The Science of Racism: Everything you need to know but probably don't - yet

by Keon West

Polls show that if you ask the average person even the most basic question – ‘Does racism still exist?’ – half the population will say that it does, while the other half will say that it doesn’t. Despite increasingly vocal and polarized opinions on both traditional and social media platforms, as a society we have no more clarity about racism than we did a generation ago.

In the ground-breaking The Science of Racism Professor Keon West cuts through the divisive anecdotes and rhetoric with decades’ worth of clear, factual, rigorous, quantitative science, to reveal truths about racism that are shocking and tragic, but also (somehow) funny and entertaining.

He explains how we know, for example, that Black people are up to 50 per cent less likely to be called in to interview than identically qualified White people. He shows how we know the financial cost of selling items online while Black. He reveals the effects of racism on our friendships, relationships, healthcare and justice system. And he exposes the continued prevalence of racism, and the inadequacy of many attempts to address it.

Whatever you’ve read before, this book will ensure that you never see racism in quite the same way again.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Politics, Race, Psychology, Social Justice, Audiobook

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 23, 2025

About the author

Professor of Social Psychology at The University of London, and an expert on identity, prejudice, and representation.

Born in Trinidad, grew up in Jamaica, and studied in the USA and France before going to the UK as a Rhodes scholar in 2006 to do a doctorate at Oxford University.

Reviews

[Andre(Read-A-Lot) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️Heavy on the experiment and study results, but that’s to be expected in a book dealing with science, yes? What this book does well is break down the thousands of studies that have been done in efforts to parse out bias, discrimination, racism. So even though your favorite author, professor, philosopher, or friend may have an opinion about the existence or lack of existence of racism, the one thing that supersedes all that chatter is simply the SCIENCE! And the science says 🥁 “What matters, as always, is the result of rigorous, carefully controlled, expertly analysed, empirical data. And that data reliably points in the same direction: racism is, essentially, in everything. There is no aspect of life that is unaffected by it, and there are very few people (if any) who can pass through society without being touched by it in some way. Scientists don’t decide whether racial discrimination exists because one Black person says it happened to them, or because another Black person says it didn’t. We know that racial discrimination occurs because the empirical research clearly shows that it does, in almost everything, almost everywhere, almost all the time. “That is why, as Yale professor Beverly Daniel Tatum pointed out in 1999, ‘Every measurable social indicator, from salary to life expectancy to health to housing accessibility, reveals the advantages of being White.’”

That’s the SCIENCE folks, and every study reaches the same conclusion. And the strangest thing, is most people don’t or won’t recognize their bias, even when it’s openly revealed to them. Mr. West is very assiduous in this scientific look at racism. Not only does he describe it, thoroughly so, he offers ways to move beyond it. Greater interaction with others unlike yourself, education and a shift in your media diet.

There is a chapter on color blindness and the now popular embrace of that sentiment. Well, “I’m color-blind” You may want to read that chapter before continuing to spout that statement as though it’s a positive, spoiler alert, it’s not. After reading this book, you’ll be able to shut down arguments about racism with the simple statement of, “ well according to the science……” mic drop!!

A big thanks to Netgalley and Abrams publishing for an advanced DRC. Book will be available Feb. 18, 2025.

[Franki · Rating 5 out of 5]

It can be hard to review properly factual books like this, so I’ll try to make it as coherent as possible. Topic wise, I’m no expert, plus I had the privilege of not needing to learn until I was old enough to pick up some heavy books, but where I am personally in my antiracism journey this was exactly what I was hoping for, it’s a remarkably approachable read and a very powerful tool to have to hand.

While this isn’t my first foray into anti-racism reading, it is my first that tackles it from such a scientific perspective—and wow, did it hit hard. If you’re looking for a data-driven, no-nonsense approach to racism, this is it. West breaks down the science behind racism like he's cracking open a textbook and reading out the notes scribbled in the margin, but in a way that’s not overly dry or overwhelming. As you might expect by the name, instead of diving into the politics or heavy philosophical debates, he goes straight for the cold, hard facts, and undisputable evidence. Even going so far as to sourcing each study at the end of the book.

The book meticulously explores study after study, presenting an (unsurprisingly) compelling case of how racism is pervasively woven into pretty much every aspect of life. While it does flesh out with some impactful human experiences it continues to take the conversation far beyond and grounds everything in empirical data and encourages you to really understand the findings. It’s also refreshingly intersectional and considers more of a global perspective, rather than focusing solely on any one location’s data, which I especially appreciated.

If you're like me and love having facts to back up your anti-racism stance in difficult conversations with more…er…’resistant’ people, this is going to be right up your alley. It’s both an eye-opener and a page turner, and also balances a surprising amount of humour for such a heavy topic, which really helps it to be a little more digestible. It’s essential to call out problem behaviour and say “this ‘example’ is racist”, but gets tricky when someone argues, or tells you to prove it. Now I can throw a book at them.

Jokes aside, I’m so glad to have this at my disposal and I’m very grateful to have been able to review this as an ARC. A big thank you to Keon West, NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and Picador for the opportunity to read and review it. (I promise not to throw it at anyone)

[Brittany (whatbritreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me an early copy of this to review!*

This book really blew my mind, and I wasn’t anticipating just how much I was unaware of. It eases you in with a few pieces of research most people will be familiar with if you’ve done an entry level course or so in Psychology, and then it absolutely goes for the jugular with the rest of it. My jaw was on the floor reading a lot of these statistics, and it was so sobering. I thought I knew way more than I did, and this book was so eye opening and informative and so cleverly put together. I was constantly reading parts out loud to whoever I was with to share everything I was learning. They were equally as floored as I was by some of these studies.

It was so well written and well presented, I think it’s such an accessible read. Even if you’re not overly sciencey and you don’t typically read non-fiction books, I think everyone can take something from this book. It goes over so many things I’d never considered before, and it was so wildly unpredictable and shocking. The first half of the book was without fault for me, but it does get a little repetitive if you’re reading it in big chunks like I was. It does reference certain pieces of key research a lot, and the formatting of exploring the research is a little same-y. The last 30% saw a massive dip in pacing and it did slow to a very gradual ending. I enjoyed it, but it was a very stark contrast to how the book started.

There were a weird few paragraphs near the end of the book about ‘Israel’, and the author included some throwaway comments about not wanting to include his personal opinions on it and not having enough knowledge to discuss it in a way he feels would do it justice. It rubbed me the wrong way a little because a) for a man so intelligent after reading the rest of the book I’m sure he could’ve had some very insightful takes actually and b) if you feel you don’t have anything to say and are just going to offer something wishywashy and middling.. It feels kind of pointless to say anything at all. And a slap in the face to people who are currently suffering at the hands of a horrific genocide. That was a really disappointing few pages after everything that had come before it being so stellar.

