Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology

Please note: Eduardo has left the "African & African American Studies" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

I am trained in class analysis, political sociology, and sociology of development (globalization). However, my work in the last 20 years has been in the area of race. I have published on racial theory, race and methodology, color-blind racism, the idea that race stratification in the USA is becoming Latin America-like, racial grammar, HWCUs, race and human rights, race and citizenship, whiteness, and the Obama phenomenon among other things. In all my work, I contend that racism is fundamentally about "racial domination," hence, racism is a collective and structural phenomenon in society (see my 1997 ASR on this matter).

Contact Info:

Office Location:	Sociology, Durham, NC 27708
Office Phone:	(919) 660-5607
Email Address:
Web Page:	http://www.aas.duke.edu/aaas/~silva

Teaching (Spring 2026):

• SOCIOL 215.01, SOCIOLOGY OF RACISM IN AMERICA Synopsis

  Allen 326, TuTh 01:25 PM-02:40 PM

  (also cross-listed as AAAS 246.01, EDUC 215.01, LSGS 316.01, RIGHTS 215.01)

Education:

Ph.D.	University of Wisconsin, Madison	1993
M.A.	University of Wisconsin, Madison	1987
B.A.	University of Puerto Rico	1984

Research Interests:

Currently I am working on two books entitled, Anything but Racism: How Social Analysts Limit the Significance of Race (with Gianpaolo Baiocchi and Hayward Horton) and White Logic, White Methods: Racism and Methodology (with Tukufu Zuberi). I am also working on a project entitled, "We are All Americans! The Latin Americanization of Race Relations in the USA," where I explore the changing dynamics of racial stratification in the United States.

Areas of Interest:

Racial Stratification and
Race Relations

Keywords:

Human Rights • Ideology • Latin America • Methodology • Muser Mentor • Phenotype • Political science • Puerto Rico • Race • Racism

Current Ph.D. Students  

• Reece, Robert  
• Arriaga, Felicia  
• Louise Seamster  
• TRENITA CHILDERS  
• AUSTIN ASHE  
• Inseo Son  
• Victor Ray  
• Rose Buckelow  

Postdocs Mentored

• John Eason (2008-2010)  

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Bonilla-Silva, E; Lewis, AE, Mechanisms and mechanics of racial hierarchy: focusing on the “How” of racism, Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 49 no. 2 (January, Accepted, 2026), pp. 359-369 [doi]  [abs]
2. Bonilla-Silva, E, Rethinking racism again: theorizing the racial structure “for real”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 49 no. 2 (January, Accepted, 2026), pp. 370-386 [doi]  [abs]
3. Russo-Tait, T; Blanco, S; Bonilla-Silva, E, US should reject color-blind racial ideology., Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 389 no. 6757 (July, Accepted, 2025), pp. 242-243 [doi]
4. Kramer, R; Ray, V; Bonilla-Silva, E, Introduction to the Special Issue: Racism of Omission, Social Problems, vol. 72 no. 2 (May, Accepted, 2025), pp. 331-340 [doi]  [abs]
5. Brown, TH; Lee, HE; Hicken, MT; Bonilla-Silva, E; Homan, P, Conceptualizing and Measuring Systemic Racism., Annual review of public health, vol. 46 no. 1 (April, Accepted, 2025), pp. 69-90 [doi]  [abs]