What’s Real About Race? Untangling Science, Genetics, and Society

Sociologist Rina Bliss illuminates the truth about one of the most misunderstood, controversial concepts in our society and reveals why we cannot confuse race with genetic difference. This paradigm-shifting book unmasks what’s truly real about race: namely, racism’s impact on our bodies and lives.

Bliss traces the history of race, revealing how unscientific categories of identity—White, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native—became the modern standard, and illuminates how the myth of biological races endures in science and society, warping our understanding of complex topics like intelligence, disease susceptibility, and behavior.