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The Racial Code

The Racial Code

Tales of Resistance and Survival

Summary

'This is a book for the future: it gives us exactly the tools we need to dismantle racial injustice in our society' Baroness Doreen Lawrence

'A powerful, salient and gracefully written study of the corrosive dynamics of race in Britain from a trusted voice on the subject. We can all benefit from reading it' Diana Evans


Miles, a successful lawyer, is mistaken for the waiter at a networking event. Femi is on the verge of breakdown having been consistently overlooked for promotion at her university. Nigel's emails, repeatedly expressing concern about his employer's forthcoming slavery exhibition, are ignored. Carol knows she can't let herself relax at the work Christmas party...

This is racism. It is not about the overt acts of random people at the fringes of society. It's about the everyday. It's the loaded silence, the throwaway remark, the casual comment or a 'joke' in the workplace.

It's everything.

The Racial Code is an unprecedented examination of the hidden rules of race and racism that govern our lives and how they maintain the status quo. Interweaving narrative with research and theory, acclaimed expert Nicola Rollock uniquely lays bare the pain and cost of navigating everyday racism -- and compels us to reconsider how to truly achieve racial justice.

Reviews

  • A powerful, salient and gracefully written study of the corrosive dynamics of race in Britain from a trusted voice on the subject. We can all benefit from reading it
    Diana Evans

About the author

Nicola Rollock

Nicola Rollock is Professor of Social Policy and Race at King's College London. She is a member of the Wellcome Trust's Diversity & Inclusion Steering Group and Specialist Adviser to the Home Affairs' Select Committee's 'Macpherson 22 Years On' Inquiry. She was selected by Times Higher Education as one of eleven scholars globally to have influenced the debate in higher education. She is widely known for her research which examines, for the first time in the UK, the career experiences of Black female Professors and the exhibition that led on from this, Phenomenal Women. She has written for the Guardian, the FT and Vogue and she appeared as an expert contributor in the Bafta-winning Channel 4 documentary 'The school that tried to end racism'.
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