TED: Can a black man talk about white culture?

Link to TED article

rich_benjamin_headshot

African American writer Rich Benjamin spent two years living in — and writing about — America’s whitest neighborhoods. The response to his book (and TED Talk) was honest, raw — and sometimes misunderstood his purpose. Here, he responds to the response.

Some quotes to think about:

“From Daniel Patrick Moynihan to Jonathan Kozol, there’s a wealth of literature by white experts trying to explain “the ghetto” to America. I had simply done the reverse. As a black thinker and writer, I interpret and explain mainstream white America back to itself.”

“I saw a culture driven by conscious and unconscious bias; I learned that a country can have racism without racists”.

“Many Americans dismiss racial integration as a form of “social engineering,” the opposite also holds true: Segregation is a form of social engineering”.

 

AUDIO: This American Life – The Problem We All Live With

A two part series about how the racial integration of schools is a reform that has been shown to really improve the education for minority children, but that people have apparently given up on. It discusses the case of a school district in Normandy, Missouri (where Michael Brown studied), which accidentally happened upon an integration program.

Click Here.