While overt prejudice is now much less prevalent than in decades past, subtle prejudice - prejudice that is inconspicuous, indirect, and often unconscious - continues to pervade our society. Laws do not protect against subtle prejudice and, because of its covert nature, it is difficult to observe and frequently goes undetected by both perpetrator and victim. Benign Bigotry uses a fresh format to examine subtle prejudice by addressing six commonly held cultural myths based on assumptions that appear harmless but actually foster discrimination: 'those people all look alike'; 'they must be guilty of something'; 'feminists are man-haters'; 'gays flaunt their sexuality'; 'I'm not a racist, I'm color-blind' and 'affirmative action is reverse racism'. Kristin J. Anderson skillfully relates each of these myths to real world events, emphasizes how errors in individual thinking can affect society at large, and suggests strategies for reducing prejudice in daily life.

‘Kristin Anderson frames serious social problems of prejudice and discrimination in a compelling, engaging manner through the systematic use of cutting-edge scientific research. Not only does she diagnose the problems, she also offers some possible cures leaving the reader with the optimism that things can continue to improve in our society. This book is a brilliant piece of scholarship that deserves to reach a wide audience.’

Campbell Leaper - University of California, Santa Cruz

'Benign Bigotry is a very well-written, clear and readable book. It relates to important contemporary issues, such as discrimination based on race, gender and sexuality, which persist[s] in spite of extensive legislation … would be of interest to someone considering, or engaged in, postgraduate study in social psychology; but in addition, it could appeal to the intelligent lay person as well as to professionals such as teachers, human resource executives, lawyers, police, social workers and public administrators.'

Source: Social Psychological Review