Racial Emotion at Work - by Tristin K Green

About the Book

"This is a book about our racial emotions as we experience them at work, about the need to re-set our institutional, and not just our personal, radars on racial emotions to situate our workplaces for racial justice success--and about how we can go about that. The point is not to define racism (or discrimination) in terms of emotions. Discrimination is, after all, a problem of human behavior and outcomes, not hearts and minds, but seeing emotions as a source of discrimination can open up new avenues for change. Racial Emotion at Work is an invitation to understand our own emotions and associated behaviors around race and also to change our institutions--our law and work organizations--for a fairer future for all"--

Book Synopsis

Takes White Fragility to the next level, placing emotional conversations about race squarely in the realm of employment discrimination law--exploring how implicit bias and diversity trainings are insufficient tools for battling inequality in the workplace.

Racial Emotion at Work is an invitation to understand our own emotions and associated behaviors around race--and much more. With this surprising and timely book, Tristin K. Green takes us beyond diversity trainings and other individualized solutions to discrimination and inequality in employment, calling for sweeping changes in how the law and work organizations treat and shape racial emotions.

Green provides readers with the latest research on racial emotions in interracial interactions and ties this research to thinking about discrimination and disadvantage at work. We see how our racial emotions can result in discrimination, and how our institutions--the law and work organizations--value and skew our racial emotions in ways that place the brunt of negative consequences on people of color. It turns out we need to reset our institutional and not just our personal radars on racial emotion to advance racial justice. Racial Emotion at Work shows how we can rise to the task.

From the Back Cover

"Tristin Green's book is essential reading for HR professionals, managers, diversity trainers, employees . . . in truth, anybody navigating the complexities of racial difference in the workplace. Weaving together expert-level knowledge of the law with social and historical context, all delivered in a deeply compassionate, accessible style, Green shows us what 'racial emotion' is--and why conventional legal rules and employer practices often fail to resolve the confusion, anger, and hurt that can result from racial conflict on the job. This invaluable book ends with concrete, practical suggestions for identifying and addressing racial emotion at work. It just might change your life."--Angela P. Harris, coeditor of Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia

"Green's fabulous new book is a long-overdue interrogation of racial emotions and the law, demonstrating how racial emotions often drive discriminatory actions. It is extensively researched, beautifully written, and an indispensable addition to the field."--Michelle Adams, author of The Containment: Detroit, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for Racial Justice in the North

"This is the work racial-equality scholars, diversity professionals, and diversity allies have long waited for. Green comprehensively covers the full gamut of racial experience--joy, confusion, dignity, and ambivalence--providing a far more comprehensive treatment than the more limited conversation on white fragility and white guilt that has dominated recent diversity conversations. Racial Emotion at Work has provided invaluable guidance to me as I counsel clients about why simple legal compliance strategies are not enough. Green's work teaches us how workplace structures produce both positive and negative racial emotions, and what administrators can do to make inclusion and belonging a reality. Business leaders, administrators, and frontline managers will find it essential reading. It has become a key resource in my diversity consulting practice and I return to it again and again to help my clients anticipate and avoid diversity stumbles."--Camille Gear Rich, Dorothy W. Nelson Professor of Law and Sociology and Principal of Rich Diversity Consulting

"Accessible, fascinating, and persuasive. Green is adept at drawing in readers who are unfamiliar with the subject, while also writing insightfully for experts in the field. Her discussion of the sociological and managerial literature is the best I have read."--Martha Chamallas, author of Principles of Employment Discrimination Law

Review Quotes

"Green encourages readers to expand their perceptions of racially assaulting (more obvious) and racially invalidating (more subtle) actions, and contends that both categories of behavior contribute to environments that support discriminatory conduct, policies, and legal outcomes. . . . Recommended."-- "CHOICE"

"This research goes beyond the more familiar research on implicit bias, cognitive biases, and automatic associations. . . . Green argues that if courts--and employers--would at least recognize racial emotions as a part of a broader system of subordination, they would reach better outcomes."-- "Jotwell"

About the Author

Tristin K. Green is Professor of Law at LMU Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and author of Discrimination Laundering: The Rise of Organizational Innocence and the Crisis of Equal Opportunity Law.