The concept of race and the struggle against racism

Abstract

This article explores arguments that oppose the use of racial categories and concepts in public life, contending that such usage reinforces the biological validity of race and thus reinforces racism. These are valid arguments and refuting the biological reality of race is an ongoing battle. I then explore arguments that favour using racial categories and concepts because they are valuable tools to combat racism, understood as a system that, while it has made use of the idea of race as a biological reality, does not depend on this idea. I outline the ways in which racial categories and concepts go beyond the idea of biological reality. The use of racial categories and concepts in public life is productive, as long as their use is tied to the fight against racialized inequality and avoids being diverted entirely into a politics of identity.