Summary of Christian Smith & Michael O. Emerson's Divided by Faith

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Race is an American dilemma. It is what Swedish researcher Gunnar Myrdal called an American dilemma. It is indivisible from American life.

#2 The impact of race in America is not just seen in incidents such as the one just described, but also in the broader picture of a racialized society.

#3 To understand the racialization perspective, we must understand that race is socially constructed. While Americans are socialized from a young age into the reality of race, race as a social construct arose in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to justify the overtaking and enslaving of whole people groups.

#4 A major problem in understanding race relations in the United States is that we tend to understand race, racism, and the form of racialization as constants rather than as variables. This view has serious implications.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822500853

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on Christian Smith & Michael O. Emerson's Divided by Faith

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Race is an American dilemma. It is what Swedish researcher Gunnar Myrdal called an American dilemma. It is indivisible from American life.

#2

The impact of race in America is not just seen in incidents such as the one just described, but also in the broader picture of a racialized society.

#3

To understand the racialization perspective, we must understand that race is socially constructed. While Americans are socialized from a young age into the reality of race, race as a social construct arose in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to justify the overtaking and enslaving of whole people groups.

#4

A major problem in understanding race relations in the United States is that we tend to understand race, racism, and the form of racialization as constants rather than as variables. This view has serious implications.

#5

The framework of racialization understands that racism is not just individual, overt prejudice, but the collective misuse of power that results in diminished life opportunities for some racial groups.

#6

The American society is being reproduced through everyday actions and decisions, which are seen as normal and acceptable by white Americans.

#7

When we speak of the racialized society, we are primarily referring to the black-white divide. This divide is not only present in America, but also in other countries around the world.

#8

Income is the most common way to compare racial economic inequality, but in their book Black Wealth/White Wealth, Melvin Oliver and Thomas Shapiro argue that wealth is the more important measure.