John McWhorter and Randall Kennedy — Say It Loud!

<p>This week’s TGS features two incomparable guests: John McWhorter and Randall Kennedy. John, of course, needs no introduction. Randy is a professor at Harvard Law School and the author of many books, the latest of which is <em>Say It Loud!: On Race, Law, History, and Culture</em>. </p><p>In this episode, we get into it pretty much immediately. Randy admits to being “<strong>thrown” by Donald Trump’s election</strong> and to <strong>finding his campaign openly racist</strong>. I, as you may know, think that is <strong>an oversimplified explanation of Trump’s appeal</strong> in 2016. We go on to discuss how <strong>a certain amount of racism will be with us for the foreseeable future</strong>, and we’ll just have to deal with it. Given that the situation will never be perfect, <strong>what would constitute an “acceptable” level of racism?</strong> We then go on to discuss two of the “big issues”: <strong>Policing and affirmative action</strong>. There’s a lot of intensity in this conversation, and I’m excited for you to hear it!</p><p><em>This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, an ad-free podcast feed, Q&amp;As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.</em></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNYPKT-vaD8&#38;t=0s" target="_blank">0:00</a> Randy: “I feel torn and, frankly, bewildered” about the state of race in the US </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNYPKT-vaD8&#38;t=437s" target="_blank">7:17</a> Can we blame Trump for the tenor of racial discourse today? </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNYPKT-vaD8&#38;t=1047s" target="_blank">17:27</a> Crediting the achievements of black Americans after Emancipation </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNYPKT-vaD8&#38;t=1546s" target="_blank">25:46</a> Is the criminal justice system as discriminatory as it appears? </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNYPKT-vaD8&#38;t=2095s" target="_blank">34:55</a> Glenn: We need to deracialize the conversation about policing </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNYPKT-vaD8&#38;t=2754s" target="_blank">45:54</a> Taking account of culture in debates about racial inequality </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNYPKT-vaD8&#38;t=3409s" target="_blank">56:49</a> Affirmative action with an asterisk </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNYPKT-vaD8&#38;t=4109s" target="_blank">1:08:29</a> Does affirmative action require lowering standards?</p><p>Links and Readings</p><p>Randy’s new book, <a href="https://amazon.com/Say-Loud-Race-History-Culture/dp/0593316045" target="_blank"><em>Say It Loud!: On Race. Law, History, and Culture</em></a></p><p>W.E.B. Du Bois’s book, <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Philadelphia-Negro-Social-Study/dp/0812215737" target="_blank"><em>The Philadelphia Negro</em></a></p><p><a href="https://glennloury.substack.com/p/the-nyc-exam-school-controversy" target="_blank">Glenn’s conversation with Wai Wah Chin</a></p><p>Glenn’s book, <a href="https://amazon.com/Anatomy-Racial-Inequality-Preface-Lectures/dp/0674260465" target="_blank"><em>The Anatomy of Racial Inequality</em></a></p><p></p> <br /><br />This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://glennloury.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">glennloury.substack.com/subscribe</a>