Deadric T. Williams

Associate Professor of Sociology |
Tweets == my own. Retweet != endorsement.

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

***Updated Website***
https://t.co/5CQYbR3hUa

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

I think one of the things that I regret when I'm asked to be on academic panels about racial inequality is that many of the panelists treat race as a given?

This approach treats "race" as if it's biologically real.

I focus on racialization; not race.

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

@bechhof I understand. One way to do this is to center racialization; not race categories. Then we use stats to understand processes. It's difficult to fully articulate here.

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

Eugenics still have quantitative social science in a chokehold. That's why many research papers still use the phrase: "racial differences."

Read my Substack "On Racial inequality."

https://t.co/XMCnaxRQTs

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

Conventional racial inequality research never suffered from an excess of nuance; it has suffered from a lack of nuance.

Racism scholars can't afford to "fuck nuance." Instead, we need to "give a fuck about nuance."

https://t.co/HWSA2QfYyS

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

@nomadj1s There are many authors.

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

@bechhof And what I'm saying is that theory and statistics should be inextricably linked. The problem is when variables are used in atheoretical ways. Center theory; not statistics.

I'm taking about racial inequality research.

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

@nomadj1s Theorizing racism.

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

@bechhof Statistics is simply a tool. When folkx put statistics before adequately theorizing, your response is the feasible conclusion.

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

4/4 Racism in America IS political economy, and American political economy is fundamentally racialized.

Read my Substack and subscribe.

https://t.co/rDyTueddHE

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

1/4 When I posted my Substack yesterday, I realized that "Ladders and Gulfs" are the reasons why many Americans view capitalism as a system but treat racism as an individual-level egregious act.

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

3/4 Also, this is why scholars who study income and poverty use "raceless" language unless they are examining racial inequality, and even then, they use race as shorthand for "the minorities."

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

10 years ago YouGov did a survey and asked Americans "what do you think has a bigger effect on your life...?"

I know why this varies. But what I want to focus on is the idea of race may be a unique experience for people who are racialized as Black.

[Dr. Allison Wiltz @queenie4rmnola]

Black people survived things no one should have to endure

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

These three things render racism as a system invisible, and sustain the status quo.

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

Three things that limit our understanding of racism and race in the United States.

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

(3) the overuse and misuse of the term "identity." This term has become a way to perform backdoor essentialism. It reduces socially constructed attributes as if they are hobbies (backpacker, kayaker, mountain climber, etc ).

[Deadric T. Williams @doc_thoughts]

This is special to me. My last talk of the semester. I spent 9 1/2 years at the University of Nebraska.

This is virtual and the website includes a link to register.

https://t.co/YwJDiOoJnY