Shows
Attitude with Arnie ArnesenArnie Arnesn Attitude December 24 2025Part 1:We talk with Dr. Douglas Teschner, co-author of"Beyond the Politics of Contempt: Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Times".We discuss how we can talk with and attempt to connect with people who have wildly different political opinions from us. How to get over the tribalism that that now pervades in the US.Part 2:We talk with Prof. Jonathan Feingold, of Boston University, School of Law, and co-creator of Race Class.#RaceClass Ep. 51 | Trump Makes Whiteness Great AgainArnie and Jon discuss JD Vances openly white supremacist screed at...
2025-12-2455 min
#RaceClassEp. 50 | Professor Atiba Ellis on Redistricting, Voting Rights and the "New Colorblindness"“Voting rights right now is precarious and leaves open the door for undoing the generations of work to protect our young and fragile multiracial democracy.” That's the upshot from my conversation with Professor Atiba Ellis, a national voting rights expert and law professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. The conversation could not be more timely.
This week in California, the Trump White House and other plaintiffs are asking a federal court to enjoin Proposition 50, the California ballot initiative designed to counteract the GOP's redistricting efforts in Texas and elsewhere. Later this spring, the Supreme Court is poised to r...
2025-12-171h 23#RaceClassEp. 49 | Rory Bahadur on Critical Race Theory and Systemic InequityWashburn University law professor Rory Bahadur joins the #RaceClass Podcast to discuss his new book: A Critical Race Approach to Systemic Inequity. We explore Professor Bahadur's own racial education, his approach to analyzing racism in America, how human nature reproduces racism and the myths that corrupt our collective ability to understand the American project.
2025-12-1350 min
#RaceClassEp. 48 | Dr. CBS on Black Scare/Red Scare in the Age of TrumpProfessor Charisse Burden-Stelly, aka Dr. CBS, joins #RaceClass for a wide ranging conversation about the election of Zohran Mamdani, the legacy of Black Studies, resistance in the age of Trump, and her new book Black Scare/Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States.
2025-12-0656 min#RaceClassEp. 47 | Anti-Black Racism (Also) Enables White OppressionAs Thanksgiving and its enduring mythologies approach, Jon and Arnie discuss the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to evangelize white supremacy in the United States and abroad. Invoking Trump’s anti-DEI Executive Orders, federal officials purged a “report on missing and murdered Native Americans” while claiming “countries with diversity policies are infringing human rights.” The cooptation of civil rights rhetoric to undermine civil rights is nothing new. Nor is the strategic use of racism to justify public and private violence against communities of color and to distract impoverished white communities from the source of their material precarity. With limited exception, Democrats re...
2025-11-2827 minAttitude with Arnie ArnesenArnie Arnesen Attitude November 26 2025Part 1:We talk with Mel Goodman, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and a professor of government at Johns Hopkins University. A former CIA analyst, Goodman is the author ofFailure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIAandNational Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism. andA Whistleblower at the CIA.We discuss how Trump is attempting major regional change by pressuring and attacking Central America, and South America countries, notably, Venezuela. We also discuss how Trump is selling out American interests in Ukraine and Europe.Part 2:This is Race Class, with Jonathan Feingold.
2025-11-2657 min#RaceClass#Ep. 46 | The Cultural Betrayal of Black Women & Girls with Dr. Jennifer GomezDr. Jennifer Gomez, an Associate Professor at the Boston University School of Social Work, joins the #RaceClass Podcast to discuss her award winning book: "The Cultural Betrayal of Black Women & Girls." Dr. Gomez walks us through the genesis and evolution of her scholarship on cultural trauma and sexual violence -- specifically with reference to the subject position of Black women and girls. Join us for this deep, complex and hard hitting conversation with one of our nation's leading thinkers on the intersection of anti-blackness, patriarchy, sexual violence and communal trauma and repair.
Visit Dr. Gomez's website to learn more about...
2025-11-1651 min#RaceClassEp. 45 | A Teach-In for Truth at the SmithsonianIn this episode, Jon shares why he traveled to Washington, D.C. for a teach-in at the Smithsonian with fellow scholars, artists, activists, podcasters and others. The teach-in was a collaboration of two historical podcasts, This Day and The Memory Palace, and drew inspiration from the teach-ins that academics organized in the 1960s to deepen and support anti-war movements across the country. Jon & Arnie also explore how the Trump regime’s assault on the Smithsonian follows a fascist playbook that requires constructing a “mythic past” – that, in the United States, requires erasing the racial violence and terror that defines America past and...
