As has been poignantly said by many social observers and scholars, race is an integral part of America’s DNA. Below are some of what we regard as seminal works on the subject of race. This list, by no means exhaustive, spans the 16th through the 21st centuries of intellectual inquiry on race. We believe the intellectual curious will find satisfaction within these suggestive resources. There is no particular order intended.
1 Notes on the State of Virginia-Thomas Jefferson.
2 White Over Black: Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812. Winthrop Jordan
3 Racism: A Short History-George M. Frederickson.
4 A Hideous Monster of the Mind: American Race Theory in the Early Republic-Bruce Bain
5 The Tyranny of the Majority – Lani Guinier
6 Shades of Freedom: Racial Politics and Presumptions of the America Legal Process-A. Leon Higginbotham
7 The Strange Career of Jim Crow-C. Vann Woodward
8 An American Dilemma-Gunnar Myrdal
9 Race: The History of an Idea-Thomas F. Gusset
10 The Souls of Black Folks– W.E.B. DuBois