Where is the love? A rejoinder by Bonilla-Silva on the Latin Americanization thesis

Abstract

In this article I respond to the criticisms and comments of the authors in this symposium on my Latin Americanization of race relations thesis. After I respond to each participant, I attempt to refine and clarify four central aspects of my thesis, namely, the idea of a tri-racial system, the notion of pigmentocracy, the concept of honorary white, and the fractures of this new racial order. I conclude by acknowledging that my ideas are bold and the data for some of my claims somewhat thin, but I also point out that because the racial terrain in the United States is shifting rapidly, new frameworks and ideas are needed to comprehend its new racial reality. Thus, despite the limitations of my thesis, I suggest that it may help analysis to begin thinking anew how race and racism will operate in the 21st century.