Description

The United States is dogged by racism and racial disparities in income wealth health education and criminal justice Philosophers disagree on what kind of politics is needed to address this problem Do we pursue racespecific remedies to undo racism or do we assume the permanence of racism and opt for nonracespecific remedies in pursuit of a more egalitarian society Paradoxically the way to make racial progress in racist America is to downplay race

In A Realistic Blacktopia political philosopher Derrick Darby challenges the small tent approach by examining US Supreme Court cases on education and voting rights arguing that they hold general lessons about the limits of racial politics Securing racial justice in racist America calls for big tent remedies and Darby argues that pursuing nonracespecific remedies with maximal democratic inclusion is a necessary strategy for mitigating racial inequality and achieving racial justice

A Realistic Blacktopia offers clarity on how racism persists contrary to claims that America is a postracial society Explaining why the myth of postracialism cannot be ignored in crafting remedies for racial inequality Darby supplies a principled pragmatic proposal for achieving racial justice Darby also explains why achieving racial justice requires inclusive democracy