to the ongoing reckoning with race in America." - Publishers Weekly

"Joseph Graves Jr and Alan Goodman explain why race isn’t a biological fact and ponder why society continues to act as if it is." - New Scientist

"Racism and white supremacy are killing people every day, harming society at large, and fostering deep injustice. Graves and Goodman demonstrate why antiracism is not just an ethical and scientifically correct position, but why it is also necessary for the future of science and society." - Science

"Racism, Not Race is definitely the type of book we need." - Kara Reviews

"It is a testament to the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, and drives home the point that dissociating human variation from race, arguably one of the twentieth-century’s greatest scientific achievements, has been a multi-disciplinary task." - Ethnic and Racial Studies

"It could not be easier to use if it was an audiobook that read itself to you." - Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud

"Given the significance of the information it conveys and the approachability of the writing, every biology educator will benefit from reading this book and sharing its ideas with students...an indispensable tool for our biology classrooms." - American Biology Teacher

"An excellent introduction to race and racism for both students and a general audience." - The Quarterly Review of Biology