The Alchemy of Race and Rights
by Patricia J. Williams
Buy on AmazonPatricia Williams is a lawyer and a professor of commercial law, the great-great-granddaughter of a slave and a white southern lawyer. The Alchemy of Race and Rights is an eloquent autobiographical essay in which the author reflects on the intersection of race, gender, and class. Using the tools of critical literary and legal theory, she sets out her views of contemporary popular culture and current events, from Howard Beach to homelessness, from Tawana Brawley to the law-school classrom, from civil rights to Oprah Winfrey, from Bernhard Goetz to Marth Beth Whitehead. She also traces the workings of "ordinary racism"--everyday occurrences, casual, unintended, banal perhaps, but mortifying.…
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"Williams's book is a revelation — she has her great-great grandmother's slave contract — and it always provokes intense, but non-knee-jerk class discussions."
By the Book: Amy Chua · nytimes.com