"The scholarship is provocative, the text well written, and the argument clear and compelling. Pollock is a truly gifted writer."--Michelle Fine, City University of New York"Professor Pollock attacks a vitally important topic with vitality and an engaging and very readable style. Displaying a keen ear, she has artfully picked up the nuances of 'race talk' from students she has taught and observed. Pollock presents a troubling, but significant finding: Talking in racial terms can make race matter; but so too, can not speaking in racial terms."--Hugh Mehan, University of California San Diego"This welcome book invites us to become more critically conscious of 'race talk' and thus more aware of how even our silences can reproduce racial hierarchies."--Charles Payne, Duke University"Pollock's profound insights about the dilemmas of race talk and silence will change the way Americans think about language, social categories, and the responsibilities we must face if we are ever to make headway against racial inequality."--Katherine S. Newman, Princeton University