Only Fools Believe Their Theories Are Finished Products! Thirty Years of Updates to the ‘Racialized Social Systems’ Approach to Race Matters

In this address, I discuss the theoretical work I have developed since the publication of my article "Rethinking Racism: Toward a Structural Interpretation" in 1997. First, I discuss the idea of "racial habituation." As part of this discussion, I highlight the centrality of "white normativity" to understand racial affairs. Second, I examine the formation of racial subjects and underscore the import of "regular white folks" (RWF henceforth) in the maintenance of white supremacy regimes. Third, I explore several sources for change. I end my address with an appraisal of the relevance of my claims and mention a few elements that still need to be theorized.