2025-10-3127 min#RaceClassEp. 44 | How Schools Make Race with Prof. Laura Chavez-Moreno"Latine" or "Latinx"? Race or ethnicity? English Language Learner or Emergent Bilingual?
UCLA Professor Laura Chavez-Moreno joins #RaceClass to discuss her new book "How Schools Make Race: Teaching Latinx Racialization in America." We explore how schools teach about race implicitly and explicitly; making Latinidad; and racialization's consequences. We also hit on the escalating ICE raids terrorizing communities across the country.
Grab yourself a copy of Professor Chavez-Moreno's book from Harvard Education Press: https://laurachavezmoreno.com/
2025-10-0850 min#RaceClassEp. 43 | Democrats' Great Betrayal & the Mythology of Charlie KirkWe discuss Democratic leadership’s inexcusable failure to speak honestly about and to denounce the racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, anti-LGBTQ bigotry and Christian Nationalism that animated Charlie Kirk’s ideology and continues to undergird the organizations he built. It should be easy to express empathy and denounce political violence without engaging in revisionist myth making that normalizes the hate-filled rhetoric and machinery that fuels the Trump regime’s assault on our classrooms, our communities and our democracy. Yet that simple task is proving too much for too many in America’s opposition party. Rather than speak simple truths, leading Democrats in the Hous...
2025-09-2625 min#RaceClassEp. 42 | For Trump, Racism is Ends and MeansArnie and Jon discuss how the Trump regime sees racism as both an end goal and a means to realize a whole slew of fascist desires. As to the end, we are witnessing an unrelenting campaign to entrench a racial order defined by white supremacist ideals that trace to antebellum America. The erection of confederate monuments, the erasure of Black history, the claim that “race is biological,” and the lawless kidnapping of people of color all serve this agenda. But Trump is also wielding racism to discredit political opponents, defund public education and redirect billions of dollars to allies – all in the...
2025-09-0127 minAttitude with Arnie ArnesenArnie Arnesen Attitude August 28 2025Part 1:We talk with Ryan Cooper, Senior Editor at the American Prospect.We discuss war on wind power electricity generation. In Rhode Island, 80+ % of an offshore wind turbine project has been installed. Trump ordered it to be stopped. This, in light of the ever greater need for electricity in the US.Part 2:Our guest is Prof. Jonathan Feingold, and this is Race Class.Ep. 42 | Trumps Racism is Ends and MeansIn this episode, Arnie and Jon discuss how the Trump regime sees racism as both an end goal and a means to...
2025-08-2855 min
#RaceClassEp. 41 | Harvard's No Folk Hero & Trump Resegregates AmericaIn this episode, Jon and Arnie chat more about the Trump administration’s ongoing assault on Harvard University. We highlight some complexities to this dynamic. On the one hand, Harvard is the current bulwark against Trump’s authoritarian effort to control every aspect of every university in the country. For this reason, Harvard’s fight is everyone’s fight. On the other hand, Harvard enabled Trump’s escalating attacks on racial justice and free speech on campus. So even as Harvard deserves our support, it also warrants our continued criticism. We also discuss the Trump administration’s open desire to make integra...
2025-06-0727 min
#RaceClassEp. 40 | Don't Praise Harvard Just YetLast week, Harvard University started fighting back against Trump's assault on higher ed. In this episode of #RaceClass, Jon and Arnie discuss why immediate praise for Harvard is premature. To deserve our praise, Harvard needs to do more than defend itself. It needs to leverage its near $60 billion endowment to defend all universities against unlawful federal interference. Harvard need not do it alone. Following the lead of thousands of university professors across the country, Harvard should create a mutual defense pact that unites all of our campuses to protect our fundamental right to free and open inquiry free from intimidation...
2025-04-2627 min#RaceClassEp. 39 | Trump is Wielding Anti-Black Racism & Antisemitism to Crush AmericaWe recorded about twelve hours after plainclothes federal officers abducted a Tufts University graduate student off the street in Somerville, MA. The student's apparent "transgression"? Writing an op-ed in Tufts' student newspaper advocating for Tufts to divest from Israel.
To understand how we've reached this moment, we start to unpack how President Trump is wielding both anti-Black racism and antisemitism to crush American democracy. The truth is, Trump is a terrific story teller. The story he's telling now to justify an open assault on our universities and our students marshals race as a political weapon. Trump is cementing a predictably...
