Race Is a Four-Letter Word: The Genesis of the Concept

By C. Loring Brace

Book Overview

A tour de force work by a leading scholar, "Race" Is a Four-Letter Word explores the history of the concept of race in America, the reasons why the concept has no biological validity, and the ways in which it grew to become accepted as an idea that virtually everyone regards as self-evident. An ardent and eloquent opponent of typology, essentialism, and stereotyping, C. Loring Brace has based this engaging study on the "Problems of Race" course that he has taught at the University of Michigan for the past thirty-five years.
Opening with an explanation of why the concept of race is biologically indefensible, "Race" Is a Four-Letter Word shows how the major elements of human biological variation have unrelated distributions and cannot be understood if the existence of "races" is assumed as a starting point. The book then examines the course of events that created the concept of race, journeying through time from Herodotus through Marco Polo; to the Renaissance and the role of the New World; on up to the American Civil War, the curious results of the alliance switch in World War I, Arthur Jensen, The Bell Curve, J. Philippe Rushton, and the Pioneer Fund in the twenty-first century.
Ideal as a supplementary text in anthropology courses, "Race" Is a Four-Letter Word can also be used in history of science courses and sociology courses. It is captivating reading for professionals and anyone else who seeks enlightenment on the socially debatable issue of "race."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195173511
• ISBN13: 9780195173512
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

a good start!

This text is an explantation of the recipe for the "race" issue in the world. I was impressed by the amount of information that is included in the book (historically speaking) and enjoyed Brace's casual and sometimes funny/snide comments throughout the text but wish he was not so scatter brained. This text would have been better had it included more discussion on The Atlantic Slave Trade and its effects in the US and England and not so much on France and the French scholars/scientists/anthropologists and their influence (although discounting them would be fallacy as well). I bought this for a college course I was taking but I'm definitely not selling it back. I love it.

Excellent, comprehensive, historical review

This is an excellent book for those of you interested in the historical development of the concept of 'race', as well as having contemporary debates on race put into perspective. In particular, those offered in "the Bell Curve" and "Race, Evolution, and Behavior". That said, race is a concept that cannot be discussed coherently because it is linked to so many emotive issues that reflect personal moral and political views about the world. As reflected in many of the reviews for other books on this topic. This is perhaps one of the primary insights of this book: that many of the scientists engaged in research on 'race' and who take 'race' as a legitimate object of analysis are motivated for reasons other than the scientific pursuit of knowledge, and more in the interests of supporting views they already hold about the nature of people. That said, this is book is no exception, and is certainly on the 'left' of the spectrum. However, what is refreshing about (most) of the claims made in this book is direct way in which Brace addresses the arguments he is against, and the level of documentation he provides. Highly recommended for its depth and comprehensive coverage of the history and current status of the 'race' debate.