Acting White?: Rethinking Race in Post-Racial America

In Acting White, Devon Carbado and Mitu Gulati argue that that racial judgments are based not just on phenotypic skin color differences but on performative differences-how a person conforms to behavior stereotypically associated with a certain race. In other words, we judge people based not only on the color of their skin but on the content of their identity performance. More specifically, we judge them on their racial performance: how they dress and styletheir hair, their institutional affiliations, who they date and/or marry, where they live, how they speak, and their overall mannerisms and demeanor. They close by proposing effective legal remedies for this pervasive and subtle prejudice, which plays a significant role in perpetuating racial inequality inAmerica.