What is racial formation theory? In 1986, scholars Michael Omi and Howard Wynott wrote a book called Racial Formation in the United States. In this book, Omi and Wynott offer the theory of racial formation to help us understand racial dynamics in our society.
Omi and Wynott define racial formation as the socio-historical process by which racial identities are created, lived out, transformed, and destroyed. The making and unmaking of racial categories and the endowment of these racial categories with meaning are constantly happening. Of course, it's not just anybody who can make a racial category.
You need power to do that. The government, for example, can create new racial categories. For the 2020 census, there were proposals to add both Middle Eastern and North African and Hispanic as new racial categories.
The federal government decided not to add these racial groups for the 2020 census, but the debates will surely re-emerge for the 2030 census as they have for every other census. The government can also reinforce racial inequality. For example, the federal government redlined areas where African Americans lived in the mid-20th century, making it very difficult for African Americans to purchase new homes and thereby build wealth.
The government can also alleviate racial inequality, for example, by passing and enforcing affirmative action laws and policies. Now, Omid Manat also introduced the concept of a racial project. They define a racial project as an effort to organize and distribute resources along a particular racial line.
For example, When legislators pass redistricting laws that redistribute voting power along racial lines, this is a racial project. If the redistricting laws end up limiting the voting power of African Americans, this would not only be a racial project, but a racist project because the laws exacerbate racial inequality. At the same time, if a coalition of community members came together, To fight for redistricting laws that would distribute voting power more fairly, this would also be a racial project.
It would not, however, be a racist project because the goal would be to distribute votes fairly across racial lines. Racial projects attempt to redistribute power and resources along racial lines. Racist projects attempt to redistribute power and resources in ways that reinforce or exacerbate existing racial disparities. Racial projects become racist only when they enhance racial disparities. In racial formation, Omian and Winnott also argue that the United States is in transition from a racial dictatorship to a racial democracy.
By this they mean that racial formations and racial projects have changed in the United States since the Civil Rights era. During the eras of slavery and Jim Crow, The United States was a racial dictatorship where racial inequality was encoded into law and enforced by direct domination. During this time, white neighborhoods and schools had the right to deny access to African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans, and there was no legal recourse to contest these denials.
Today, there is no legal segregation. But segregation and other forms of racial inequality persist. Omian will not draw from the Italian theorist Antonio Gramsci to argue that racial dynamics in the United States have changed from domination to hegemony.
Domination refers to direct rule by coercion, whereas hegemony involves rule by both coercion and consent. In the current era of racial hegemony, Racial disparities and white dominance are achieved through coercion and consent as opposed to through force. Oman will not therefore argue that the United States is undergoing a slow, gradual, and contentious transition from a racial dictatorship to a racial democracy. And what do you think? Does racial formation theory help us better understand racial dynamics in our society?