2025-03-2927 min#RaceClassEp. 38 | Why Are All The Universities Folding to Trump?In this episode, Arnie and Jon explore why so many universities have voluntarily scrubbed websites and shuttered still lawful and mission critical diversity, equity and inclusion programs. We also discuss why President Trump's anti-DEI measures are themselves legally suspect. Part of the reason is that Trump's war on DEI rests on, and reinforces, the morally repugnant and empirically bankrupt notion that women and people of color and presumptively incompetent.
2025-03-0127 min#RaceClassEp. 37 | Trump Brings the Racism and the GriftIn this episode, we discuss how Trump’s first week in office reflects what we already knew. Racism remains one of Trump’s favorite political tactics. He’ll use it to demean and delegitimize political opponents, and to distract from a separate pillar of his administration: massive self-dealing. As always, Florida stands out as a model for how opportunistic politicians can leverage racism, sexism and homophobia to grift the public and turn a profit, all while undermining every institution necessary for meaningful democracy. We also note that Trump’s racist rhetoric is effective, in part, because supposedly liberal institutions – like elite univ...
2025-01-2427 min#RaceClassEp. 36 | Florida Offers the Blueprint for Trump's War on EducationIn this episode, the #RaceClass Podcast explores Trump’s relationship with higher education. On the one hand, independent universities present a threat to Trump and his authoritarian ambitions. On the other hand, universities can aid Trump by voluntarily ceding power or otherwise providing cover for his antidemocratic aims. To preview how Trump might try to break and capture the nation’s universities, we look to Florida as a blueprint for Trump’s incoming war on higher education. We also discuss how universities and democratic leadership have already played into rightwing campaigns to their own detriment.
2024-12-0827 min
#RaceClassEp. 35 | Project 2025 & Environmental InjusticeWe discuss “Cancer Alley,” an 85-mile stretch between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that contains one of the largest concentrations of fossil fuel and petrochemical operations in the Western Hemisphere. These facilities expose nearby residents, who are disproportionately Black, to toxic pollutants and “severe health harms including elevated burdens and risks of cancer, reproductive, maternal, and newborn health harms, respiratory ailments.”
Louisiana and the federal government have long failed to remedy these harms. In 2022, local community groups filed multiple complaints with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that alleged Louisiana’s failure to address these harms violated Title VI by “subjec...
2024-10-2527 min#RaceClassEp. 34 | From CRT to DEI: Tracing the Assault on Multiracial Democracy[This episode first aired as a live virtual panel on September 27, 2024.]
Since the summer of 2020, rightwing officials and organizations have orchestrated a coordinated campaign to redefine antiracism as the new racism. Early iterations of this campaign presented a caricature of Critical Race Theory to discredit modest antiracist reforms and to limit classroom conversations about racism, bias, and American history writ large. More recently, against the backdrop of politics around Israel and Palestine, many of the same individuals and entities that spearheaded attacks on CRT have turned their sights on “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) as well as various forms of crit...
2024-10-061h 03#RaceClassEp. 33 | Even a Trump Judge Agrees that "anti-CRT" Laws are Pro-CRTIn a surprising turn of events, a federal judge recently upheld most of Oklahoma’s HB 1775, a law widely perceived as banning Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the state. However, the ruling delivered an ironic twist: Judge Charles Goodwin—a Trump appointee—clarified that the law does not prohibit teaching about race, racism, or related concepts like implicit bias. Instead, it compels such instruction, exposing a significant gap between the law's text and the partisan rhetoric and public understanding surrounding it.
This ruling has broad implications for similar "anti-CRT" laws across the country, challenging the narrative that laws like Florida’s Stop W...
2024-09-2927 min#RaceClassEp. 32 | Teaching the Truth on Trial (Again) in TennesseeFollowing the 2020-21 school year, the Sullivan County (TN) school board fired Matthew Hawn, a high school social studies teacher. As was reported at the time, the School Board punished Mr. Hawn after he assigned his Contemporary Issues class a Ta-Nehisi Coates article and shared a spoken word poem by Kyla Jenee Lacey. On Monday, after nearly three years, Mr. Hawn had his first opportunity to challenge his firing in Court. Jon traveled to Tennessee to observe the hearing. In this episode, Jon and Arnie explore the dynamics in the courtroom, the case's vast implications, and a question that hung...