Aside from that, this was an incredible read that I’d highly recommend to anyone. As expected an uncomfortable one at times, but a must read.

[Hannah Trn · Rating 3 out of 5]

After doing a lot of research on the origin and effects of racism during my Bachelor’s degree, I wanted to see if I could learn more about it outside of an academic context. Unfortunately, this was not the book for me. Don’t get me wrong, the statistics that are being presented in this book are incredibly interesting, but I simply didn’t expect this to essentially be one long summary of studies and how they were conducted. I’m also not a fan of sentences like “So what does that tell us?”. Just tell me. These filler sentences are not necessary as they add nothing to the story.
Besides that, I definitely learnt a lot of new things, most of which were genuinely shocking to the point were I had to take a minute to process what the actual f*** I was reading. The conversations that Keon West starts in this book need to be had and it is a good starting point for people who want to dive into the scientific reasons for the existence of racism.

[Abi Pellinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent an ARC copy of this non-fiction by the wonderful folks over at Book Break and knew I needed to dive into it during non-fiction November (yes I'm behind on my reviews, shhhh). This book releases on 23rd January 2025 so nip down to your local bookshop to grab a copy!

This book is really well done, and does exactly what it says on the tin, using scientific analysis of studies and meta-studies to provide evidence against frequent arguments made against racism truly impacting people. West also spends time explaining how these studies can be carried out, blind, double blind etc, and how to understand their results which will be very helpful for anyone going into the book without a scientific background.

Keon is Black and British, and so the majority of studies do focus on those areas. There are mentions of studies from elsewhere around the globe as well, primarily in the US due to the large amount of English language data available there, and also discussions on the racism that impacts those of other races and how it impacts in different ways.

West encourages you not to take him at his word and to, instead, research yourself. References, notes, and sources are all present at the back of the book for you to look at yourself to make sure that West has summarised it accurately. The importance of looking at accurate, peer reviewed, research yourself can't be understated in helping you form fact-based opinions. There's a reason people do it at university!

I did have one minor negative from the book, and that was the repetitiveness present. Rather than feeling like he's doubling down on an important point, it instead felt like West thought you hadn't paid attention enough. And it's not just repetition of points (which one expects to some point in a non-fiction with a specific aim) but repeating analysis of the same studies, re-explaining how to analyse them for the 5th or 6th time. It just got to be a little much. But potentially that may have been neatened up some in the finished novel so I don't want to judge it too harshly.

Overall, this book was absolutely fascinating as it provided many studies that I had heard about online but had never looked at in detail. I really recommend picking this book up if you're curious at all about the scientific research that has been done into racism and the measurable impacts on people.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I personally would much rather live in a world in which every White man wanted to lynch me, but none of them had the power to do it, than a world in which no White men wanted to lynch me, but every single one of them had the power to do it. In the first instance, I may be disliked, but I am still perfectly safe. In the second, I am safe for the moment, but my life and security hang on the whims of people who could, at any time, and for any reason, withdraw that goodwill. No matter how effectively we do it, we will never solve racism by focusing exclusively on getting White people to like ethnic minorities more. Sooner or later, we must alter the nature of our society so that ethnic minorities can be less concerned about whether White people like them or not."

West is a social scientist, and the science of racism examines the evidence that racism exists and the impact that it has. Many of the studies discussed here I had heard of in general terms - although others looking at the gap between how people predict their actions and how they act - I had not. There is excellent material on why implicit bias is not necessarily unconcious, and why being aware of it won't assist in combating it. But the sharpest parts of the book take aim at the structures of power and how it is these which ensure the impact of racism.

[Kate Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is brilliant!
It is so accessible, and allows the reader to question their own thoughts, perspectives and morals.
I really liked the hypothetical situations that you are put in while reading this. It really helps to put things into a new perspective.
No matter your race or religion, this book will definitely open your eyes!

[Brian Shevory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Major thanks to Abrams Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of Dr. Keon West’s The Science of Racism: Everything You Need to Know but Probably Don’t -Yet. I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for a few months, and it came along at an ideal moment as the Trump administration seeks to remove protections against discrimination and find ways to roll back programs and progress aimed at improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in many different areas in American life. Although Dr. West is a research professor in England, much of the research he uses throughout the book is either from the US or relevant to the US. I could also tell from Dr. West’s writing that he is an educator. He is able to take one of the most complicated social problems of the past 3 centuries and provide some research to explain how racism remains a problem. Part of the need to use research to justify the existence of racism in society is due to the fact that many people have proclaimed that racism is no longer an issue or that those who doubt racism suggest that the inequalities are largely a result of personal flaws or characteristics (see Dinesh D’Souza). However, I appreciated that Dr. West not only evaluated the arguments of those who are racism skeptics, but also those who advocate for more change due to systemic racism and white privilege (see Robin DiAngelo). Dr. West acknowledges both arguments, but also identifies that neither uses data and research to support their points. Instead, they largely rely on anecdotal evidence and emotional appeals, which tend to emotionally impact readers, but really do not provide the kind of meaningful support takes a complex phenomenon like racism and allows us to better understand the reasons for its existence. For Dr. West, understanding the reasons will also allow us to better identify ways to treat this issue and find ways to appreciate diversity, while also learning how to become more inclusive. In addition, Dr. West is able to present the complexities of psychological research and concepts and makes them comprehensible by using meaningful analogies that would appeal to readers. I found this aspect of his book especially helpful, and I felt like his explanations provided a useful way to better understand the research, and how the design of certain studies can identify the different ways that racism continues to occur in areas, especially in job hiring. A popular research study/design throughout the book involves sending out CVs/resumes to prospective employers. The resumes contain the same information, but the names are changed to be names that are Black or Hispanic sounding. As Dr. West explains, white applicants received more call backs and job offers than Black and Hispanic applicants. Dr. West also presents variations on these research studies, but sadly the results end up being the same. These research studies present convincing evidence of the continued presence (and influence) of racism in society, and they also help to dismantle the kinds of spurious arguments that racism deniers make.

