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xiv Preface Chapter 2 follows the progression of racism within these institutions into the present day. Th e chapter recognizes the important milestones by which racial progress has been made but places racial progress in the context of the continued per- petuation of racial stratifi cation in the United States. Each step forward has been met with contestation by proponents of the status quo. Each attempt to correct the injustices of the path has been forestalled or undercut by new injustices. Th e chapter concludes with a discussion of how we might move closer to racial equality while recognizing that as long as people priori- tize self-interest, they will use their group associations and the power derived from them to obtain social advantages—even if doing so impedes others’ life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Chapter 3 features the voices of thoughtful experts in the fi ght against racial injustice, highlighting the unique perspec- tives that arise from academia, the practice of law, community organizing, art, and journalism. Th ey cover a variety of im- portant topics that range from the theoretical (pushing back against naive narratives of racial progress) to the institutional (noting the ways in which racism permeates the media land- scape, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, urban policy, the treatment of indigenous people) and the personal (laying bare the ways in which racism and the fi ght against it weigh on people in their everyday experiences). Consistent with the institutional perspective on racism at the heart of this book, Chapter 4 profi les organizations and groups known for particular contributions toward the continu- ation or remission of racist practices in America, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Black Lives Matter, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, the Ku Klux Klan, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Na- tion of Islam, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Th e Sen- tencing Project, and the United Farm Workers’ Movement. Chapters 5 and 6 emphasize some of the raw empirical ev- idence behind the book’s larger claims about the persistence