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Books by J.
Angelo Corlett
Analyzing
Social Knowledge (1996) /
Responsibility and Punishment
(2001, 2004) /
Race, Racism & Reparations (2003)
Terrorism:
A Philosophical Analysis (2003) /
Interpreting Plato's Dialogues
(2007)
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Race, Racism & Reparations
By J. Angelo Corlett
Reviews
If affirmative
action and other ethnicity-based social programs are justified,
then J. Angelo Corlett believes it is important to come to an
adequate understanding of the nature of ethnicity in general and
ethnic group membership in particular. In
Race, Racism & Reparations, Corlett reconceptualizes traditional ideas of race
in terms of ethnicity. As he makes clear, the answers to the
questions "what is a Native American?" or "What
is a Latino/a?" have important implications for public
policy, especially for those programs designed to address
historic injustices and economic and social imbalances among
different groups in our society.
Having supplanted "race" with a
well-defined concept of ethnicity, the author then analyzes the
nature and function of racism. Corlett argues for a notion of
racism that must encompass not only racist beliefs but also
racist actions, omissions, and attempted actions. His aim is to
craft a definition of racism that will prove useful in legal and
public policy contexts.
Corlett places
special emphasis on the broad questions of whether reparations
for ethnic groups are desirable and what forms those reparations
should take: land, money, social programs? He addresses the need
for differential affirmative action programs and reparations
policies—the experiences (and oppressors) of different ethnic
groups vary greatly. Arguments for reparations to Native and
African Americans are considered in light of a variety of
objections that are or might be raised against them. Corlett
articulates and critically analyzes a number of possible
proposals for reparations
--Publisher
Until now, most philosophy texts on race have focused narrowly
and monochromatically on the black experience. This challenging
new book broadens the traditional spectrum to include the
neglected browns and reds, Latino and Native American colors, of
the American racial palette. The result is a much richer
picture of the moral complexities of the ethnic and racial
landscape, from the subtleties of how best to analyze Latino
identity to the highly contentious issue of reparations to
native Americans.--Charles
W. Mills, University of Illinois, author of The Racial
Contract
J.
Angelo Corlett's book presents a brilliant case for reparations
for African Americans and native Americans. It is thorough,
astute, and compelling.--Bernard
Boxill, University of North Carolina, Chapter Hill, author of Blacks
and Social Justice
In
this provocative book, J. Angelo Corlett brings the debate about
reparations for the victims of gross injustices to a new level.
using the skills that are characteristic of a good analytical
philosopher, he provides reasons in support of reparations
programs that should appeal to sensitive and thoughtful human
beings. This book is the most lucid account of this important
subject that I have encountered.--Howard
McGary, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, author of Race
and Social Justice
J. Angelo Corlett, Ph.D., is Professor of
Philosophy & Ethics at San Diego State University. He is the
author of over 70 articles in academic journals on philosophical
and ethical issues of race, ethnicity, Latino identity, racism,
reparations to African and Native Americans, Indigenism, and
related issues.
He is the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Ethics: An
International Philosophical Review, President of the Society
for Ethics, Editor of Equality and Liberty (1990) He is also the author of the following books:
Analyzing
Social Knowledge (1996);
Responsibility and Punishment
(2001, 2004);
Race, Racism & Reparations (2003); and
Terrorism:
A Philosophical Analysis (2003); Ethical Dimensions of
Law (forthcoming); and
Interpreting Plato's Dialogues
(2007). He is currently working on a new book on ethics
in higher education which explores, among other things, racism
in higher education.
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1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus
Created
By Charles C. Mann
I’m
a big fan of Charles Mann’s previous
book
1491:
New Revelations of the Americas Before
Columbus, in which he
provides a sweeping and provocative
examination of North and South America
prior to the arrival of Christopher
Columbus. It’s exhaustively researched
but so wonderfully written that it’s
anything but exhausting to read. With
his follow-up,
1493, Mann has taken it to a
new, truly global level. Building on the
groundbreaking work of Alfred Crosby
(author of
The Columbian Exchange and, I’m
proud to say, a fellow Nantucketer),
Mann has written nothing less than the
story of our world: how a planet of what
were once several autonomous continents
is quickly becoming a single,
“globalized” entity.
Mann not only talked to countless
scientists and researchers; he visited
the places he writes about, and as a
consequence, the book has a marvelously
wide-ranging yet personal feel as we
follow Mann from one far-flung corner of
the world to the next. And always, the
prose is masterful. In telling the
improbable story of how Spanish and
Chinese cultures collided in the
Philippines in the sixteenth century, he
takes us to the island of Mindoro whose
“southern coast consists of a number of
small bays, one next to another like
tooth marks in an apple.” We learn how
the spread of malaria, the potato,
tobacco, guano, rubber plants, and sugar
cane have disrupted and convulsed the
planet and will continue to do so until
we are finally living on one integrated
or at least close-to-integrated Earth.
Whether or not the human instigators of
all this remarkable change will survive
the process they helped to initiate more
than five hundred years ago remains,
Mann suggests in this monumental and
revelatory book, an open question. |
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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update 7 May 2010
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