Comprehensive yet concise, Margaret Andersen’s Race in Society, Second Edition is a topical introduction to race and ethnicity organized around four key questions: What does the idea of race mean and where does it come from? What are the consequences of the social construction of race? How is racial inequality structured into social institutions? What are different policies and approaches for change toward racial justice? In her accessible, student-friendly style, Andersen introduces readers to the current scholarship on race, including recent studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests following the murder of George Floyd.

New to this edition:

• New coverage of the effects of COVID-19 included throughout the book, including its impact on anti-Asian racism, violent crime, racial disparities in health care, and people of color in low wage service jobs
• Expanded discussion of immigration, including US politics about immigration and national borders displays the connection between immigration and racialization
• Updated discussion of policing, police violence, and both historical and contemporary acts of vigilante “justice” against people of color
• Updated information on residential and educational segregation including new material on the racial achievement gap and the effects of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic