Revealing Britain’s Systemic Racism applies an existing scholarly paradigm (systemic racism and the white racial frame) to assess the implications of the Duchess of Sussex’s entry and place in the British royal family, including an analysis that bears on visual and material culture. The white racial frame, as it manifests in the UK, represents an important lens through which to map and examine contemporary racism and related inequities. By questioning the long-held, but largely anecdotal, beliefs about racial progressiveness in the UK, the authors provide an original counter-narrative about how Meghan’s experiences as a biracial member of the royal family help illumine contemporary forms of racism in Britain. Revealing Britain’s Systemic Racism identifies and documents the plethora of ways systemic racism continues to shape ecological spaces in the UK. Kimberley Ducey and Joe R. Feagin challenge romanticized notions of racial inclusivity by applying Feagin’s long-established theoretical work, aiming to make a unique and significant contribution to literature in sociology and in various other disciplines.
The second edition of this book continues and updates the saga of Meghan’s experiences, underscoring the myriad ways systemic racism continues to shape spaces in the UK, detailing how most white Britons continue to cling to colorblind myths about their democratic country as the mainstream British media denies the extensive racism that people face.
Revealing Britain’s Systemic Racism applies an existing scholarly paradigm (systemic racism and the white racial frame) to assess the implications of the Duchess of Sussex’s entry and place in the British royal family, including an analysis that bears on visual and material culture.
Arvustused
Through a theoretically informed, historically grounded, and timely intervention they analyze why a Black duchess can simultaneously be celebrated as proof of a colour-blind Britain while also interpreted as an imminent threat to the aristocracy. This work invites no less than a revisioning of the very structures that underpin British society.
Nalini Mohabir, Associate Professor, Concordia University
This book is an excellent example of how to discuss the role of race, racism, and colonialism in shaping ideas about Englishness and Britishness. Feagin and Ducey cover the background of race and the royal family as well as the aftermath of the marriage of Meghan Markle to Prince Harry and their abdication. Well known for their work on systemic racism in the United States, the authors provide an important resource for familiarising many British students and scholars how a systemic racial frame can help to make sense of the specificities of the British situation.
John Solomos, Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick, and editor-in-chief of Ethnic and Racial Studies
1. Systemic Racism: Looking Backward, Looking Forward,
2. Straight Out
of the White Racial Frame,
3. Post-Racial Duchess or Trophy Wife of
Diversity?,
4. White Men Ruling and the Problem with Meghan, Duchess of
Sussex,
5. Duchess Disrupter: A Royal Feminist and Anti-Racist
Counter-Framer,
6. Sincere Fictions of the White Virtuous Self: White
Cultural Impunity, Denialism, and Self-Proclaimed Entitlements to Amnesty,
7.
Royal Racism and the Coronavirus Pandemic,
8. Concluding Thoughts: How to
Talk Negatively About Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, without Sounding Racist
Kimberley Ducey is Professor of Sociology at the University of Winnipeg and Adjunct Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manitoba. Her books include George Yancy: A Critical Introduction (2023) and Racist America. Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations (2025).
Joe R. Feagin is University Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) in Sociology at Texas A&M University. He has written or co-written 80 scholarly books and 230-plus scholarly articles in his social science areas. His books include Systemic Racism (Routledge, 2006) and Racist America. Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations (2025). He was the 19992000 president of the American Sociological Association.
