ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the conceptualization of the racial state by linking or synthesizing relevant strands of the race relations and state theory traditions. Both traditions are very rich and both address aspects of societal dominance but their theoretical utilities have never been effectively mined through appropriate integration. Many scholars in the black politics traditions have long recognized that the state is important to the reproduction as well as alteration of the racial system of domination. There is a need to develop a comprehensive theory of the modern American racial state that will broaden studies regarding race and politics beyond mere discrete examinations of various actors, strategies, and policies. The chapter discusses the basic elements of the structure of the modern American racial state. Consequently, a useful framework of the American racial state must both recognize the complexity of the racial state and facilitate the ability to assess the significance of race to its constituent parts.
