New Directions in Aversive Racism Research: Persistence and Pervasiveness

Over 100 years ago, in his classic book, The souls of Black folk, W. E. B. DuBois (1903/1986) prophesized, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” (p. 372) DuBois offered this observation before the Wright brothers took the first powered flight, before automobiles were common, and before most households in the United States had electricity. The advances that have occurred in transportation and technology over the past century could not be envisioned at the time. However, DuBois clearly identified the social and political issue that has dominated US society for the past 100 years and the problem that threatens to extend far into the future.