A Very Weak Argument For Discrimination

George Leef

Harvard Law prof Randall Kennedy has written a new book titled For Discrimination. He’d like people to think of it as an even-handed effort in which he has carefully evaluated the cases for continuing the use of racial preferences and against, then rationally concluded that the former is much stronger than the latter. So much so that to end the use of preferences now would be “a calamity.”

In the Pope Center Clarion Call, I review the book and find it to be a very weak effort. It isn’t a careful evaluation of either side. Kennedy pronounces that the purported benefits of racial preferences (including “racial justice” and “legitimation”) are extremely important to the US, but we’re supposed to accept that on his ipse dixit. Conversely, his analysis of the case against preferences omits key arguments. The book will, no doubt, lift the spirits of the defenders of preferences, who will delight in hearing a Harvard Law professor tell them that they’re right. It won’t, however, win over anyone who isn’t already in that camp.

  • Share

Most Commented

July 30, 2024

1.

Don’t Cry for Them, Academia

The dark secret of anti-Semitism is that ignorance alone cannot explain it away or absolve those who adhere to it. If anything, the most vivid episodes of history’s anti-Semitism have......

June 6, 2024

2.

Backlash: Sometimes It Hurts So Good

We have undermined the leftist status quo in higher education for decades with the persistence of Morlocks. You really should be more alarmed about us than you are. Not that I’m going......

August 6, 2024

3.

An Elephant Walks into Class

An assessment of the Republican higher education platform....

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

September 6, 2024

2.

Professor Alleges "Widespread" Discriminatory Hiring Coverup at University of Washington

Audio acquired by the National Association of Scholars describes allegations of coverup race-based hiring coverup at the University of Washington...

October 12, 2010

3.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...