I really appreciated the organization of the book as well. Dr. West tackles the question of whether racism is “real” or not, and presents convincing research to document its reality and its impact on minorities. He also helps to define several terms that are often used loosely in public that possibly add to further confusion and misunderstandings about racism. Again, I felt like this is an area where Dr. West’s expertise and experience as a teacher helped inform his writing, presenting key definitions and exploring differences and complexities related to issues like systemic racism, unconscious bias, and conscious biases that are often exhibited by people. While we all have our biases, Dr. West’s definitions help to explain not only the differences among these various biases, but also how factors in society and our experiences ultimately shape these biases. Furthermore, Dr. West explores several other variations on the CV studies, but that were shocking to read the results. In one instance, white and Hispanic applicants were called back under false pretenses that led to a further interview, while a Black applicant was sent home, informed that there were no interviews that day. And while Dr. West repeatedly stresses that “anecdote is not data” and that “anecdotes, no matter how shocking, or captivating, or terrible, can scientifically prove that people of color are treated worse than White people”, his deep dive into the research literature of racism and discrimination provides the kind of “data… we’d need to make statements about the prevalence of racism.” Unfortunately, too often people seem to pay more attention to the kind of emotional appeals and the personal connections that they establish with the anecdotal examples, ignoring the science and data that are more representative of the pervasiveness of racism and discrimination in our reality. This idea about the kind of emotional anecdotes also appears in the next section, which examines the complexities of racism. In particular, I was both appalled and intrigued to learn more about how reverse racism is used more and more to prevent the kinds of changes that are needed to address systemic racism in various areas. Look around today and we can clearly see these bad faith charges of “reverse racism” happening to unwind and dismantle protections that have been hard fought and won over the past 60 years. We can also see how quickly people of color are criticized and “canceled” when they speak out or make a comment about race. Dr. West uses some specific examples (Sarah Jeong, Adjoa Andoh), but then presents research data to show how frequently white people are rated as a preferred racial group. I won’t go into the results, but it was somewhat shocking to read that these results mirror the Doll Test (mentioned later) that Dr. Kenneth Clark conducted in the 1950s, which was used to overturn school segregation in the Brown decision. Despite all of the progress and some people declaring racism is no longer in existence, it seems like the data prove otherwise.

The last section was also powerful to read, for many different reasons. I currently serve on a DEI committee at work, and I’ve always tried to ensure that the content we present to students is representative of the various experiences and backgrounds that our students may come from. In education, I know that this is important for various reasons, chief among them engagement and understanding. That is, by finding what is familiar and representative of students’ experiences, it makes learning easier or at least easier for students to connect with and engage with. When there is cultural incongruity, students are more likely to disengage or misunderstand the information. Furthermore, this is not difficult work, especially if you have knowledge or a background in the area. It’s also a reason why there is a greater need for diversity in the workforce--- having people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences helps inform and contribute to the kind of products we create, and also makes those products more representative and appealing to the diversity of America. Dr. West acknowledges the importance of diversity, but also identifies some of the weaknesses in implementing change in diversity across the workforce and education. In particular, he looks at the limited impact that many diversity training programs have on people. I hadn’t thought much about this, but I understand his point. First, these programs seek to change attitudes, and not behaviors that might influence attitudes. Furthermore, they kind of take a negative approach by focusing on what we shouldn’t do, rather than advocating the best approaches. While this might not be true of all programs, Dr. West identifies some great possibilities for effectively revising diversity training programs to have more of an impact. He presents some actionable steps people can take, including having more intergroup contact, education, and modifying our media. I loved these approaches, and I’ve always felt that these were important steps to take. When I was teaching, I was often the only white person in the room, and I recognized that my experiences were much different from my students. It enabled me to learn to listen more and allow students to share their experiences and backgrounds with one another. Furthermore, it also helped my students in that many times, one of them could put ideas and concepts into more understandable terms. They could break it down to their peers better than I could. Furthermore, increasing intergroup contact also allows us to be more understanding and empathetic of other groups’ experiences with racism and possibly recognize our own behaviors that might be construed as racist (or sexist, ableist, ageist, etc). In addition, I’ve always found it important to modify media. Dr. West talks about the kinds of representation in texts, starting from an early age. Chapter 12 mentions some children’s books that kids can read, and Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats was on there. That book, along with Corduroy were some of the books that I made sure my kids read when they were young. It’s not something I intentionally though about since these are award winning books, but I now realize how important it is to provide my kids with diverse reading experiences that show a variety of characters. I also started to think about this when I noticed that most of the books we were reading showed opposite sex parents, and this didn’t necessarily represent some of the families that our friends and family members had. Although Dr. West doesn’t address these kind of -isms directly, I think that this book helps to also open up discussions about other forms of discrimination and lack of representation that happens in society. Dr. West does acknowledge that these other kinds of -isms are happening in society, and that to incorporate them would probably require more books; however, I really appreciated that this book provided some ways to open discussions and possibly address these issues.
With the terrible and regressive changes that have been happening in the US since the start of the second Trump administration, The Science of Racism is an essential book to read. Even if we didn’t have all of these changes, I still would recommend this book since racism has not diminished or gone away, and that working to keep biases and discrimination in check is more than just activism. It requires a dedication to education, increasing intergroup contact by broadening our experiences with others and those who are different, and changing our media diet to incorporate more diverse experiences. I’ve always been one to appreciate and seek out differences, but I know that others might like to maintain homogeneity. Keeping the status quo has potentially dangerous implications, and finding ways to appreciate if not engage with more diversity is necessary. I’ll end with this excellent quote from Stokely Carmichael that Dr. West used to show how racism isn’t necessarily about attitudes, but about power. “If a White man wants to lynch me, that’s his problem. If he’s got the power to lynch me, that’s my problem. Racism is not a question of attitude, it’s a question of power.” I got shudders reading this quote since many protections in various areas, work, education, civil rights, have been eroding and disappearing, which shows the kind of power inequality that makes racism so pernicious. I also think that this quote and Dr. West’s research and analysis helps to challenge our perceptions about race and racism, bringing me, at least, a further understanding of how racism continues to persist and impact people. This such an important book for people to read today. The only recommendation for change I would make to Dr. West is to incorporate more graphics—whether these are charts, graphs, or other kinds of infographics, to help visualize the data from studies better. I found myself going over the study results a few times just to better understand the numbers and results, as well as the conclusions drawn about the results. I think that with visualizing some of these results and presenting the data in a visual form, it might help readers better understand the results and implications of these studies. Nevertheless, this was an incredibly powerful and important book to read.

[Nikolai Forrestwald · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ THIS BOOK!

Racism, everything, everywhere, all at once.

