Notes for Coates 1-71. How is race the child of racism, not the father?

in this quotes, Coates claims that the idea of racism came before the idea of race. Part of Coates's work in this book is to dismantle certain myths. One of those is that race is a real, tangible thing defined by hue and hair and other clear boundaries. Coates explains how whiteness is a construct because who is considered white has changed so many times throughout history. Blackness, then, is also a construct. It was created to make sure there was a "below" - a mass of people that lays the foundation for the privileged group to stand upon. This makes the notion of race even more insidious since people do not understand its origins and it is difficult to find real ways to address it.