In this landmark work of critical theory, black studies, and visual culture studies, Alessandra Raengo boldly reads race as a theory of the image. By placing emphasis on the surface of the visual as the repository of its meaning, Raengo presents the most enduring ontological approach to what images are, how they feel, and what they mean. Having established her theoretical concerns, the author's eclectic readings of various artifacts of visual culture, fine arts, cinema, and rhetorical tropes provoke and destabilize the readers' visual comfort zone, forcing them to recognize the unstated racial aspects of viewing and the foundational role of race in informing the visual. A rich and thoughtful analysis that will appeal to a broad interdisciplinary audience.