There is an ongoing debate over the question if racism is still a problem in contemporary society and, if so, to what degree this is the case. A 2021 Gallup Poll showed that almost 60 percent of american adults believe that racism against Blacks is widespread in the United States, while about 40 percent believe, that it is not. According to the same poll about 43 percent of American adults believe that racism against white people is widespread in the us, while about 55 percent think that this is not the case. Statistics and polls like this are not the only proof for a widespread divergence of beliefs about the persistence of racism in contemporary societies. There is also an abundance of speeches, tweets, interviews and books from politicians, celebrities, activists and members of society as a whole that may lead someone to question todays existence of racism or the meaningfullness of anti-racist movements like black lifes matter. This does, however, not reflect the scientific consensus on said social phenomena. This is why Keon West, Professor of Social Psychology at the university of London and racism-researcher decided to write a book about the science of racism. What this amounts to is a painstaking culmination and rigorous examination of studies and meta-analyses on the subject of racist discrimination noticeable in everyday life. The main goal of the author is to show what science says about the persistence of racism and the impact it has on education, politics, justice, work and social-relationships. Because of an abundance of data at hand and because of limited space the author focuses mainly on racism in the united states and the united kingdom aswell as on racism towards black people (a noticeable exception are chapter 9 and 10).

The book itself is divided into four parts.

The first part focuses on different forms of racism and their extent in the united states and united kingdom. It is especially welcoming to see an author of a scientific book who not only brings his readership into contact with the results of studies and experiments but who also starts his book by making the effort to explain to them why anecdotes, which are often used to undermine scientific facts about racism and other social or natural phenomena (for example sexism, poverty or climate change) do not matter in the least and what exactly it means to do science. He does this by going through different scientific methods, for example the randomized controlled trial, and expound on the usefullness of said methods. Therefore the book certainly lives up to its title in more than one way. This is also the first time that the didactic quality of the book really shines. Other than being clearly written (english is not my main language and i had no problems reading this book), the author rather explains the bascis of racism-research via an interactive question and answer game combined with examples from studies on various embodiments of racism, than to fall back on a dull and boring exposition. In Chapter 2 for example, the author asks the reader to guess the results of different studies on the reactions of employers towards job applicants with similar cvs except for their names (which were choosen based on their similarity to stereotypical names of certain ethnicities) or their pictures (which showed either a black man, black women, white man, white women etc.). The fact that most readers of this book are probably able to guess that the white job applicants were more successful but will most likely still underestimate the true numbers and results helps one realize the true extent of racism in contemporary societies. Especially shocking is the fact that many employers tend to favor white job applicants with a criminal background over black job applicants with non. It does not matter if one focuses on wealth, job applications, education, or equality in front of the law. White people are much more likely to be picked as employees than black people (sometimes 9 times more likely), get shot less frequently even while carrying a weapon than black people who are not carrying one, get stopped and searched by the police between 6 and 27 times less often, are more likely to be seen as potential partners or good friends (even by kids) than black people, get better grades despite giving the same answers in tests in school or college, get sentenced to jail for a shorter time and a lot less frequently than black people for the same charge, get offered substaintal healthcare, operations and medications by their doctors a lot more often and get an appointment far sooner than black people and so on. Racism is in everything, everywhere, all at once. Another focus of the first part of the book is the difference between individual racism and systemic or institutional racism and its forms. Examples include voter identifications, which are intentionally hard and costly to obtain and, based on studies, mostly favored by more racist citizens, dress codes or hair codes at universitys or schools, or, for example, a skill-based system of immigration which required certain documents from educational or training institutions which the british government considered acceptable and which, what a shock, were completely unlike anything provided by institutions in predominantly black or arabic countries.

The second part of the book focuses on the difference between conscious and unconscious or, to be more exact, explicit and implicit forms of racism. The author shows us that and to what extent unconscious racism exists but tells the reader not to equate implicit racism with unconscious racism. He is especially critical of the attempt to equate most racism with unconscious racism and therefore prevent racist people from being hold accountable for their racist attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. While unconscious racism and bias certainly exists and poses a serious problem, a lot of our racism is merely implicit, which means that people were either not willing or able to report their levels of racism. The social psychologist shows us different reasons for this implicity, for example the simple fact of lying because of social contempt towards racism, the partial awareness of ones own racism combined with a set of psychological mechanisms employed to protect ones self from admitting said racism, as well as genuine unawareness. Each of those different forms of implicit racism and their relation to the extent of racist behaviour are carefully examined throughout the second part of the book. The author focuses especially on the second type on implicit racism by showing different psychological mechanisms that we employ to protect our self-image. These include victim blaming, aversive racism (the tendency to be internally motivated to not be racist while still showing racist behaviours in situations in which one is, to a certain degree, aware that ones racism will go unnoticed, even for oneself, for example by seeing black people as guilty until proven innocent and white people as innocent until proven guilty), pushing the definitorial boundaries of the term "racism" depending on context and persons involved, and overly positive self-perceptions.

The third part of the book deals with reverse racism, the difference of racism towards different enthic groups, and racism between ethnic minorities. The author makes clear that, reverse racism is a hollow term. This is an important insight for the reader because, as mentioned above, a lot of people (almost half of the us-population) think, that reverse racism is a genuine problem, but it is not. As the author makes clear, not only are white people considerably more biased towards black people, or arabic people, or hispanic people, even today (for example in online-dating, job applications etc) than the other way around, but it does not even make sense to call the prejudice or bias of, for example, black people in the us towards white people in the us, racism. As Professor west makes clear, most if not all researchers would indeed refrain from using the term racism in this case because racism is a social phenomenon, embeded in a cultural and historical context of power and wealth. Indeed, racism is characterized by "prejudice plus power". It may make sense to call the owners of a chinese hotel in china that do not accept german guests racist, but it does not make sense to call a chinese man in a predominantly white country like germany who does the same racist because, despite the fact that both are instances of prejudice towards certain ethnic groups, racism is based on power, oppression and exploitation. It is also very enlightening that the amount of racism that a certain ethnic minority faces is based on the context in which it occurs. According to multiple studies, East-Asian People tend to be the second most successful job-applicants while being the least favorable potential male relationship-partners. This is based on stereotypes commonly associated with East-Asien People like docility, ambition and feminity. It is therefore no wonder that, according to the same studies, east-asien women tend to be the second most favorable relationship-partners. The Author ends the third part of the book by showing that even tho ethnic minorities, and the same goes for white people, do tend to like themselves the most, this is first, closely followed by white people in each case, and second, does not prevent a certain ressentment towards ones own ethnicity. Since Media, often without our awareness, constantly confronts us with racial stereotyping in the news, books, comics, videos films, series, music etc, and most ethnic minorities in predominantly white countries like the us or the uk tend to consume and use the same media, it is hardly suprising that even kids at a young age tend to internalize racism towards ethnic minorities. Even their own. This ressentment is deeply connected to social status, influence and wealth which even kids at a young age, and even in non-predominantly white countries, associate primarily with white people and which lead those kids to be ashamed of not being white. This goes to the extend that white people will get a better service at restaurants or more welcome greetings than, for example, black people, even in uganda.

