This best-selling textbook explains the current state of research in the sociology of race/ ethnicity, emphasizing white privilege, the social construction of race, and the newest theoretical perspectives for understanding race and ethnicity. It is designed to engage students with an emphasis on topics that are meaningful to their lives, including sports, popular culture, interracial relationships, and biracial/multiracial identities and families.

The fourth edition comes at a pivotal time in the politics of race and identity. Fitzgerald includes vital new discussions on race and technology, attacks on critical race theory and the teaching of race, racism, and privilege in schools, and ongoing police violence against people of color. Prominent attention is given to immigration and the discourse surrounding it, policing and minority populations, and the criminal justice system. Using the latest available data, the author examines the present and future of generational change. New case studies include athletes and racial justice activism, removal of Confederate monuments, updates on Black Lives Matter, and Native American activism at Standing Rock.