2024-09-0125 min#RaceClassEp. 31 | Teaching the Truth with Dr. James WhitfieldDr. James Whitfield joined the #RaceClass Podcast for a wide ranging conversation about his racial education as a multi-racial child in west Texas; the hostile environment teachers and students face in Texas today; and reasons for optimism even in oppressive times.
Dr. Whitfield is an award-winning education advocate centered on creating safe, nurturing, and equitable learning environments which, in turn, help transform communities. In summer 2020, Dr. Whitfield was early into his tenure as the first Black principal at a predominantly white high school in Texas. Amid global protests for racial justice, Dr. Whitfield penned a letter detailing the pain of...
2024-08-0527 min#RaceClassEp. 30 | "Asian American is Not a Color," a Conversation with Dr. OiYan PoonIn this episode, Dr. OiYan Poon joins #RaceClass to discuss her new book “Asian American is Not a Color: Conversations on Race, Affirmative Action and Family.” Dr. Poon is a distinguished social scientist and race scholar. In a wide ranging conversation, Dr. Poon explores her own racial education as child in western, MA; how the term “Asian American” originated within the broader Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s; what it means to be "Asian American"; and why affirmative action is often necessary to combat anti-Asian racism.
2024-07-0827 min#RaceClassEp. 29 | Because It’s Always About Race, Even When It’s NotIt has been a long semester, and we are tired. In this episode, Jon and Arnie connect lots of dots to explore the many ways race shapes contemporary fights in American society. From the Governor of Alabama dog whistling at the UAW, to pundits scolding university presidents who “negotiate” with student protesters, to GOP leaders weaponizing antisemitism for political gain, race is doing work—one way or another. Because it's always about race, even when it's not.
2024-05-2725 min#RaceClassEp. 28 | Identity Politics & Playing "Jewish Cards"On Wednesday Apr. 24, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he would tour Columbia University and host a news conference to discuss “the troubling rise of virulent antisemitism on America’s college campuses.” Just ten days’ prior, Johnson appeared alongside Donald Trump for a press conference that “echoed language from the racist [and antisemitic] great replacement theory.” With his pivot to Columbia and feigned concern over anti-semitism, one might say Mike Johnson is engaging in “identity politics” and playing a “Jewish card.”
He is far from alone. Since October 7th, individuals and entities from across the political spectrum have mobilized Jewish identity to wage ideological...
2024-04-2626 min#RaceClassEp. 27 | Rightwing Jewish Orgs Fuel a New AntisemitismOne increasingly encounters the claim that antisemitism is on the rise and progressive politics are to blame. For anyone familiar with Christopher Rufo’s unapologetic smear campaigns against CRT and DEI, there is a reflex to dismiss both claims as somewhat obvious propaganda. That reflex makes sense, but it invites two risks: one analytical, one political. The analytical risk entails discounting actual evidence of anti-Semitism. The political risk entails alienating allies who hold legitimate concerns about antisemitism past and present.
To guard against these risks, we take seriously both claims. We then discuss our provisional conclusions. First, it is likely th...
2024-03-3133 min#RaceClassEp. 26 | Even Our Heroes Are Flawed; How Brown v. Board of Education Reinforced Racial HierarchyIn this episode, we explore two things that Brown v. Board of Education and DEI have in common.
The first is the story we know well. Both Brown and DEI have been openly vilified by the Right—a history that spans the Southern Manifesto to an ongoing assault on racial diversity.
The second is the story that’s almost never told. The Supreme Court’s most celebrated decision and contemporary efforts to diversify elite institutions valorize and center whiteness—often in ways that naturalize longstanding patterns of racial inequality in the United States.
The answer isn’t to disown Brown or demean...
2024-02-2927 min#RaceClassEp. 25 | When it Comes to DEI, The Left Keeps Feeding the TrollsRightwing personalities are blaming DEI (“diversity, equity, inclusion”) for everything from broken Boeings and bankrupt banks to a flaccid military and train derailments. These are facially unserious claims. Yet they resonate with much of the public. One might say they enjoy a common-sense logic that pits diversity against excellence.
We explore two factors that feed rightwing DEI smears: (1) engrained racial narratives that rationalize inequality and (2) the Left--specifically, liberal institutions that also rationalize inequality—even when doing so undermines their own DEI policies. To concretize the latter dynamic, we highlight Harvard’s failure to acknowledge all the ways its admissions process function...
