Eugenics proponents urged higher reproductive rates among the most desirable population and sometimes sterilization of the less desirable elements. The author traces four consecutive "enlargements of American whiteness" by which Irish, Italians, Jews, Hispanics, and other discriminated-against ethnicities gradually became fully accepted into white society. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 eliminated legal discrimination by race. As of the book's publication date, 2010, mixed-race people were more common and were becoming integrated: "The dark of skin who happen to be rich ... and the light of skin from any (racial background) who are beautiful, are now well on their way to inclusion." The author concludes that race has not disappeared from American society - "the fundamental black/white binary endures" - but the "category of whiteness - or we might say more precisely, a category of nonblackness - effectively expands." The book was a New York Times best seller. Paul Devlin, writing in the "San Francisco Chronicle", said the book "is perhaps the definitive story of a most curious adjective. It is a scholarly, non-polemical masterpiece of broad historical synthesis, combining political, scientific, economic and cultural history." Linda Gordon of "The New York Times" says the book "has much to teach everyone, including whiteness experts, but it is accessible and breezy, its coverage broad and therefore necessarily superficial." She adds that she wishes she had had this book, "an insightful and lively exposition", to help her teach undergraduate students about race theory. Thomas Rogers in "Salon" calls it an "exhaustive and fascinating new look at the history of the idea of the white race". In January 2019, it was translated into French as "Histoire des Blancs".