Title The miner's canary : enlisting race, resisting power, transforming democracy / Lani Guinier, Gerald Torres

Edition 1st Harvard University Press pbk. ed Published Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London : Harvard University Press, 2003 ©2002

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Description 1 online resource (392 pages) Series The Nathan I. Huggins Lectures Nathan I. Huggins lectures. Contents 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 Summary 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 Notes "Based on the Nathan I. Huggins Lectures"--Title page verso Originally published: 2002 Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL English Print version record digitized 2011 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Subject Political participation -- United States Minorities -- Political activity -- United States Coalitions. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- Civil Rights. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- Human Rights. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Civil Rights. Coalitions Minorities -- Political activity Political participation Race relations -- Political aspects Ethnische Beziehungen Politische Beteiligung Nationale Minderheit Rassenverhoudingen. Politieke participatie. SUBJECT United States -- Race relations -- Political aspects Subject United States USA Form Electronic book Author Torres, Gerald, author. ISBN 9780674038035 0674038037

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