The Miner's Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy (The Nathan I. Huggins Lectures)

Like the canaries that alerted miners to a poisonous atmosphere, issues of race point to underlying problems in society that ultimately affect everyone, not just minorities. Addressing these issues is essential. Ignoring racial differences--race blindness--has failed. Focusing on individual achievement has diverted us from tackling pervasive inequalities. Now, in a powerful and challenging book, Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres propose a radical new way to confront race in the twenty-first century. Given the complex relationship between race and power in America, engaging race means engaging standard winner-take-all hierarchies of power as well. Terming their concept political race, Guinier and Torres call for the building of grass-roots, cross-racial coalitions to remake those structures of power by fostering public participation in politics and reforming the process of democracy. Their illuminating and moving stories of political race in action include the coalition of Hispanic and black leaders who devised the Texas Ten Percent Plan to establish equitable state college admissions criteria, and the struggle of black workers in North Carolina for fair working conditions that drew on the strength and won the support of the entire local community. The aim of political race is not merely to remedy racial injustices, but to create truly participatory democracy, where people of all races feel empowered to effect changes that will improve conditions for everyone. In a book that is ultimately not only aspirational but inspirational, Guinier and Torres envision a social justice movement that could transform the nature of democracy in America. Publishers Weekly To my friends, I look like a black boy. To white people I don't know, I look like a wanna-be punk. To the cops I look like a criminal, explains Lani Guinier's 14-year-old biracial son. Mixing myriad personal examples with hard data and analysis of biased news reports, Guinier and Torres cogently and forcefully argue that color-blind solutions are not attaining racial justice and ensuring a healthy democratic process. Arguing for a multifaceted conception of biological race, political race, historical race, cultural race, their purpose here is to find terms for discussing the lived experience of race in America and for moving toward a society that values (rather than just tolerates) difference. Moving through a wealth of complicated, intellectual and often abstract material, Guinier and Torres pick out the concrete and useful bits: Michel Foucault's explications of power as an ideology are explained via a contentious and racially divided union drive at K mart; the old joke about the rabbi and the bishop of Verona is used to illustrate the long-fought-over issue of race-conscious redistricting an issue that got Guinier labeled the quota queen in 1993 via her book The Tyranny of the Majority. Guinier, a professor at Harvard Law School, and Torres, professor at the University of Texas Law School, also grapple intelligently and with passionate wit with such explosive topics as racial profiling and the elusiveness of racial identification and identity (i.e., white Hispanics), making this one of the most provocative and challenging books on race produced in years. (Feb. 8) Forecast: While the tone and argumentation here are firmly academic compared with Guinier's other titles, this book will be widely reviewed on the basis of her reputation, and will be brandished by pundits. And even Beltway outsiders will remember the controversy when Clinton nominated her to be an assistant attorney general. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. Like The Canary's Distress, Which Alerted Miners To Poison In The Air, Issues Of Race Point To Conditions In American Society That Endanger Us All. In This Pioneering New Book, Lani Guinier And Gerald Torres Warn Us That We Ignore Race At Our Peril, And Propose A Dramatic, Hopeful Shift In The Way We Think About Race And Put It To Political Use. Ignoring Racial Differences - Color Blindness - Has Failed, They Argue. Race And Power Intertwine At Every Level Of Social Interaction, From Classrooms To Courtrooms To Congressional Districts. Only Cross-racial Coalitions Can Expose These Embedded Hierarchies Of Privilege And - Through Innovative Power-sharing And Democratic Engagement - Demolish Them. The Authors Call This Concept Of Enlisting Race To Resist Power Political Race. The Miner's Canary Tells Many Illuminating Stories Of Political Race In Action - Among Black Workers In A North Carolina Pork Plant, Among Hispanic Organizers In A Chicago Mayoral Race, Among Privileged Private School Students In Boston, Among A Coalition Of Education Reformers In Texas. Seamlessly Weaving Narrative With Theory, Guinier And Torres Reveal The Implications Of Political Race For Affirmative Action, Racial Profiling, The War On Drugs, Livable Wages, The Education Budget, Voting Reform, And Many Other Current Debates. The Aim Of Political Race Is Not Just To Remedy Racial Injustices. It Is To Empower People Of All Races To Struggle Together At The Grassroots Level, To Improve The Life Chances Of Everyone Who Has Been Raced Black, Regardless Of Skin Color. In A Book That Is Ultimately Both Aspirational And Inspirational, Guinier And Torres Envision A Recommitment To Social Justice That Promises Not Only To Revitalize The Civil Rights Movement In America But To Transform Democracy.--jacket. Political Race And Magical Realism -- A Critique Of Colorblindness -- Race As A Political Space -- Rethinking Conventions Of Zero-sum Power -- Enlisting Race To Resist Hierarchy -- The Problem Democracy Is Supposed To Solve -- Whiteness Of A Different Color? -- Watching The Canary. Lani Guinier And Gerald Torres. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [305]-373) And Index. "Like the canary's distress, which alerted miners to poison in the air, issues of race point to conditions in American society that endanger us all. In this pioneering new book, Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres warn us that we ignore race at our peril, and propose a dramatic, hopeful shift in the way we think about race and put it to political use.". "Ignoring racial differences - color blindness - has failed, they argue. Race and power intertwine at every level of social interaction, from classrooms to courtrooms to congressional districts. Only cross-racial coalitions can expose these embedded hierarchies of privilege and - through innovative power-sharing and democratic engagement - demolish them. The authors call this concept of enlisting race to resist power political race.". "The Miner's Canary tells many illuminating stories of political race in action - among black workers in a North Carolina pork plant, among Hispanic organizers in a Chicago mayoral race, among privileged private school students in Boston, among a coalition of education reformers in Texas. Seamlessly weaving narrative with theory, Guinier and Torres reveal the implications of political race for affirmative action, racial profiling, the war on drugs, livable wages, the education budget, voting reform, and many other current debates.". "The aim of political race is not just to remedy racial injustices. It is to empower people of all races to struggle together at the grassroots level, to improve the life chances of everyone who has been "raced" black, regardless of skin color. In a book that is ultimately both aspirational and inspirational, Guinier and Torres envision a recommitment to social justice that promises not only to revitalize the civil rights movement in America but to transform democracy."--BOOK JACKET. Annotation Like the canaries that alerted miners to a poisonous atmosphere, issues of race point to underlying problems in society that ultimately affect everyone, not just minorities. Addressing these issues is essential. Ignoring racial differences--race blindness--has failed. Focusing on individual achievement has diverted us from tackling pervasive inequalities. Now, in a powerful and challenging book, Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres propose a radical new way to confront race in the twenty-first century. Given the complex relationship between race and power in America, engaging race means engaging standard winner-take-all hierarchies of power as well. Terming their concept "political race," Guinier and Torres call for the building of grass-roots, cross-racial coalitions to remake those structures of power by fostering public participation in politics and reforming the process of democracy. Their illuminating and moving stories of political race in action include the coalition of Hispanic and black leaders who devised the Texas Ten Percent Plan to establish equitable state college admissions criteria, and the struggle of black workers in North Carolina for fair working conditions that drew on the strength and won the support of the entire local community. The aim of political race is not merely to remedy racial injustices, but to create truly participatory democracy, where people of all races feel empowered to effect changes that will improve conditions for everyone. In a book that is ultimately not only aspirational but inspirational, Guinier and Torres envision a social justice movement that could transform the nature of democracy in America. Like the canaries that alerted miners to a poisonous atmosphere, issues of race point to underlying problems in society that ultimately affect everyone, not just minorities. In this work, Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres propose a way to confront race in the 21st century.