“blacks have ten times as many black friends as white friends. But white Americans have an astonishing 91 times as many white friends as black friends.” Even more disturbingly, sociological research indicates that whites typically use their sporadic and “casual acquaintances” with people of color to behave in a racist manner “with a clear conscience.”22 In other words, for many whites, the functional role of their black or brown “friends” is to give themselves even more permission to be racist without viewing themselves as such.