2024-01-2626 min#RaceClassEp. 24 | The Anti-Zionism = Anti-Semitism Power PlayOn Dec. 5, the U.S. House passed HR 894, which states that “anti-Zionism is antisemitism.” On the same day, House Republicans charged the presidents’ of Harvard, Penn and MIT with institutional “cultures” that “foster [antisemitism] because you have faculty and students who hate Jews, hate Israel and are comfortable apologizing for terror.” As Noah Zatz recently observed, both claims rely on a logical leap that requires “conflating the Israeli state with its Jewish residents in conjunction with metaphors of destruction.”
Building on Zatz’s analysis, we interrogate the claim that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Even recognizing that criticism targeting Israel can be antisemitic, the now...
2023-12-0757 min#RaceClassEp. 23 | Why We Can't Talk About Israel-Palestine; A Conversation w/ Prof. Sahar AzizOn October 7, Hamas launched horrifying and unprecedent attacks targeting Israeli civilians and continues to hold Israeli hostages. Israel responded within an ongoing assault on Gaza that includes airstrikes and a blockade on humanitarian aid. Current estimates suggest that over 1,400 people have died in Israel and nearly 6,000 in Gaza. The conflict remains agonizing front-page news. And yet it feels as if we—the public, media, politicians—are incapable of really talking about what’s happening in Israel and Gaza. One reason is that this conflict, like many others, is racialized. This dynamic shapes how we process, perceive, and engage with the confli...
2023-10-2729 min#RaceClassEp. 22 | On Critical Race Theory; A Conversation with Victor RayIn this special hour-long episode, Professor Victor Ray joins us to discuss racial education, structural racism, identity politics and his recent book "On Critical Race Theory."
2023-10-0150 min#RaceClassEp. 21 | Why Ask Students About Race?In SFFA v. Harvard, the Supreme Court narrowed a university’s ability to consider the racial identity of individual students during admissions. Justice Roberts also emphasized that universities may consider each student’s personal experiences with race or racism. Many schools have responded by adding admissions essays that prompt students to share how race or racism affects their lives.
In this episode of #RaceClass, we explore a basic question: Why ask about race? (Full disclosure: We're concerned that many schools are spending more time wordsmithing their essay prompt than thinking hard about why the question matters.) To help, we explore thre...
2023-08-2626 min#RaceClassEp. 20 | Our Free Speech Crisis. Don't Blame the Students.For our 20th Episode, we circle back to the beginning. In Episode 1, we asked why the mainstream press struggled so mightily to call the GOP’s campaign of discriminatory censorship what it is: an unapologetic assault on free speech. Unfortunately, little has changed. 18 months later, and much of the press remains mired in a dysfunctional and dangerous “free speech debate.” To correct that narrative, we dive into a Newsweek op-ed that Prof. Feingold published with renown critical theorists Professors Athena Mutua and Angela Harris, all members of the Critical (Legal) Collective. They identify four troubling dynamics that continue to distort our na...
2023-07-2825 min
#RaceClassEp. 19 | Some Affirmative Action MythsThe opinion dropped. As we expected, conservative Justices invoked the claim that race-conscious policies stigmatize and mismatch their beneficiaries. Both claims have attracted sustained critique. But they still enjoy traction in the popular press and shape our national affirmative action conversations. In this episode of #RaceClass, we explore the racialized presumptions that anchor both claims.
Consider the following. White men are routinely admitted to Harvard and other elite schools with lower mean test scores than their Asian American counterparts. Per stigma theory, all white men on campus should face a presumption of intellectual inferiority. Per the "mismatch" hypothesis, all those...
2023-06-3026 min#RaceClassEp. 18 | Class Can't do the Work of RaceNext month, the Supreme Court will likely ban universities from considering the racial identity of individual applicants. Many schools will seek “race-neutral alternatives” to retain a racially diverse student body. One likely alternative will be to consider each student’s class status (but not their racial identity)—or what Prof. Cheryl Harris has termed “class-NOT-race” admissions policies.
If we want fair admissions, we should consider a student’s class status. But it’s a mistake to think class-based policies do the work of race-based policies. We would never think middle-class status insulates women from sexism. So why would we think middle-class sta...
2023-05-2626 min#RaceClassEp. 17 | Why Are White Guys Exempt from Racial Profiling?Recent events have sparked well-worn debates about racial profiling. When these conversations arise, we often hear the claim that racial profiling is “rational.” We’re skeptical. Why? Because this claim rests on two faulty assumptions: (1) that we have accurate information in our heads & (2) that accurate information rationally shapes our behavior.
