race is not imaginary—it is a very real way our society categorizes people—its intrinsic origin in biology is. Race is not an illusion. Rather, the belief in intrinsic racial difference is a delusion. The diabolical genius of making this political system seem biological is that the very unequal conditions it produces become an excuse for racial injustice. Whites pointed to sickness, fatigue, and illiteracy among the Africans they exploited as evidence of black biological inferiority rather than white inhumanity.
