“The fortunate man,” observed Max Weber, “is seldom satisfied with the fact of being fortunate. Beyond this, he needs to know that he has a right to his good fortune. He wants to be convinced that he ‘deserves’ it, and above all, that he deserves it in comparison with others.”
Are you like me in that you were sure you understood all that is necessary to understand about affirmative action? I’ve always been firmly on the ‘side’ of implementing affirmative action, but I had never really given the subject all of my attention, because I assumed, incorrectly, that a ‘broad strokes’ understanding of the topic was sufficient.
In this quest that I’m on to off-load as much of my white privilege as I possibly can, and become as consciously anti-racist as I possibly can, I keep learning some incredibly important and very not-so-obvious lessons… that the details are where the power is… the power to restrict positive outcomes or the power to liberate and clear the way for positive outcomes.
My very special guest for this conversation is Reed Fromer, and his book, ‘Racetrack,’ provides crystal clear reasoning that helps you and me to logically and constructively see through, and respond to, disinformation and negative comments about the legitimacy of affirmative action.
What I love, and personally very much needed in order to gain a true sense of the validity of affirmative action, is that his book does not lecture, but instead draws us in to deep understanding through story. Reed is a masterful storyteller, especially skilled with dialogue that balances absurdity with reality in ways that, in a standing-room-only audience with which I recently attended a reading of his book, there were audible waves of awakened comprehension… it was really quite something to experience, as is his book.
Is affirmative action a little more relevant to you after hearing Reed’s perspective? It is for me, and that’s not to say that it wasn’t already something that I knew mattered… though I didn’t have as clear a picture about the scope of its applicability.
Other people’s realities and challenges, I am once again reminded, are less top-of-mind, thus less likely to be fully comprehended than realities and challenges that directly effect us. Of course, considerations of direct and indirect effects are something we do well to acknowledge, since everything really is connected… a fact of life I plan to discuss on this podcast quite soon.
To purchase your copy of Reed’s book, ‘Race Track,’ subtitled The Blind Spot of Privilege, please go to LULU.com and search for Reed Fromer. (The direct link for the book on the LULU site is in this show’s notes.)
As always, if you have questions, comments or suggestions, please know you are warmly welcomed to connect with me on Facebook, on the One White Woman page. Thanks again for being here. The more we learn and the more we know, the more we can be part of real solutions.
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/onewhitewoman/message
Share this post