The fourth and last part of the book focuses on different methods to confront racism. The Psychologists heavily criticizes the idea of "color-blindness". Not only are, as multiple studies have shown, most people, even small children, well aware of racial categorizes, despite saying they are not, but color blind approaches to the problem of individual and systematic racism are often more accepted by people that exhibit more implicit racism. In fact, experiments have shown that adopting a color blind approach leads to more implicit racism and a rejection of affirmitive action plans and diversity movements that is sometimes even higher than that of rightwing activists. He also criticizes faulty diversity training, like unconscious bias training, often implemented in companys. Those programs often dont lead to any or only a marginal reduction of racial attitudes and have nearly no influence on the real diversity in said companies. However, as he expounds in the 12th chapter of the book, the author is not completely against any kind of diversity training or programs. As he explains, both education (about racism and a general education) aswell as intergroup contact are scientifically proven to reduce racist attitudes in individuals. Especially the latter has been shown to be greatly successful. In the same chapter the author also focuses on the effect of media on the generation and formation of racial prejudice. Black people are not only severly underrepresented in all kinds of media (for example childrens books) but are also more frequently portraited negatively (for examples as thieves, mugs, criminals, sexual offenders etc). This also goes for the news in which they are substantially overrepresented in a negative context. Far more often than an accurate representation would allow. The author therefore not only calls for courses of critical thinking and media literacy, which have been shown to reduce racial bias caused by media, but also to watch films or buy books, for oneself or for ones children, in which ethnic minorities are presented in a more accurate and positive light. Professor West also adds that, while these methods have been shown to reduce individual racism, a lot more is to be done to tackle different forms of individual or systematic bias in job-applications, healthcare-treatment etc. For this sake it is very important to focus on politics, affirmative action plans, diversity-staffs in companies etc. Those methods have been shown to have a far greater impact on the diversity of staff-composition than methods than only tackle the problem of individual racism. An employer may reduce his or her own racial prejudice towards a certain or all ethnic minorities while still being in the position of charge and power, and therefore having the opportunity to treat certain groups in an unfair way.
The book closes with a remark on the importance of tackling other forms of systematic and individual bias and prejudice towards women, disabled people, transgender people etc.


So, do i recommend this book ? I absolutely do. It not only educates its readers about the different forms of racism and their extent, but also offers methods, both for the individual as well as for more systematic changes, to tackle said racial prejudices. I have learned a lot from this book and will happily recommend it to anyone. It is, as i already mentioned, not only clearly written and filled to the brim with sources and notes on different studies and meta-analyses, but also helps one reflect on ones own prejudices. The author asks the reader multiple times to question oneself about their prejudices and ask oneself "how racist am I?". This may cause, and professor West is fully aware of that, a certain malaise in the reader. I felt very uncomfortable in those situations because i had to look back and reflect on my own behaviours, attitudes und beliefs towards and about ethnic minorities and groups. Despite the fact that i dont want to be racist in any way, i too tend to show some prejudices and preferences towards certain ethnic groups. Despite the fact that far more than halve of the population of predominantly white societies shows some form of implicit or explicit preferance towards white, and some form of ressentment or prejudice towards black, arabic, hyspanic or asien, indian... people, this is not okay. This is a serious problem that must be tackled and no one, and i mean NO ONE should fall into the trap of those psychological protection mechanisms that were mentioned above. Admitting ones own ressentiments and prejudices is the first step, but must not be the last step on the way towards a fairer society.

[B.S. Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clearly meticulously researched, well documented and carefully curated look at the science, the social elements and the story behind how racism has entered and impacted society.

You need to read this, you might not “like it” but you’ll come out knowing something new. I appreciated the deeply uncomfortable but necessary conversations about accepting and unlearning racist, prejudiced behaviours and bias, delving into how bias forms and spreads and why people might believe racist ideas.

After closing a chapter about the framing of unconscious bias, I had to take some time reassess the way I saw the world — I knew unconscious bias wasn’t a justification for anything, but taking it further, was it just an excuse to get someone out of self reflection and making amends? Does it even really exist in the way we’re taught it does?

"I'm sure it feels like we're doing something good with this discussion of unconscious bias. It is, after all, important to acknowledge our biases. However, the research shows that if all we're acknowledging is unconscious bias, then what we're really doing is protecting our own perceptions of innocence, reducing our concerns about the bias we claim to be addressing, and ensuring that nobody is ever held accountable for it. This is not what doing something good likes like. this is doing something bad."

This book covered so much without stretching it, taking a decent amount of pages with subjects from hiring bias, medical disparity, media reporting, and personal relationships.

The author created a warm, welcome space despite the tough subject — with a friendly, conversational and easily understandable tone while conveying the facts and more complicated subjects in a highly accessible style, giving us the clear cut science and then breaking it down and explaining it, and the implications it has while offering their observations in an impartial but impactful way. In one chapter, Keon poses us several scenarios to actively test our thinking and offer insight into how racism can manifest and then explains the different physiological tricks we may use ourselves to justify racist actions and thoughts.

A powerful, highly readable book. I read the whole thing in one day and have already gone back for round two.

[Violet · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many thoughts - all good ones.

I finished this as Jean-Marie Le Pen's death has just been announced and reading the glee on French Twitter has made me feel nearly hopeful that people, maybe, are tired of racism, although the far right sadly still has a bright future in many countries, France included.

Reading the last few chapters of this book, about what can be done to fight racism, was really interesting, especially when Professor Keon West writes about children's books, the media, and books in general and asks how many books with (and by) Black authors people tend to be familiar with, and how many of these are positive portrayals. I want to read more, or maybe only, BIPOC authors this year exactly for the reasons he so eloquently explained.

The whole book is a compilation and commentary on racism and how it is woven into everything, employment, earnings, dating, friendship... It's very pedagogical and easy to follow, engaging and interesting, and even after reading several books about racism, I learned a lot just from this one. I just can't recommend it enough and I have really enjoyed it.

Free ARC sent by Netgalley.

[Chloe White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really interested to read this book based on its scientific credentials. There are A LOT of studies referenced, which is the point, this is all about data, but it still manages to be humorous in places, a tough ask for a book on this topic. As a result it remains engaging throughout. Very interesting chapters on “unconscious” bias and colour blindness. It’s encouraged me to take some implicit association tests with interesting results. Recommend.

[Aimar Bracho · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you care about racism, read this book. If you care whether you are racist, read this book.

With data and research, it dismantles the myths we tell ourselves about discrimination. Statistics don’t lie—racism isn’t just about personal beliefs; it’s embedded in our systems, behaviors, and subconscious minds. An uncomfortable, but necessary read.

