Philosophy Professor Examines Race and Racism
University
Reporter
ECOS Researchers Examine Environmental Damage from the World Trade Center
Attacks
Noam Chomsky Speaks at UMass Boston’s Human Rights Forum
State Budget Cuts Mean Spending Reductions, First Fee Increase in Five
Years
Campus Strides Forward with Technology
Clark Taylor Retires: Son Jeff Taylor’s Gift Establishes Technology
Center in Father’s Name
Benchmarks Analyst Clayton-Matthews Tracks Massachusetts Economy
Best Practices: Student Support Services
English Professor Betsy Klimasmith Receives NEH Fellowship
Africana Studies Department Celebrates First Homecoming
Compston Biography of Earl Warren, “Justice for All”
Philosophy Professor Examines Race and Racism
New Book on Latino Politics in Massachusetts
Greater Boston Broadband Network Comes Into Focus
Steelwork Begins on New Campus Center
By Leigh DuPuy
Issues
of race and racism have always been explosive topics in American history,
politics, society, and the academy. Philosophy Professor Lawrence Blum
examines the barriers that obstruct discussions of racial matters inside
the classroom and out in his latest book, I’m not a Racist, But…The
Moral Quandary of Race. The work, five years in the making for the moral
philosopher, draws upon sociological, historical, and scientific perspectives
to examine racism and race.
“Race is a morally destructive idea,” Blum argues. In the book, he provides a synthesis of research on race and racism, discussing the construction of racial categories and the role of social inequality in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. He also examines the phenomena of racial discrimination, color blindness, white privilege, institutional racism, and selective racism.
“I want to help people to talk about racial issues across racial and ethnic boundaries in classrooms,” Blum explains. “The category of race plays an important role in how people look at the world.”
He
believes the epithet “racist” has been overused and believes
that people can use a more varied and nuanced moral vocabulary, including
such as racial insensitivity, racial ignorance, racial injustice, and
racial anxiety, to communicate problematic moral responses to race.
Blum, also a distinguished professor of liberal arts and education, has worked at UMass Boston for 29 years as a faculty member in the Philosophy department. In recognition of his work, which includes his two other books, Moral Perception and Particularity and Friendship, Altruism, and Morality, he was named the Kohlberg Lecturer in 1998 by the Association of Moral Education. His current book has been published by the Cornell University Press.