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Book Review: Carving Out a Humanity

Editor Janet Dewart Bell

“Carving Out a Humanity: Race, Rights and Redemption” is a collection of essays that builds from the work of preeminent critical race theorist and scholar Dr. Derrick Bell. Bell’s scholarship, writings and lectures form the foundations of the academic and pragmatic lens that centers racism – and most importantly, anti-blackness – at the root of systemic and structural issues that perpetuate inequities.

All essayists featured in the volume have been part of the esteemed Derrick Bell Lecture Series on Race in American Society at the New York University School of Law. The lecture series was founded by social justice activist Dr. Janet Dewart Bell in honor of her late husband. Dr. Dewart Bell co-edited the volume with Vincent M. Southerland, bringing together leading voices on race, civil rights and the law, from Lani Guinier to Michelle Alexander, from Mari Matsuda to Ian Haney Lopez.

The late Dr. Derrick Bell
I read this volume from the vantage point of a doctoral student investigating the role of leadership in advancing equity in education. My research focuses on the requisite leadership competencies, organizational dynamics and institutional supports to guarantee advancement of equity through the role of the Chief Diversity Officer. In grounding the work in the practice of justice and equity, Dr. Bell’s work has served as the “north star” in achieving equity. His scholarship underscored the persistence and prominence of racism in the justice system and other arenas of society, dispelling the notion of race neutrality in a social system built upon racial hierarchies.

Focusing on the tenets of critical race theory such as interest convergence, counter storytelling and the social construction of race, the essays advance the discourse about the insidiousness of race in the American body politic and the resulting consequences of structural racism. This book is an important read for anyone who’s truly invested in embodying anti-racism work in their problems of practice. It’s a crucial reminder that American institutions have been wrestling with the problem of racism for generations. Beyond the focus on the legal and justice systems, topics addressed in the book include school choice and economic justice. Racism has psychological, social and economic consequences, and is rooted in power. This results in benefits for those who use their power and privilege to uphold the racial status quo and dire consequences for those who dare to challenge them.

The lessons from the volume are familiar and complex. Racial disparities often serve as a “miner’s canary,” Guinier writes, warning us of the social perils suffered by Black Americans that will ultimately impact all of us. Emma Coleman Jordan discusses the economic underpinnings of inequality, while Cheryl Harris examines the role of interest convergence in California politics. Essays illustrate how advances in civil rights for Black Americans are only possible when white and Black interests converge. During this time of racial reckoning and sense of urgency fueled by the Black Lives Matter movement, the challenge for students and practitioners is to work on actionable and lasting solutions toward an anti-racist future. This volume holds up a mirror to the continuing project of justice and equity, a stark reminder of the challenges ahead while also inspiring a vision for humanity and civil rights. 

 

 
 
 

Hardcover, 6 x 9, 400 pages
Published by The New Press, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62097-620-3
Purchase from Bookshop.org

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