Book Review

Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life

By Karen E. Fields and Barbara J. Fields.

Verso, 2022 (2014). 310 pages, $19.95 paperback.

Just out in paperback, this edition of a widely praised work on race and racism is as British historian Robin Blackburn - author of The American Crucible: Slavery, Emancipation And Human Rights (Versdo, 2013) - has remarked:

“A most impressive work, tackling a demanding and important topic—the myth that we now live in a postracial society—in a novel, urgent, and compelling way. The authors dispel this myth by squarely addressing the paradox that racism is scientifically discredited but, like witchcraft before it, retains a social rationale in societies that remain highly unequal and averse to sufficiently critical engagement with their own history and traditions.”

Sociologist Karen E. Fields and historian Barbara J. Fields argue that though most people assume racism comes from a perception of human difference, the practice of racism produces the illusion of race, through what they call “racecraft.” This is so entwined with other forms of inequality in American life. Racecraft is so much a continuing part of American history, economic doctrine, politics, and daily thinking that the presence of racecraft itself goes unnoticed.

The authors hold that the reason that the promised post-racial age has not begun is partly because Americans have failed to develop a legitimate language for thinking about and discussing inequality. Until this is done, the racial age will continue.

 Book Review

The South: Jim Crow and Its Afterlives

by Adolph L. Reed, Jr.

Verso, 2022. 160 pages, $24.95 hardcover.

This is an interesting narrative account of the South's long history of Jim Crow as people actually experienced it. This is important to relate because the last generation of Americans with a living memory of Jim Crow will soon pass on. The Jim Crow era's segregation order was complex and an apartheid system. This book uses first-hand individual stories and analysis to illuminate its legal framework, systems of power, and the way these systems structured the daily interactions, lives, and fates of ordinary working people. Reed's book includes a foreword from Barbara Fields, co-author of the excellent Racecraft:The Soul of Inequality in American Life (Verso, 2014) - which also is reviewed in this Blog.

The author Adolph Reed Jr. is a leading scholar of race, American politics, and inequality. Reed is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, and has held positions at Yale, Northwestern, and the New School. He is a lifelong organizer and public intellectual, a contributing editor at The New Republic, and a frequent contributor to Harpers and The Nation.

 The Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition is Hiring Fair Housing Testers

Help enforce the Fair Housing Act - and get paid!

    $150 for completing rental tester training.

    $ 50 for each rental test.

    $200 for completing lending tester training.

    $100 for each lending test.

What do testers do? The purpose of testing is to monitor compliance with the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws. Fair housing testers are trained to go undercover and shop for rental housing, mortgages, or a home to purchase. Testers write a detailed report about their shopping experience, and may later serve as a witness in complaints.

Tester Requirements: Be over the age of 18; Have no felony convictions; Never have been terminated or asked to leave a position because of fraud or dishonesty; Have access to a computer, a phone, and reliable internet connection; and be able to write clear reports in English.

Work remotely! All testing is conducted by phone or online, and you don't need to live in Maryland to work as a tester!

Questions? Contact Robyn Dorsey at Robyn@marylandconsumers.org.

*****

Source: Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition (MCCR) newsletter, March 4, 2022.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CONCERT WITH RODERICK DEMMINGS, JR.
 AT GOVANS PRESBYTERIAN 

The Church is hosting a Black History Month concert with Roderick Demmings, Jr. in their sanctuary and online. Register in advance.

According to Soundcloud, award-winning pianist and organist, Roderick Demmings Jr. gave his Carnegie Hall debut at age 12, performing on the piano on PBS. Since that time, he’s performed at concert halls and cathedrals in the U.S., Italy, France, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean. His genres range from Classical to Jazz to RnB to Hip-Hop.

For more information: 410-435-9188 or office​@govanspres.org.

Book Review

Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality

by Tomiko Brown-Nagin. 512 pages. Pantheon: 2022. Kindle $14.99, Hardover $30.00.

This is the first major biography of one of an extremely influential judges who was an activist lawyer and became the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary, serving as a U.S. District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

“A must read for anyone who dares to believe that equal justice under the law is possible and is in search of a model for how to make it a reality.” —Anita Hill.

The author is the Civil Rights and legal historian and dean of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Tomiko Brown-Nagin.

Motley (1921-2005) was born to a blue-collar family in New Haven, Connecticut, during the Great Depression. In 1945, during Baker's second year at Columbia Law School, future United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall hired her as a law clerk. She worked on court martial cases that were filed after World War II. After graduating from Columbia's Law School in 1946, Baker became a civil rights lawyer anjd the first female lawyer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF). As Associate Counsel to the LDF, she was the lead trial attorney in several early and historically important civil rights cases including representing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Freedom Riders, and the Birmingham Children Marchers. She visited Rev. King Jr. when he was in jail, as well as spent a night with civil rights activist Medgar Evers under armed guard. In 1950, she wrote the original complaint in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education.

Among other achievements, she was the first black woman to argue a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The only black woman member in the legal team at the NAACP's Inc. Fund then, she defended the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Birmingham, and was a central force in ending Jim Crow laws in the South. Motley also was the first black woman elected to the State Senate in New York (21st district) and the first woman elected Manhattan Borough President.

