Introductory Notes
- Do I really need another book on the topic of Race1? When I bought this book, I’d forgotten that I had the two books linked to below by a couple of reviewers. They are evidently from the same stable.
- However, it’s an important and confusing topic – riddled with politics – with lots of having cake and eating it.
- Given that people can now ‘identify’ as Black – or Jewish – and mixed-race individuals tend to identify as Black with any appropriate ancestry (now that such claims are socially enhancing in certain circles) the genetic angle is becoming less and less relevant.
- However, I’m not impressed by the ’99.9%’ argument, given how much DNA we chare with bonobos, not to mention cabbages. Also, a base-pair difference in a single gene can have catastrophic consequences. So, it depends on just what the 0.1% differences are.
- I’ll be interested to read the arguments against the validity of DNA ancestry tests.
Cover Blurbs
- Biologically, race does not exist. Scientists have proven that human DNA is 99.9 percent identical. But we know that racism and its structural impacts shape our health, opportunities, and lives in profound ways. What is the true relationship between genetics and race? And how should we talk about identity in science and medicine?
- In What's Real About Race? , 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. Blending vivid prose with the latest in genetics research, this paradigm-shifting tour 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. Along the way, What's Real About Race? busts common myths about IQ, ancestry tests, behavioral racism, and more. In fascinating explorations of gene research, medicine, and social justice, Bliss argues for a new way forward. To create equity in science and society, we must disconnect our understanding of genetics from identity and see race for what it really is: a social category.
- At a time when misinformation about our bodies and identities is dangerously prevalent, What's Real About Race? is an indispensable resource and a powerful reminder that, biologically, our similarities vastly outweigh our differences.
- Reviews:
- What's Real about Race? is a tour de force of scholarly research and energizing prose that dissects one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented concepts in society today. It is not just informative -- it is transformative, providing essential insights that will change the way we understand and engage with the world around us.
→ Ruha Benjamin, author of Imagination and Viral Justice
- At the interfaces of science, society, and policy, this is a must-read. Rina Bliss is amazing at handling these tough topics with respect, documentation, engaging style and clarity.
→ George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard and MIT and author of Regenesis
- Passionate and powerful. An invaluable book for those working in genetics or healthcare . . . or anyone ever tempted to take a DNA ancestry test.
→ Angela Saini, author of "Saini (Angela) - Superior: The Return of Race Science" and The Patriarchs
- With dazzling insight that braids together culture, history, science, and memoir, What's Real About Race? deeply enriches our understanding of one of humanity's most complex and dynamic concepts. Rina Bliss bravely and meticulously debunks the most pernicious fallacies about race and shines a light on the ways it remains all too real for people's lived experiences. This is essential reading for us all.
→ Alondra Nelson, Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab, Institute for Advanced Study and author of author of "Nelson (Alondra) - The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome"
- With personal anecdotes and deep history, this provocative account makes a forceful argument for disentangling racism from racialism, race from genetic ancestry, and for seeing race as a purely social category.
→ Dalton Conley, author of The Social Genome
- Dr. Rina Bliss is the award-winning author of Rethinking Intelligence, Race Decoded, and Social by Nature and an associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
Contents Introduction – 1
- A Brief History of Race – 17
- The Genomics of Race – 37
- Seeing and Thinking Race – 50
- The Politics of Science – 66
- Genetics, IQ, and Behavior – 81
- Making a Business of Race – 101
- Deconstructing Race – 120
- The Reality of Race – 135
Acknowledgments – 145
Notes – 149
Further Reading – 159
Index – 163
Book Comment
WW Norton & Co (25 Mar. 2025). New Hardback.
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025
- Mauve: Text by correspondent(s) or other author(s); © the author(s)