Lionel K. McPherson is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. His research interests include "race," historical injustice, political violence, and moral theory. His articles have appeared in leading philosophy journals. This is his first book.
Part One: Racial Faiths, Absurd Purposes
1 A Socratic Device
2 Grappling with the Race Concept
3 Some "Race" Things
4 (Sub)continent-Wide Human Types
5 Framing a Racialist Placeholder
6 Racism vs. Racialism: A Marginal Difference
7 How Deep the Egypt Worry Goes
8 From Racial Theology to "Race" Optimism
9 Renewed Race Science
10 Racial Metaphysics of Distraction
11 Enter "Geoancestry"
12 Giving Up the "Race" Ghost
Part Two: Decoding "Mixed Race" as American Caste
1 Color-Conscious Identity
2 Not Regular Blacks
3 Negro Blood
4 Caste Impurity
5 The Browning Thesis
6 To Be Legally Not-Black
7 Seeking Separate Social Status
8 A Colored Breed Apart
9 Mixed Family Reunion
10 Slavery Subcaste Drama
Part Three: Non-Exclusionary Black (American) Solidarity
1 Social-Political Lineage Matters
2 Plessy on Being Colored
3 Du Bois's Normative Negro
4 Black Specificity in America
5 Elaborating Geoancestry
6 The Very Idea of Black Solidarity
7 Bound by Colored Politics?
8 Anti-Caste Black Solidarity for All
9 Parting Political Thoughts
Forgiveness on Layaway: Reflections from South Africa
