The Raceless Antiracist Why Ending Race Is the Future of Antiracism

Within the dusty catalog of long-discarded theories about the universe and humankind’ s place in it, one idea continues to permeate the popular imagination as much today as it did at its ignominious invention: the idea of "race." As a society, we treat the racial categories that were invented centuries ago as if they are, in truth, inescapable and permanent aspects of reality. We organize, divide, and judge people based on our belief in race— and we often define ourselves and our relationships with others based on this same belief. Many scholars and activists argue that this type of racialization is necessary because even if race is not real, racism is. While such an approach might help lessen some effects of racism, it inevitably strengthens the very foundation of racism. As Sheena Michele Mason argues in The Raceless Antiracist, fighting racism by reifying the idea of race is like trying to stop a flood by dousing it with water. To end racism, we must end the very idea of race itself, beginning with seeing ourselves and others as raceless humans who can and must stop racializing one another.

Sheena Michele Mason is an assistant professor of English at SUNY Oneonta, where she specializes in Africana literature. She is also co-founder of Theory of Racelessness, an educational firm that helps people achieve truly antiracist outcomes through racelessness, and author of The Theory of Racelessness. She holds a PhD in English literature from Howard University and lives in upstate New York.