*****

Sources:

 "Motley, Constance Baker - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.

 Mrs. Motley Inducted as Federal Judge in The New York Times on September 10, 1966 

 "Rep. Rangel Introduces Resolution Recognizing Life, Achievements of U.S. District Court Judge." US Fed News Service, Including US State News, Feb 28, 2007.

 

Maryland Celebrates Black History Month: Upcoming MCCR Trainings

Racial Justice at Work: Combatting AntiBlackness and Racism in the Workplace In observance of Black History Month, join the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights as we engage in an interactive dialogue regarding racial inequities in the workplace with the goal of helping employees to understand their role in ending those disparities. Topics covered will be discrimination in hiring and disciplinary practices, microaggressions and hostile work environments, racially loaded language and the use of African American Vernacular English as well as attire and workplace policies. Our featured panelists are Attorney Cecilia J. Brown, Certified Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultant and Demetrius Noble, Professor of African American & Diaspora Studies department at UNC Greensboro This event will be held virtually on Wednesday February 16, 2022 12PM-2PM EST Register Here on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/racial-justice-at-work-combating-antiblackness-and-racism-in-the-workplace-tickets-260348939687 Presenter Bios: Demetrius Noble (better known as D. Noble) is an activist, teacher and radical cultural worker. He currently serves as an adjunct professor  in the African American & Diaspora Studies department at UNC Greensboro. His research interests include Black Class Antagonisms, African American Literature, Popular Culture and Hip Hop Studies. His work has been published in The African American Review, The Journal of Pan African Studies, The Journal of Black Masculinity, Socialism & Democracy, Works and Days, Cultural Logic, Red Wedge and other leftist digital and print publications. Cecilia J. Brown is a Flint, Michigan native with a passion for justice.  Cecilia graduated from the University of  Washburn Law in 2014,  where she participated in the Trial team and Moot Court Competition team. Cecilia was 1 of 3 African Americans in her law school class and immediately understood her purpose- to be a voice for communities that are not adequately reflected in the American legal system.  Cecilia Nuby & Associates, LLC was formed in 2015,  and focused in the practice of plaintiff employment discrimination, father’s custody rights, and defendant criminal cases. Cecilia Nuby & Associates served hundreds of clients with legal issues ranging from manslaughter to supervisors hanging nooses in the employee common areas.  During practice, Cecilia was made aware of the overwhelming racial disparities in the American Legal System. With a desire to increase her knowledge of and influence on the law, in 2019, Cecilia graciously accepted a 2 year term clerking for the Honorable Judge Thomas Newton at the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. Here Cecilia reviewed every type of case and wrote legal opinions to justly apply the law.  In 2021, Cecilia grew her practice by becoming a Certified Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultant. She has a passion for creating fair, equitable and just business  and governmental environments. Her passion is people, her purpose is service.

Victim of Discrimination? Training & Partnerships

UPCOMING EVENTS Fair Housing Basics (Open to the Public) Wednesday February 9th 2022 10am-12pm https://www.eventbrite.com/e/247499446507 Public Accommodations Discrimination Prevention Training (Open to the Public)  Wednesday February 23rd 2022 10am-12pm https://www.eventbrite.com/e/247476146817

Source: MCCR email, February 1, 2022.

Black History Month and the Lunar New Year Begin on February 1st

 

As Delegate Lily Qi, of the Maryland House of Delegates for District 15, said in her February 1st information email, it is fitting these two dates coincide this year as our communities become more diverse and integrated than ever and all of us more accustomed to celebrating different cultures and heritage. However, both special occasions should remind all of us that racial and ethnic integration is far from complete and much work remains to be done.

Black History Month

February 1 is the beginning of Black History Month. Every February, the U.S. honors the contributions and sacrifices of African Americans. Black History Month celebrates their rich cultural heritage, triumphs, and adversities. The 2022 theme, Black Health and Wellness, honors medical scholars and health care providers. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected minority communities and placed at times crushing burdens on Black health care professionals. 

The Month began in 1926 when the "father of Black history" Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) designated the second week of February as "Negro History Week" and galvanized fellow historians through the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which he founded in 1915. By the late 1960s, Negro History Week had evolved into what is now known as Black History Month. U.S. President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized Black History Month during the 1976 bicentennial, urging Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history." 

Lunar New Year

February 1st also marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year, which is celebrated by the Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese communities. This year is the Year of the Tiger. Many Asian cultures historically follow a lunar, rather than solar, calendar, so the Lunar New Year falls on a different day on the Gregorian calendar which the U.S. uses every year: In 2022, Lunar New Year's Eve fell on January 31, and the new year began Tuesday, February 1. While celebrations frequently start the weekend before and continue for weeks after, only the first seven days, January 31 to February 6, are considered public holidays. 

The Lunar New Year is seen as a time of reunion and rebirth, marking the end of winter and the start of spring. The Chinese calendar is on a 12-year cycle, with each year linked to one of a dozen animals -- the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The year 2022 in the Gregorian calendar is designated the Year of the Tiger, the year of bravery, wisdom, and strength.

*****

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/01/1075623826/why-is-february-black-history-month

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month