Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America

The conclusion opens with a quotation from Frederick Douglass that states there can be no progress without struggle. Bonilla-Silva returns to addressing the reader directly, writing that you (the reader) have become validated by, angry over, or confused by the book. Readers of color will likely recognize the color-blind framings discussed in the book and feel vindicated and (he hopes) now have the tools to explain the way they feel. Many white readers, though, will hate the book because they believe he has called them racist. They will read this book as another example of “political correctness” gone too far (or, given the parlance of the last couple years, they will say this book is too “woke”) (357). But he hopes that most white readers who finish the book will feel confused and possibly a little ashamed. They may understand and agree with his arguments but have not yet properly made total sense of them and still feel a little targeted. As such, this last chapter is addressed to white readers who are angry or confused by the book. He notes again that his project is not about identifying individual racists, but he recognizes that any group in power (men in a patriarchy, the wealthy in capitalism) will feel attacked by challenges to the power structure.