[Vijay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is must read book. Why? It's is more than just theory, it is about facts based on scientific research. Numerous studies by numerous scientists conducting observational studies with control groups to ensure bias is not introduced into the study.

The main issue you will learn? Racism is prejudice backed by power. Think of the Nazi regime as the book provides as an example. A German calls out a Jew. What happens? The Jew is sent to a concentration camp. Say in today's world, a German calls out a Jew in Israel. What happens then? The German will probably be sent to jail for a few days.

Racism is endemic. How does it end? Through systemic changes. That is put people accountable to ensure racism is not propagated. Intergroup mixing helps a bit but to ensure that we don't go back to our old ways, systems must be put in place to ensure that it doesn't and accountability is suggested to be the solution.

Read this book even if you consider yourself non-racist, because you won't believe how racist you really are. Most of us are in denial.

[Jed Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important work that lays bare all aspects of the ongoing scourge of white systemic racism with an unassailable presentation of the facts. But as grim and unchanging as things seem he does offer some hopeful thoughts at the end.

[fax · Rating 5 out of 5]

“the infrastructure of contemporary society works towards the relative power, privilege and protection of white people and relative exclusion of others”

v powerful read, 10/10 recommend ◡̈

[Michelle Jarc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many fair points backed up by scientific research. Nothing exciting, but I like to read educational books spread among my entertaining ones.

[Mel Horadam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally picked up this book after hearing Dr. West being interviewed on the Majority Report podcast. I work in a field, like most other people, that is deeply impacted by both implicit and explicit racism, as well as structural racism. while I went into this book thinking I already understood a lot and could guess most of his findings, I was, of course, wrong. There are some really shocking revelations that Dr. West explains, and all of these revelations are explained via the scientific method. It is quite thorough, eye-opening, and damning.

Unfortunately, the people in my life who I would most love to read this book never would. But, it can help people like me and others who would like to combat racism when we try to explain why certain things, like color blindness and mandatory unconscious bias training, just don't work.

[YW · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was promised I would win every argument on racism after this book. It did not disappoint.

The book is especially enjoyable for someone from an applied psychology or applied economics background. It breaks down concepts such as randomized control trials and statistical power in very common language.

[beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a perfect, fast-paced book that was full of information, all of which digestible and easy to understand. i LOVED the interactivity, the fact that you could hypothesise alongside some of these experiments was an ingenious touch. i found so much value in this book. it forced me to ask questions to myself, to those around me and to seek out my own implicit biases and change them. wonderfully executed and at times woefully tragic, but finishing hopeful.

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 4 out of 5]

//4.5 stars//

Explores how science proves with empirical evidence in numerous examples from all across the globe that every socio indicator reveals the advantages of being White.

Has a very good explanation of essential fundamentals about racism and I think this would make a great primer for alot of people.

• Individual racism enacted by individuals and systemic racism and institutional racism that would continue to cause racism even without individual racist actuons.

• Difference between implicit bias and unconcious bias: “Sometimes the reason that someone is unwilling or unable' to accurately communicate their racism has nothing to do with unconscious bias. Sometimes it's just deception.”

• conflicted racism: “Since these individuals value their apparent racial egalitarianism, they will not do racist things if their behaviour can be easily understood, even by themselves, as a response to someone's race. They will only discriminate if the situation is blurry or ambiguous enough for them to explain their actions away by appealing to some other aspect of the situation.”

• definitional boundaries of discrimination: intention matters, malicious intent causing racism and not racism without, real racism perpetuated by a certain type of person

• “Indeed, differences in power and privilege are so essential to our understanding of racism that scholars like Professor Beverly Daniel Tatum of Yale University (Tatum 1999) have defined racism as 'prejudice plus power, or perhaps even better, 'a system of advantages based on race. If you don't have the system, if you don't have the power, if you don't have the advantages, you don't have racism.”

• “This discussion can get a bit more complex, but it's worth acknowledging that, in that sense, anybody can theoretically be 'racist'; there is nothing fundamentally special about White people. It just happens that, due to a number of significant events over the past four centuries or so, White people commit a disproportionate amount of prejudice and hold a disproportionate amount of power in a large number of societies.”

• “A wealth of research shows that adopting a colour-blind approach will make you significantly more racist in a number of important ways… Colour blindness does nothing to take away the system of pro-White affirmative action that currently affects almost every decision made in contemporary society, including universities. It simply erases the possibility of a counterbalancing pro-minority affirmative action. It entrenches the privileges and advantages of White people more firmly in society. It does the opposite of addressing racism.”

For me, the chapters that I enjoyed the most, because I learned the most from were:

• Chapter 11: Mas que nada? Are Diversity Initiatives Really Helping?
• Chapter 12: Do It Good: How to Effectively Reduce Racism (intergroup contact, education and diverse media consumption)

I think this was a very well done book that is easy to read, has excellent referencing and assumed no prior knowledge and yet has such clarity in scope and execution of the book.


Quotes:

• “Scientists don't decide whether racial discrimination exists because one Black person says it happened to them, or because another Black person says it didn't.
We know that racial discrimination occurs because the empirical research clearly shows that it does, in almost everything, almost everywhere, almost all the time. That is why, as Yale professor Beverly Daniel Tatum pointed out in 1999, 'Every measurable social indicator, from salary to life expectancy to health to housing accessibility, reveals the advantages of being White.”

• “Similarly, Jeb Bush was correct to say that most violent crime committed against Black people was perpetrated by other Black people, but he overlooked the fact that most violent crime committed against White people was also perpetrated by other White people. According to the same National Crime Victimization Survey mentioned earlier, White people were the victims of 15,795,650 violent crimes. However, in most of those instances (8,721,450, or about 55% of the time) White people were also the perpetrators of the violent crimes. As before, if we look specifically at homicides, that pattern remains true. Statistics from the FBI confirm that most White homicide victims were killed by other White people. Jeb Bush entirely ignored the factual reality that, when it comes to violent crime in the US, most Whites are victimized by other Whites. Not by police. Not by ethnic minor-ities. Other Whites.”

• “This is victim blaming at its finest. It ignores instances in which White people are statistically more likely to commit crimes. It uses quippy phrases like 'Black-on-Black crime' but ignores the mirrored reality of 'White-on-White crime. It uses small but apparently real statistical differences in criminal convictions between groups to justify large, widespread, disproportionate and sometimes deadly forms of discrimination, even when White people who have been themselves convicted of crimes do not face the same level of stigma.”

[Lanelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title suggests, The Science of Racism is a chronicle of the science behind racism. In Keon West’s own words from the introduction: “Our values are the blueprint for the world we’d like to live in. Our politics are the roadmap directing us to that world. That much, I will leave up to the reader to sort out for themselves. But science is the best way we have of understanding the world as it is. Over the course of this book, I ask the reader to leave that to me.”

With each chapter, Keon West asks and answers some of the biggest scientific questions about racism. While the depth of research can occasionally feel a little dense, West balances this with well-placed humour and a few interactive elements where he invites readers to take part in imagined scenarios inspired by - or directly pulled from - some of the studies he outlines.

As a white person who is constantly seeking opportunities to learn, unlearn, and become more intentionally anti-racist, I am grateful to add this book to my toolkit and recommendation list. For fellow UK-based readers, I would recommend this book alongside Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga and Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge. While these three books overlap at times, each stands firmly on its own in approach, perspective, and takeaways.

I was personally drawn to this book due to its UK-centric perspective, although Keon West also delves into research from across the globe. I appreciated West’s ability to remain grounded in research while being unapologetically honest about the realities of implicit racism. That said, I was disappointed by his discussion of one particular study, and I would be remiss not to mention it here. When discussing a study conducted in Occupied Palestine (note: the author uses the country name of the colonisers), West makes a pointed decision to withhold “personal opinions” and discusses the study in the context of the “conflict.” While this choice may have been outside the author’s control, I couldn’t help but feel discomfort at West’s willingness to comment on other atrocities of racism and colonisation, rooted in hard fact, while shying away from the unequivocal reality of the colonisers’ relentless genocide of the Palestinian people.

One final note is that this book does not deeply explore intersectionality. However, the author does address this in detail in the afterword, ending with the following: “It would be a piss-poor form of anti-racism that only benefited middle-class, able-bodied, heterosexual, cisgender, non-immigrant men of colour.”

As stated above, The Science of Racism is a valuable contribution to the ever-growing library of anti-racist resources, and I am grateful to Keon West for sharing this wealth of knowledge with a world that is very much in need of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Picador for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

[M W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very valuable book because moving the conversation from anecdotes to actual data clearly exposes dishonest actors. That said, it was a bit curious that while the author starts the book by emphasizing this data based approach and how it differs from other popular literature on the topic, he still often states a large number of anecdotes and then tries to connect these to the actual data, which is just not really possible and falls into the same trap he criticized at the beginning. While this is sometimes acknowledged, it often goes unstated.

Also, I think while West has an excellent understanding of the sociological aspects of his research area, you can often tell that his statistical intuition is very lacking. This materializes in essentially two ways throughout the book.
The first and less severe is that mathematical facts that could strengthen his arguments are left unstated. For instance, when talking about people being more wary of groups of black adolescents compared to white ones and linking this to prison populations, he correctly states that the overwhelming number (>99% in both cases) of both groups is not criminal, and hence any apprehension is somewhat unwarranted. But he could have gone even further, since differences in group sizes in the prison and general population are immaterial to the discussion. If the white prison population is twice as large as the black one, then conditioned on actually encountering a criminal, you are more likely to encounter a white person than a black one. So a so-called rational person should be more afraid of a group of white adolescents.
The second type is more problematic because it actually weakens his arguments by making nonsensical statements. The prime example of this is when West tries to counter the focus on black-on-black crime by saying that the majority of white people are also murdered by other white people. This is completely expected, since a plurality of the US population is white, so you would actually expect every racial group to be murdered the most by white people. The problem with conservative's focus on black-on-black crime is that they try to represent this as some kind of biological issue instead of looking at socioeconomical reasons.

That said, I reiterate that the book is very good and provides valuable insight into how studies are actually set up to investigate difficult to study problems like racism. The chapters on color blindness and unconscious bias training are also excellent and expose how these naive approaches to tackle racism can actually be harmful.

[Papergirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am beyond grateful to Keon West, Pan Macmillan, Picador, and Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy. Keep reading for my review of the book.

Keon West’s The Science of Racism is an insightful, thought-provoking, hard-hitting book that helps the reader determine whether they believe racism truly exists. Spoiler alert…it does, and the point of West’s book is to highlight how this can be demonstrated scientifically, whilst presented readers with an overwhelming amount of research techniques, studies, and their findings from across the globe, although, predominantly in the US and UK.

In all seriousness though, whether racism exists or not is a matter of personal opinion. I think I have shown what camp I am in, and it would seem that West is of the same school of thought. However, he does discuss the various degrees of racism and highlights the difference between overt racism, implicit bias, and unconscious bias.

I found the book to be impactful and challenging but welcomed the opportunity to put myself in the firing line and answer the questions that West posed to consider my own level of racism or racial bias. I appreciated the many anecdotes that were shared at the onset that fed into why we were looking at certain types of experiments having been presented with a clear. I also appreciated how West did not expect his views to be taken as gospel and so he provided an extensive list of references as well as further resources and tests for those interested in understanding how they personally contribute to racial discrimination.

Personally, I could have done without all the repetition, however, I understand the need for it and accept that the book probably wasn’t intending to be read cover to cover over a short amount of time. It was likely devised with fellow researchers in mind or readers such as students, parties interested in aspects of human behavior, and lovers of non-fictious, educational text. All in all, I rate the book 4/5 because despite the conversational tone that appeared to draw me in and involve me, I would have welcomed some more directness and less asking to guess outcomes when the overall theme was well established from the start, making the need for guessing void. Quite the divisive text, depending on one’s stance regarding racism, the book is for truth seekers.

[Amanda books_ergo_sum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm so torn with this book...

On the one hand, this book is full of data and who doesn’t love that? Also, his writing was remarkably un-dry. We had:
👍 a quantitative data focused investigation of racial discrimination
👍 how racism functions on a psychological level (the implicit bias vs unconscious bias section was great)
👍 a data-backed solution to racism—love a nonfic with a solution!

But. I have a but.

This is what I wanted the book to say:

“Here’s some data—my contribution to all the wonderful work done by other scholars who work on racism; be they other scientists with a more qualitative research focus, academics who work on anti-racist theory, or even literature authors and artists.”

This is what the book actually said (I’m massively paraphrasing):

“Quantitative data is the only thing that matters. Qualitative research and anti-racist theory sucks.”

