Guest Commentary
Climbing on the Backs of Others: A Critique of Randall Kennedy and Barack Obama’s Black Respectability Politics
Guest Commentator
Most African Americans who have attained success in our White-dominated society have done so—knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly—because the negative stereotypes of Black people in America are so powerful that it is almost a necessity to move up the ladder of success.
While one could offer many different critiques of respectability, I will focus here on three shortcomings in Professor Kennedy’s essay. First, Professor Kennedy does not adequately…
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