Employment discrimination, far from being an exceptional event, may occur quite frequently. It persists as a fact of life, less the product of evil intention than a residual effect of social history. While the insult to human dignity may be greater when prejudice is more old-fashioned and explicit, the economic consequences to the victims of discrimination are the same. Scholars are integrating this insight into their work at the same time that the organization of work itself is changing, and with it the opportunities for discriminating and resisting discrimination. Thus, the work of ending employment discrimination is changing rather than ending. This ground-breaking study of the inner workings of workplace discrimination honors the pioneering work of the late David Charny. Drawing on recent insights in such disciplines as social psychology and neuroscience, fifteen distinguished legal scholars explore the implications of these and other findings for various areas of employment policy and activity, including: affirmative action; sexual harassment; diversity policy; antidiscrimination liability schema; best practices and initiatives; the ecology of the workplace; and, employment discrimination litigation. The insightful contributions, often discomforting and even startling, offer valuable insights and sometimes workable solutions to the deep problems of stereotyping, bias, prejudice, and discrimination that continue to plague today's workplaces. The volume will be welcomed by anyone, academic or practitioner, committed to checking and halting the corrosive effects of workplace discrimination on our social fabric.

What does it mean to "act black" or "act white"? Is race merely a matter of phenotype, or does it come from the inflection of a person's speech, the clothes in her closet, how she chooses to spend her time and with whom she chooses to spend it? What does it mean to be "really" black, and who gets to make that judgment? In Acting White?, leading scholars of race and the law Devon Carbado and Mitu Gulati argue that, in spite of decades of racial progress and the pervasiveness of multicultural rhetoric, racial judgments are often based not just on skin color, but on how a person conforms to behavior stereotypically associated with a certain race. Specifically, racial minorities are judged on how they "perform" their race. This performance pervades every aspect of their daily life, whether it's the clothes they wear, the way they style their hair, the institutions with which they affiliate, their racial politics, the people they befriend, date or marry, where they live, how they speak, and their outward mannerisms and demeanor. Employing these cues, decision-makers decide not simply whether a person is black but the degree to which she or he is so. Relying on numerous examples from the workplace, higher education, and police interactions, the authors demonstrate that, for African Americans, the costs of "acting black" are high, and so are the pressures to "act white." But, as the authors point out, "acting white" has costs as well. Provocative yet never doctrinaire, Acting White? will boldly challenge your assumptions and make you think about racial prejudice from a fresh vantage point.

In Acting White, Devon Carbado and Mitu Gulati argue that racial judgments are often based not just on skin color, but on how a person conforms to behavior stereotypically associated with a certain race. Specifically, people judge racial minorities on how they "perform" their race. That includes the clothes they wear, how they style their hair, the institutions with which they affiliate, their racial politics, the people they befriend, date or marry, where they live, how they speak, and their outward mannerisms and demeanor. Employing these cues, decision-makers decide not simply whether a person is black but the degree to which she or he is so. Relying on numerous examples from the workplace, higher education, and police interactions, the authors demonstrate that, for African Americans, the costs of "acting black" are high. This creates pressures for blacks to "act white." But, as the authors point out, "acting white" has costs as well. Written in an easy style that is non-doctrinaire and provocative, the book makes complex concepts both accessible and interesting. Whether you agree and disagree with Acting White, the book will challenge your assumptions and make you think about racial prejudice from a fresh vantage point.