… and it’s difficult to express the depth to which I hate this sentiment.
▪️ sure, it’s personal: my academic background is philosophy and he argued (unnecessarily, I thought) that philosophy is pointless (citing a David Chalmers paper to do so—still not over that)
▪️ I could argue that his scientific demarcation criteria was rooted in Karl Popper, a quite problematic and widely discredited theory of knowledge
▪️ I could wax poetic about CP Snow’s ‘Two Cultures’ speech and argue that the sciences and the humanities need to work together (and respect each other) in order to solve the world’s problems
▪️ I could nit-pick the concepts, like systemic racism, that he tried to define on his own without any theoretical training (and the way he downplayed the theory-based expertise of his peers)

But mostly—this book just made me feel defensive. Not for myself, but for all my friends and favourite authors who write theory and qualitative research-based books on racism. Because, despite that bell curve on its cover, it didn’t feel like this book’s opponent was The Bell Curve (and other racist “science” books). It felt like its opponent was anti-racist theory authors (and all their books that I love).

And that didn't sit right with me.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covers an important subject, one simultaneously much discussed and much neglected, and gets at the truth of many important aspects of the issue, including ones I had not thought of before. The book is, first of all, unrelentingly focused on the science (the introduction explains why that is important). Second, it is approachable. The language is chatty (perhaps a bit too much so in places) and explains the scientific studies in terms that are very easy to understand. Finally, it is comprehensive. The first section goes into depth about how all-pervasive the problem is; it includes a good chapter explaining how systemic racism differs from nearly everybody being racist. The second section covers conscious and unconscious bias, with chapters on unconscious bias, outright lying about racism, and ways we minimize and excuse our own racism. (West warns you up front that this chapter might be uncomfortable for you.) Part 3 addresses reverse racism and racism within and between other minority groups. Part 4 addresses how to deal with racism, starting with two chapters on what doesn't work (the so-called color-blindness approach makes racism worse, and diversity training is ineffective). Then we get a chapter on strategies that *do* reliably reduce racism (intergroup contact, good education, and better media representation).

Next, West knocked me for a loop by explaining (with science to back it up, of course) that the strategies from the previous chapter still won't solve the problem. Racism is a problem of power, and power structures will need to change.

Finally, the Afterword emphasizes that racism is just one aspect of the larger world, that sexism, ageism, etc. could have their own books, and they interact with racism in non-obvious ways.

Throughout the book, I found essentially no political commentary (unless your politics opposes science in principle) and very little expression of personal opinion. Anecdotes are used, but as illustrations, always leading into the science. The book's title could not be more apt.

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Science of Racism explores scientific studies focused on racism, looking at their methodologies and results in a pop science format. West approaches the topic with sincerity and humour, willing to explain experimental design to the reader but also speak directly about your own experiences of bias and assumptions. Tackling the idea that many people don't believe racism exists, or exists any more, he delves into many studies to show that racism does exist, and is not simple, and then also explores what can be done about it, both on a personal level and a societal one. In particular, he looks at studies around the effectiveness of certain actions and interventions upon prejudice and bias, focusing on data rather than anecdotes to consider areas like why unconscious bias training isn't all it is claimed to be.

West's skill in this book is being able to combine offering up data and analysis of a lot of academic studies around racism with an approachable style that tries to demystify the scientific side of things to allow more people to engage with "the science of racism". There's a huge amount to think about, from the results of studies to West's conclusions about what makes a difference, and the book's conclusion acknowledges there's so much more, particularly in terms of intersectionality and communicating the wealth of research around other areas of prejudice, discrimination, and violence. The Science of Racism is a much-needed reaction to many of the claims around racism not existing or mattering or assertions of colour-blindness that pervade today, taking a different approach to a lot of other recent books about racism to dig into academic studies and experiments that prove the scale and deep-seated nature of racism and why everyone would benefit from knowing more about this research in order to confront their own behaviour and beyond.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

So what is racism? How many folks are racist? Could you be racist? Just some of the questions that get swirled around a lot on the news and social media. But these are questions that need to be answered. Keon West, a researcher from England, has spent his time in the trenches of this research and aims to share with the reader his scientific findings, not just anecdotes.

Keon West breaks the book into four parts. Part I deals with how do we know that racism is real and what evidence does science have on this topic with chapters discussing definitions of terms, how science comes to a consensus on a topic, and how pervasive racism might be and its relationship to power. Part II looks at unconscious bias, outright deception/lying, and games people play on themselves to hide their own racism. Part III gets down into the weeds to examine the complexities of racism - how it is not all black and white, but rather very nuanced. Part IV provides various approaches to dealing with racism scientifically. Some of these approaches include colour-blind approach, diversity initiatives, and what really does work. West finishes the book with a call-out to other related issues of bias beyond race - i.e. gender, class, status, and a multitude of other issues that all interplay with racism.

So, if you are interested in learning what science has on this topic, The Science of Racism will be a great place to start. Keon West documents his points and provides plenty of references for the reader to explore. A recommended read for anyone interested in racism.

Thanks Netgalley and Abrams for the chance to read this title.

[Julie K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpectedly Interesting

I’m really glad I picked up this book — even though I can’t quite remember why I chose it, it turned out to be an excellent read! The Science of Racism is a clear, balanced, and deeply insightful look at racism through a scientific lens. I found it particularly impressive that Keon West manages to take such a measured, research-based approach to a topic that he has personally experienced.

As a white reader, I learned a great deal about my own biases and gained a much clearer understanding of what racism actually looks like in everyday life. Some of my own past behaviour was described in the book, and I really appreciated the way it explained why certain actions are considered racist — without being accusatory or preachy. It left me thoughtful and much more self-aware.

While I did find the book a little more focused on the US context than I expected, it still included some studies from the UK and other English-speaking countries, but the insights could have been made more relevant across other cultures.

I would have liked a bit more detail on practical, personal actions to take against racism, but overall the book’s focus on evidence and systemic understanding was fascinating.

All in all, it’s an engaging and enlightening read — especially for anyone new to the topic — and it moves along at a good pace. I came away informed, challenged, and very glad I read it.

[Leane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book exceeds expectations by not only sharing Professor Keon West's extensive knowledge and research on racism but also providing a centralised view of the findings of multitudes of research papers and experiments.

West layers heavy scientific material with his own practical and experienced commentary that speaks of his international background. Born in Trinidad, he grew up in Jamaica and studied in the USA and France before settling in the UK.

The topics covered include conscious and unconscious bias, the complexities and realities of racism, reverse racism, colour blindness, and what science says about how to deal with racism.

However, this book differs from others in that West encourages the reader not to take his words as fact but to research and find out more for themselves. He also reminds the reader that life is more complex than a single book can show.

"The Science of Racism is a one-dimensional book. It deals with racism, and only racism. However, we do not live in a one-dimensional world."

This enlightening read is a fantastic addition to any reference shelf, where it will be picked up and thumbed through frequently.


Please note that I write this review from a position of Western European white privilege but with self-awareness and my eyes, mind, and heart fully open.


*I received an advance reader copy for free, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review*