Even were those assumptions correct, racial profiling also raises critical moral questions that rarely enter our national dialogue. What numbers justify profiling? Do we apply the same standard to different groups? What’s the proper unit of analysis? Are white men exempt?
Racial profiling is not rational. Nor does racial profilin...
2023-04-2827 min#RaceClassEp. 16 | How to Talk About Race without Reproducing Racism; A conversation with Dr. Deadric WilliamsConsider the following two sentences:
“White students are often over-represented on elite college campuses.”
“Students racialized as white are often over-represented on elite college campuses.”
The first might seem unobjectionable. The second might seem awkward and jargony. The challenge is, the phrase “white students” implies that “white” is some natural (perhaps even biological) trait that some people inherently possess. This contradicts the basic insight that race isn’t biological—to the contrary, people created “race” to rationalize social inequality and acts of extreme violence (including enslavement and conquest). Even if we know race is socially constructed, when our language treats racial categories as nat...
2023-03-2527 min#RaceClassEp. 15 | Why do Words Scare DeSantis? Hint: It's All SystemicWords matter. In April 2022, the College Board’s AP African American studies curriculum referenced the word “systemic” 9 times; “reparations” 15 times; “intersectionality” 19 times. By Feb. 2023, following pressure from DeSantis and others, those words had vanished from the AP curriculum (to be precise, “reparations” and “intersectionality” still appear one time each). We might ask: Why do words like “systemic” threaten folks like DeSantis? The answer is simple. These words, and the ideas they carry, help us explain why racial inequality persists years after American Apartheid fell. And without these words, it becomes much easier to justify present-day inequities as legitimate and just.
To highlight the power of...
2023-02-2527 min#RaceClassEp. 14 | Racial Terrorism in BuffaloOn May 17, 2022 #RaceClass recorded a special episode in response to the Buffalo Race Massacre. We explore how increasingly common political rhetoric from rightwing entities laid the ideological groundwork for an act of racial terrorism that was as predictable as it was deplorable.
2023-02-0328 min#RaceClassEp. 13 | The Fight for Racial InEquality$4 Billion. That’s how much the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) earmarked for Black farmers and other farmers of color.* Sound high? Low? Consider this. Over the 20th Century, Black farmers lost 90% of their land. This loss stemmed from pervasive violence, intimidation and discrimination—what we term “conspiratorial sabotage”—by private and public actors, including the federal government. A recent study valued that land loss at $326 billion. But Black farmers never saw a dime from the ARPA. After it passed, rightwing law firms (including Stephen Miller’s America First Legal) sued—arguing the law amounted to unlawful anti-white discrimination. Multiple courts enjoine...
2023-01-2726 min#RaceClassEp. 12 | A "Culture War" Between Justice & InjusticeIn the final episode of 2022, we reflect on the ongoing campaign to defund and discredit public education in America. In 2022, a network of rightwing think tanks, donors, and officials doubled-down on anti-literacy bills and book bans while often deploying rhetoric that defames the LGBTQ+ community, demonizes Critical Race Theory, and denigrates “wokeness.” The mainstream press locates these efforts within a broader educational “culture war.” This framing risks downplaying the actual stakes and legitimizing an anti-democratic agenda.
So we asked the media: if we’re stuck with the “culture war” narrative, at least tell us what each “culture” believes in. Turns out it’s straightf...
2023-01-0327 min#RaceClassEp. 11 | Race is a Story (That Justifies Inequality)“Race is a social construct.” The phrase is easy to say. But often we struggle to explain what it means.
To deepen our racial literacy, we dig into one of the socially constructed components of race: the meanings (e.g., stereotypes) associated with a given racial category. Racial meanings do more than ascribe traits (e.g., industrious, lazy, deserving, undeserving) to a particular group. Racial meanings also explain and legitimize a group’s relative social status. In so doing, race narrates our world—often without us even knowing it.
2022-11-3029 min#RaceClassEp. 10 | Anti-Affirmative Action Activists Make the Case for Affirmative ActionOn Halloween, the Supreme Court will hear two cases challenging the legality of race-conscious admissions. The cases feature a common plaintiff, Students for Fair Admissions, which is funded by conservative activists and wants to ban universities from ever considering an applicant's race. This extreme request would overturn decades of precedent and constitutionalize racial advantages for White applicants. The outcome is all but guaranteed: the Supreme Court's rightwing majority will eliminate race-conscious admissions in higher education. But ironically, the plaintiff's own arguments call for more affirmative action, not less. Specifically, the plaintiff exposes how ostensibly colorblind components of Harvard's admissions process...
