Racial Culture: A Critique is a 2005 non-fiction book by American author and Stanford Law School professor Richard T. Ford which raises critical questions regarding the somewhat popular and common presumption of political multiculturalism that social categories emerge from as a result of distinctive cultural practices. Ford argues against legislation that prevents discrimination on the basis of cultural practices and details specific examples in support of this argument.
Summary
This book looks at, analyzes, and raises questions regarding racial culture and cultural practices. It contributes to the understanding of the politics of race, particularly arguments promoting what Ford calls "rights-to-difference". He claims that these arguments, which "hold that a just society could and should prohibit discrimination on the basis of the cultural difference for the same reasons it should prohibit discrimination based on statuses such as race", are not only wrong but can have very negative social impacts.
Preamble
Ford's preamble is the introduction and the main reasoning of his critique on multiculturalism. He explains in the preamble that he intends to talk about the classifications of modern identity politics and multiculturalism which include ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal membership. (Ford, 4) He states that the "simplest statement of my thesis in this regard to racism is different than social conflict arising as a result of cultural difference." (Ford, 7) He states three main points at the beginning of the chapter that include his opinions and what he hopes to achieve throughout the book and what he is going to talk about:
1) Support affirmative action, but worry about the effects of "diversity" justification for race conscious university admission as articulated by the Supreme Court in U. C Rogers v. Bakke and more recently in Grutter v. Bollinger. 2) Interrogate claims to cultural difference and often find such claims difficult to distinguish in principle or in practice from ideological differences, difference in taste or difference in opinions. 3) Central focus is on law and legal institutions. "I hope to uncover the effects of law-not only what the text of various laws and their advocates say the laws do, but also their unintended side effects, hidden messages and covert agendas." ( Ford, 2)
The ideology behind the book Racial Culture: A Critique was that Ford was originally going to name it Racial Culture: A Critique from the Left. The reason why he did not stay with this title was because he also wanted to use ideas from both sides rather than "go steady with one discrete set of influences." (Ford, 14) If someone had an idea then he would talk about it and base part of his argument off of it. Ford explains that, "Racial Cultures is generally suspicious of governmental intervention and insistent on the limits of civil rights and law generally. This I expect will fuel the sense that the book is conservative, or libertarian." ( Ford, 14)
Difference Discourse
The Difference Discourse chapter is all about cultural and racial difference. Ford starts the chapter off by telling a story of a black woman who sued American Airlines for a grooming policy. The policy prohibited employees in certain employment categories from wearing an all-braided hairstyle. The lady argued that it violated her rights under the Thirteenth Amendment. The woman alleged that the policy discriminated against her as a black woman. She said that the "cornrow" style has a special significance for black women. Ford stated that, "Although a right to cornrows might seem only to enhance the freedom of potential cornrow-wearers, it is arguably better understood as a policy of segregation through which a set of grooming styles are reserved for a particular group." (Ford, 26) In the end, the court denied the case.