A new book explores how African-American women celebrities, producers, and even audiences use “postracial” discourse to refute the idea of postracialism itself.

Postracialism is the thinking that American society has evolved beyond racial discrimination and strife, according to author Ralina Joseph, a communications professor at the University of Washington, in Postracial Resistance: Black Women, Media, and the Uses of Strategic Ambiguity (New York University Press, 2018).

In the book, she describes a sort of “tightrope” that black celebrity women must walk: “Do they call out racism only to face accusations of being called ‘racist’ themselves? Or respond to racism in code only to face accusations of selling out?”

Here, Joseph answers questions about the book and her research.

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