2022-10-3028 min#RaceClassEp. 9 | A Supreme Coup d'elawThe Supreme Court’s rightwing majority is poised to prohibit all public and private universities from considering an applicant’s race – even if doing so is necessary to maintain an integrated campus; promote an objective, individualized and merit-based process; or create an equal learning environment. When the Supreme Court ends affirmative action in higher education, the majority will claim that the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VI and Brown v. Board command it.
So we asked, how does this (expected) outcome stack up against Dobbs and other recent opinions critiqued as lawless, ends-oriented results untethered to the Constitution, history, or theory? We argue...
2022-10-0328 min#RaceClassEp. 8 (The B-Side): UNC's Legacy of Anti-Black Racism | A Conversation with Dr. William SturkeyThis month on #RaceClass, we asked: How does race matter before admissions?
To explore that question, UNC historian Dr. William Sturkey joins us to unpack UNC-Chapel Hill’s legacy of racial exclusion and anti-Black racism. Dr. Sturkey details UNC’s ongoing inability to reckon with this history. UNC presents itself as the nation’s oldest “public” university. But for roughly 70% of its existence, the university formally excluded students of color and espoused overtly white supremacist attitudes. Even today, as UNC defends affirmative action before the Supreme Court, the university continues to “sanitize” its past, neo-confederates march on its campus, and the names of s...
2022-08-2627 min#RaceClassEp. 8 (The A-Side): Race Matters Before Admissions | Racial Exclusion at Chapel HillThis month on #RaceClass, we’re asking: How does race matter before admissions? To start answer this question, we’re examining UNC-Chapel Hill’s history of racial exclusion.
UNC is defending its right to consider applicant race before the Supreme Court. To understand why affirmative action remains a legal necessity and moral imperative at UNC, we explore UNC’s legacy of racial exclusion. UNC is our nation’s oldest "public" university. But from its founding in 1789 through 1955, UNC formally excluded Black students from its undergraduate campus. This policy reflected openly white supremacist attitudes at the highest echelons of UNC’s leadership...
2022-08-1528 min#RaceClassEp. 7 (The B-Side): Race Matters During Admissions | A Convo with Prof. Jerry Kang#RaceClass Ep. 7(b) | How Race Matters During Admissions: A Conversation with Prof. Jerry Kang
The Supreme Court is poised to ban affirmative action in college admissions. So we asked the question: Do "colorblind" admissions = race-neutral admissions? In a society where race/ism pervades so many aspects of our private and public lives, the unavoidable answer is no.
To unpack this insight, Prof. Jerry Kang joins us to explore how affirmative action provides a more "fair measure" of student "merit." Prof. Kang explains that most measures of student achievement (e.g., letters of recommendation, grades, test scores) tend to under-state the...
2022-07-3028 min#RaceClassEp. 6 (The A-Side): Race Matters After Admissions: Equality Requires Diversity#RaceClass Ep. 6, Part A | Race Matters After Admissions: Equality Requires Diversity
#RaceClass is launching a 6-part series on affirmative action. But we’re taking an unconventional turn. Rather than focus on affirmative action itself, we’re exploring how *race matters* before affirmative action arrives. Specifically, we’ll ask how race mattersbefore, during, and after university admissions. Why? Because we can’t know affirmative action until we know the backdrop it intervenes against.
To kick things off, we explore how racial diversity serves a key equality function. Specifically, racial diversity safeguards each student’s right to enjoy the benefits of university membership...
2022-07-3027 min#RaceClassEp. 7 (The A-Side): Race Matters During Admissions | Colorblind Racial PreferencesRaceClass Ep. 7(a) | How Race Matters During Admissions: Colorblind Racial Preferences
The Supreme Court is poised to ban affirmative action in college admissions. So we asked the question: Do colorblind admissions = racially neutral admissions? In a society where race/ism pervades so many aspects of our private and public lives, the unavoidable answer is: No.
To unpack this insight, we explore how numerous colorblind considerations in Harvard's admissions process function as a race/class bonus for wealthy white applicants. Legacy preferences form a part of this story, but that's just the beginning.
2022-07-2727 min#RaceClassEp. 6 (The B-Side): Race Matters After Admissions | A Convo with Dr. Evelyn Carter.#RaceClass Ep. 6, Part B: How Race Matters After Admissions | A Conversation with Dr. Evelyn Carter.
