The Good Fight Randall Kennedy on Racism in America
Oct 21, 2025
Randall Kennedy, the Michael R. Klein Professor at Harvard Law School, delves into America's complex racial history. He critiques critical race theory, differentiating his optimistic view on civil rights progress from its more pessimistic perspectives. Kennedy highlights transformative legal victories from the civil rights era and discusses the challenges of modern segregation and affirmative action. He advocates for broad coalitions in civil rights leadership, emphasizing the need for targeted reforms while acknowledging the limits of race-neutral arguments.
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Law Dismantled Institutional Jim Crow
- Randall Kennedy argues the anti-discrimination standard materially changed American life between 1950 and 1970.
- He says law and collective action dismantled a particular institutionalized Jim Crow order, producing real victories.
Family Story Shows Progress And Pain
- Kennedy recounts his father's Jim Crow childhood and how the family nonetheless produced three Princeton-educated lawyer children.
- He uses this family story to show both the cruelty of past racism and the possibility of social mobility over generations.
Old Tools Fit New Problems Poorly
- Kennedy warns that civil-rights vehicles have limits and new problems demand new experimental approaches.
- He stresses demographic and social change means old legal frameworks won't solve every contemporary inequity.
