Customer Reviews

Racial Culture: A Critique

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Richard Ford is a law professor at Stanford, and his book "Racial Culture : A Critique" is a reaction to a particularly robust form of multiculturalism, which he terms "difference discourse." He takes the reader through a story where activists began to combat perceived white dominance by emphasizing the differences between Black and white culture. They didn't do a great job of seeing if the differences they were talking about (1) even existed or (2) were worth celebrating. And then the "difference discourse" took on a life of its own, holding Black people up to a racial authenticity test that would previously have been unheard of, and convincing white people that, yes, Blacks really were different than them. Worst of all, dishonest brokers, forced by the Supreme Court to show that "diversity" is so profound that it is a compelling state interest, now largely peddle this "difference discourse." A noble intention has become mired in its own logic.

The book is somewhat polemical, but it's well-informed and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. It's quite personal and not written like a stale academic text. Despite the targets of his argument, the book is *not* a right-wing screed; on the contrary, it is steeped in classical liberalism. The emphasis on legal examples may not serve some readers more interested in broader social trends, but I found them interesting. It's definitely a good read for students of and citizens in modern multicultural societies.