ABSTRACT
The study of organ ized racism is deeply, but invis ibly, gendered. From the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan to contem por ary neo-Nazis, the commit ted racist appears as male. Women racists exist in shadow, lurking behind husbands and boyfriends. A recent social psycho logy of modern racist activ ists gives an account of Raymond, a long time adher ent of violent white suprem acy. At the edge of Raymond’s story appears his “dread fully myopic” girl friend:
Rosandra would stoop over the sink in the gloom, doing dishes. I have never seen a dish sink so poorly lit; there was perhaps a fifteen-watt bulb. Given that bad light and her terrible vision, she would have to bring the plate within a few inches of her eyes to see it well enough to wash it. Rosandra became preg nant almost at once: Raymond “didn’t believe in” contra cep tion.
