On today’s show we will examine how divisive rhetoric is affecting race relations in our country. We revisit a conversation featuring professor John. A Powell the author of Racing to Justice: Transforming Our Conceptions of Self and Other to Build.
John Powell’s ruminations for his talk are central ideas in his most recent book Racing to Justice, which provides an outline for laying claim to our shared humanity amidst attitudes and institutions that promote and perpetuate social suffering. Although there is much work to do regarding the redemption of the American promise of equality for all, Racing to Justice begins the conversation that actively promotes an inclusive democracy.
How can we work together to create political, economic, and social systems that support individuals in becoming compassionate, competent, and responsible members of the wider community? While justice and fairness are needed to support effective participation, how do we ensure that those who are excluded whether it be by race, class, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or the like belong and are included in the circle of human concern? In light of the events in Ferguson, Missouri, John A. Powell addresses systemic structural inequalities that police the bodies of some members of society more heavily than others.
Speaker: John A. Powell is Professor of Law, African American Studies, and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law where he is the director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society.