The overarching theme in Carlos Cortés' "The Devil in the Details" isn't a literal devil, but rather the insidious nature of
systemic racism and its subtle, pervasive influence on American society. The "devil" is the intricate web of seemingly innocuous policies, practices, and assumptions that cumulatively create and perpetuate racial inequality. Cortés argues that these details, often overlooked or dismissed as insignificant, are the mechanisms through which racism operates and maintains its power.
Therefore, the book doesn't present a supernatural evil, but a very real and dangerous one: the seemingly invisible but deeply damaging consequences of unconscious bias, institutionalized discrimination, and historical injustices. The "details" are the seemingly minor incidents and policies that, when taken together, reveal a larger pattern of oppression.