Democracy in Sociological Societies

This presidential address first explores the increasingly popular position known as racial realism, which argues that the problem of racism has largely been solved, and places blame for any tenacious remnants of racism on a small group of intransigent white extremists and on people of color themselves. The racial realist perspective is not difficult for sociologists to dispute, using the extant research on institutional racism and its effects on people of color. However, the address then examines how white privilege is ingrained not only in the society at large, but also in the discipline of sociology itself and, more particularly, in sociological professional societies, including the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), both historically and contemporaneously. The address concludes with suggestions for improving the culture and practices of SSSP with regard to issues of privilege, race, and eth-nicity. Keywords: white privilege, sociology societies, racial realism. In 1940, sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois wrote that racial discrimination is the product not only of maliciousness, but also of “unconscious acts and irrational reactions unpierced by rea-son ” (Du Bois [1940]1984:6). Du Bois, who 20 years earlier had published what may be con-sidered the first critical analysis of whiteness (see Du Bois [1920]1996), recognized that conscious bigotry and willful acts of discrimination are not necessary to preserve racial ine-quality. Apart from the racial prejudices and overtly discriminatory behaviors of individuals