Columbia University law professor Williams laments the state of
public debate in America. Williams argues that it is virtually
impossible to discuss rationally such topics as affirmative action,
racism, sexism, or sexual harassment because the terms of discourse
have been so debased by politicians, talk-show hosts, and other
molders of public opinion. In fact, she writes, Americans
themselves are being robbed of their individuality and transformed
into symbols. Though her critique is wide-ranging, Williams focuses
especially on racism and poverty, saying that poor, single black
women have become a symbol of all poverty, to the degree that they
are blamed for its existence. In this new mythology, she writes,
"not poverty but poor people . . . are considered the enemy," and
America has become "disinvested in the humanity of poor children."
Instead of addressing problems, "the nation has let itself off the
hook by espousing simple-minded homilies as cures for complex
political problems of race and class." Williams mixes personal
anecdotes as a black woman and single mother with scholarly
analysis as she considers such topics as Rush Limbaugh, Clarence
Thomas, and the debates over multiculturalism, political
correctness, affirmative action, and family values. But her use of
jargon and a tendency to ramble sometimes make her arguments
difficult to follow. In general, however, she makes a convincing
case for the importance of discarding homilies and symbols,
"listening across boundaries," and attempting to appreciate the
nuances of individual lives, regardless of color, culture, or
economic status. Blaming the victims rather than exploring the
origins of such phenomena as poverty and racism is easy and popular
but wrong, argues Williams. Like the egg a rooster claims as his
own, she says, matters are often more complicated than some people
would have us believe. (Kirkus Reviews)
"Jamaica is the land where the rooster lays an egg...When a
Jamaican is born of a black woman and some English or Scotsman, the
black mother is literally and figuratively kept out of sight as far
as possible, but no one is allowed to forget that white father,
however questionable the circumstances of birth...You get the
impression that these virile Englishmen do not require women to
reproduce. They just come out to Jamaica, scratch out a nest and
lay eggs that hatch out into 'pink' Jamaicans." --Zora Neale
Hurston We may no longer issue scarlet letters, but from the way we
talk, we might as well: W for welfare, S for single, B for black,
CC for children having children, WT for white trash. To a culture
speaking with barely masked hysteria, in which branding is done
with words and those branded are outcasts, this book brings a voice
of reason and a warm reminder of the decency and mutual respect
that are missing from so much of our public debate. Patricia J.
Williams, whose acclaimed book The Alchemy of Race and Rights
offered a vision for healing the ailing spirit of the law, here
broadens her focus to address the wounds in America's public soul,
the sense of community that rhetoric so subtly but surely makes and
unmakes. In these pages we encounter figures and images plucked
from headlines--from Tonya Harding to Lani Guinier, Rush Limbaugh
to Hillary Clinton, Clarence Thomas to Dan Quayle--and see how
their portrayal, encoding certain stereotypes, often reveals more
about us than about them. What are we really talking about when we
talk about welfare mothers, for instance? Why is calling someone a
"redneck" okay, and what does that say about our society? When
young women appear on Phil Donahue to represent themselves as
Jewish American Princesses, what else are they doing? These are
among the questions Williams considers as she uncovers the
shifting, often covert rules of conversation that determine who
"we" are as a nation.
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