"Classified" On-Line Events Tuesday and Thursday; Bernstein Meets Academic Critics/Skeptics/Allies?

On Tuesday night at 8pm ET, I have a Federalist Society event styled as a debate this with Harvard Law's Randall Kennedy on racial classifications. I'm sure we will disagree on some things, but I expect overall will be more of a discussion. Register here.

On Thursday at 3pm ET, I will be participating in a virtual discussion with economist Glenn Loury of Boston University and Washington University law school's Adrienne Davis. Register here.

I'm excited for these events because while I have done quite a few podcasts and radio interviews about my new book on racial classifications, these are among the first times I will get to publicly discuss the book with academic colleagues.

Comments

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

I hope you'll post at least summaries here. I'm 3000 miles away.

[David Bernstein]

They are both online...

[TommyK]

Glenn Loury has been at Brown University since 2005.

[Eric VonSalzen]

BTW David, I recently finished your book and found it very enlightening. It shows what can happen if we insist on treating people as categories -- and it shows how much we are doing that in the US today. My Mom and Dad, who raised me not to do that, would be sad.

[David Bernstein]

Thanks! And sorry...

[bernard11]

it shows how much we are doing that in the US today.

We have always done that in the US. So-called "identity politics" is nothing new.

Tell me, when did we stop treating African-Americans as a category?

[Ed Grinberg]

Shorter bernard11: "Discrimination yesterday, discrimination today, discrimination forever!"

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Excellent book, I'd love to see the *defense* of our current system of racial classification. Not just a speech or an indignant article, but a full book purporting to rebut your analysis and explaining in detail how the system we have now is good.

We may have to wait a while for that...

[David Bernstein]

One thing I found remarkable in researching the book is that not only do such defenses not exist today, but no one, including in government, ever really articulated any rationale for the way they decided to classify people at the time.

[Kleppe]

I don't have anything to offer on the book as I have not read it yet, but I would like to thank Prof. Bernstein for his constant willingness to stride into the arena of the Reason comments section and face his critics. I wish Prof. Somin would follow his colleague's example.

[Leo Marvin]

I second your kudos to David for continuing to engage with his comment section.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Why Prof. Somin -- and not, for example, Prof. Blackman?

Or Mr. Baker?

Or Prof. Barnett?

Carry on, clingers.

[gormadoc]

I don't want to interact with Blackman, but both he and Baker have interacted with the comment section. Baker still does, from time to time and we know he reads it: https://reason.com/volokh/2022/09/15/is-silicon-valley-spying-on-conservatives-for-the-fbi/?comments=true#comment-9702941 Barnett rarely posts at this point and I would rather he interact with us here more when he does, but I gather his intended audience isn't really here.

[Leo Marvin]

I think Randy had purchase with a more serious audience when he was wearing his above-the-fray academic fig leaf here. Not sure why he'd prefer the audience that's drawn to his current own-the-libs Twitter shitposting, but he's got it. It does at least answer any questions about why he picked Josh to mentor.