Last episode, we explored how race matters after university admissions. Affirmative action advocates often highlight diversity’s “speech” function—that is, how more diversity promotes richer conversations in the classroom. That’s true, but it understates the case for diversity. Accordingly, we shifted the focus to diversity’s “equality” function—that is, how racial diversity safeguards each student’s right to enjoy the benefits of university membership. In essence, when white students are over-represented on a college campus, that demographic reality—coupled with pervasive presumptions about who “belongs” on e...
2022-07-2727 min#RaceClassEp. 5: Race as a “Social Construct” | Elites Create the Rules that Serve Elites#RaceClass Ep. 5 | Race as a “Social Construct”: Elites Create the Rules that Serve Elites
Race is a “social construct.” This means that humans created (a) racial categories, (b) the meanings we associate with those categories, and (c) the gatekeeping rules that determine who goes into which category. In #RaceClass Ep. 5, we explore the gatekeeping rules. Specifically, we ask why political elites in antebellum America adopted different gatekeeping rules for the category “Black” and the category “Indian.” Turns out, it’s all about property. And, as always, context matters.
We also remember Philando Castile – whose 2016 killing exposed that there are two Second Amendments in...
2022-07-2728 min#RaceClassEp. 4: Race/ism as a Political Weapon#RaceClass Ep. 4 | Race/ism as a Political Weapon
Race is a social construct. This means humans created race. But why?
In #RaceClass Ep. 4, we outline how economic and political elites have long employed race/ism as a potent political tool to: (1) DIVIDE (multiracial coalitions); (2) DISTRACT (us from the systems that produce our shared precarity) and (3) DEFEND (an America defined by enduring inequality). With references to Heather Mcghee & Ian Haney-Lopez, and shout outs to Kathryn Joyce & Jennifer Berkshire.
PLUS a mini-lesson on the “social construction” of race. What else is a social construct? Hammers, international boundaries, and money
2022-07-2727 min#RaceClassEp. 3: 5 Ways that "Race Matters"#RaceClass Ep. 3 | 5 Ways that "Race Matters"
We know that race matters. But it can be hard to pinpoint precisely *how* race matters.
In episode 3, we discuss 5 ways that race shapes life in America—even if we wish it didn’t. We’ll cover how race shapes (1) access to resources; (2) others expectations of us; (3) different treatment people receive; (4) our perspectives; and (5) the conditions we must navigate as we move through life.
This list is far from exhaustive. Still, it expands our vocabulary and helps us explain what we might mean when we say “race matters.”
2022-07-2729 min#RaceClassEp. 1: The Pilot Episode | What's Race Got to Do With It?#RaceClass Ep. 1 | The Pilot
What's race got to do with it?
2022-07-2727 min#RaceClassEp. 2: What is "Racism"?#RaceClass Ep. 2 | What is "Racism"?
The second installment of #RaceClass with Boston University Law Professor Jonathan Feingold and The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen -- a once a month course/conversation where listeners can hear what it is like to approach race and racism from a place of curiosity and history rather than fear and anxiety.
2022-07-2728 min
WoW! Talk! – Warcraft News and Guild LifeArclight Rumble, Children's Week, and Time-Saver ProtodrakesNick, Rei, and Eric are back to talk about the latest in World of Warcraft news. They begin by talking about the the Warcraft Mobile game announcement of Arclight Rumble. Nick talks about how short the announcement trailer was and whether it looks like it will be a fun game. They talk about how this is Blizzard taking their try at a tower defense type game, and evolving the genre as they do. They mention that Tom Chilton, former lead game designer on WoW, is involved in the project. Nick wonders if the game will be different enough from Hearthstone...
2022-05-101h 02
Curmudgeons And DragonsWhat if WE were characters?[#4] Remember Buzzfeed quizzes? Jason found a bunch that helped us determine what kind of characters we would be. Do you agree with the results?Here's our character sheets (spoilers!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_OW-UOMGhuDG_tCwJDfSkxOGMjkvtbVo?usp=sharingTake the quizzes yourself and become an adventurer with us:Race: https://uquiz.com/quiz/CA7dxg/what-is-your-dd-raceClass: https://uquiz.com/quiz/eWDHo9?p=700494Alignment: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd%2Fdnd%2F20001222bStats: http://www.kevinhaw.com/add_quiz.phpFollow us on instagram: http://www.instagram.com/curmudgeonsanddragonsTheme Music: Crunk Knight by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3566...
2021-04-301h 32