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

Please note: Eduardo has left the "Center for Latin American Caribbean 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://clacs.aas.duke.edu/~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:

Current projects: 4th Edition of RACISM WITHOUT RACISTS (Summer 2013, working on paper for inaugural issue of new SREM journal, working with Professor Kimberly Crenshaw (UCLA and Columbia Law Schools) on projects on race and utopia, working on paper for conference on structural racism tentatively titled “More than Prejudice: Restatement, Reflections, and New Directions , in the Racialized Social System Approach to Racism," and reparing work on race in the academy

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).

Areas of Interest:

Racial Stratification,
Social Theory,
Critical Race Methods,
Political Sociology, Latinos,
Latin America and the Caribbean,
and Epistemology

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]