In this article, I analyze the interpretations of both Talcott Parsons and Herbert Blumer regarding race relations in the United States. I aimto comprehend the theoretical and political implications of two main terms that guide these interpretations: “discrimination of color” in the case of Parsons and “racial prejudice” in the case of Blumer. I argue that both sociologists chose their respective terms because they are more compatible with their theoretical tools, which have opposite starting points, when their methodologies are considered. Consequently, these tools result in the creation of social realities considerablydifferent between themselves, even though focusing the same phenomenon. It becomes important in my argumentation Jonathan H. Turner’s attempt to approach, in the middle 1970’s, Parson’s structutural-functionalism to Blumer’s simbolic interactionism. This attempt, it must be mentioned, generated one of the most heated debates of contemporary Social Sciences.
Parsons; Blumer; Discrimination of color; Racial prejudice; Race relations