YouSaid · the spoken record

Randall Kennedy

lines on the record: 168
first: 2023-05-24
most recent: 2023-05-24
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I have that hope and I think that the sentiments that Martin Luther King Jr. expressed in August 1963 That represents the best of American life. And I think it's a, you know, do I want to see that come to pass? Yeah, I want to see that come to pass. And we'll work to push that project along as far as it'll go.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“People have tried to make it into a cliche. The fact of the matter is it's the sentiment behind I have a dream. Yeah, I'll associate myself with that. And anybody wants to see some great oratory. Go watch. And Martin Luther King Jr. I mean, he gave Several great speeches, his first speech, the first speech that he gave as a civil rights. leader The Holt Street Baptist Church at the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott, which was virtually an extemporaneous speech, was one of his greatest. And he was, I think, 26 years old. Great. His last speech, you know, his mountaintop speech, great speech. But I have a dream. I love it. I will associate myself with those sentiments any day of the week. Absolutely.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think that Martin Luther King Jr.'s I have a dream speech is one of the great speeches not only in American history but in the history of the world you know there's there's a tendency now for people to sort of poo-poo that speech I think unfortunately the speech you know has been embraced by you know you know advertisers and corporate America it's been it's been so you know it's been heard so many times that it sort of has been made to suffer from what some people might view as overexposure”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I've taken that to heart. I hope, listen, I would listen. I would be absolutely overjoyed if there was a student who thought of me in the way that I think of Gentleman Jack McCune. If that's the case, just one, just one. If that's the case I'm overjoyed.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, seriously, John F. McCunemai with Eric Foner in my life. With my colleague Martha Minnow in my life, my colleague Caes Sunstein in my life. Impossible.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He taught me history. He was my advanced placement history teacher. But... John F. McCune, and we shared a birthday. John F. McCune was a fabulously good teacher. And we developed a deep Lifetime friendship. I was with Mr. McCune. the day before he died. And You know, he was a white man. And I've had other teachers, some of whom have become colleagues of mine. Sanford Levinson. Sanford Levinson was a teacher of mine at Princeton. He's become a colleague of mine. I mean, it would be, frankly, it would be impossible for me to You know, I hear, I can't make some sort of... you know, sort of blanket condemnation of white people. With Sandy Levinson in my life.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I can call their names boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. The greatest of them all was a man by the name of... Jack Mc We called them gentleman jack. Gentleman Jack McCune.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Hugely. And The school, I mean, again, I said a moment ago how lucky I've been. Heck, I teach it Harvard Law School. I attended Baliol College, Oxford I got my law degree from Yale Law School. I got my undergraduate degree at Princeton University. Those are some pretty good schools. They all were. They all were the most important school, however, that I attended, the school that made the most difference in my education was my high school. St. Albans School, St. Alban's School for Boys. And at St. Albans, I encountered a cadre of teachers. And by the way, St. Albans, when I went to St. Albans, All these issues were white. All of these teachers. There was one, the head of athletics, very important man, very impressive man, Brooks Johnson, was black. Otherwise, White teachers. And these teachers made a huge difference in my life.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And my parents paid attention to who my teachers were and how my teachers treated me And I think that they were affected. By the way, in which there were white people Really helped me. And we're on my side. And we're thoroughly on my side. And I think that that experience Uh... Changed my parents in their general view. You know, skeptical, yeah, but they were. The possibility, the possibility. Of a white person Genuinely being the friend of a black person That became alive to them. And I give them a lot of credit because they were adults. And for an adult to change, that's a big deal. But my parents did change.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You definitely never under any circumstances trust a white person. If a black person trusts a white person, that person is a fool. Do not trust white people, all right? They are not to be trusted. And it's the highly, highly, highly unusual one who is not prejudiced. So white people are not to be trusted. You know, by and large, you're going to be your enemy, all right? So let's just face that. That was their point of view. I'd say that Say that 10 years later. That point of view had been leavened somewhat. I think, and you know, you say, well, what happened in those 10 years? Well, Certainly in my life One of the things that happened in those 10 years is. I was a student. In various schools, And I had a series of Teachers, I've had wonderful black teachers. I've also had wonderful white teachers.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I learn much from him, including, I learned things from him even when I ultimately disagreed with him. So, for instance, again, to go back to his pessimism, yeah, he was pessimistic, thoroughly pessimistic. He was also He was also willing to change in certain ways, in fact both my parents. I mean one of the most important things that happened to my parents was that I'd say When I was Let's say 10 years old. I was born in 1954. So in 1964, in 1964, I think my parents would have taken the position that”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I've been just such a lucky person. I mean, I feel like I've just lived an absolutely charmed life. And I live. The work that I do Is what I love doing I would pay to do what I am paid to do. It's great. I've been fortunate in so many ways. And one way in which I've been fortunate is my parents. My parents, Rachel Spannedy, Henry Harold Kennedy, my mother born in Columbia, South Carolina, my father from New Orleans, Louisiana. They were refugees from the Jim Crow South. They were people who put their all to their children. I have an older brother of a younger sister. All three of us know Beyond any controversy that we were loved and dearly loved by our parents. And they were great people. My father, very interesting man, very independent-minded. He was perfectly willing to go his own way. And, uh,”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I want to be careful about the problem of envy. I want to be careful about the problem of resentment. I want to be careful about... I've heard, you know, so let's not have Let's not give a trophy. The person who wins the race because to give a trophy to the person who wins the race will make the person who they defeated feel bad. No, no, no. No, I don't want. I want to give a trophy to the person who wins the race because I think it's a good thing to valorize The best”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Okay, I want to be, you know, I don't want the winners to be arrogant. That's right. Luck has a lot to do with things. You didn't have any control over the circumstances in which you were born in two. You were lucky that you were born healthy and that you were born with a well-working mind. You didn't have anything to do with that. That was pure luck. There's some people who don't have that luck. So don't, you know. you know, don't be, you know, Mr. Big stuff, okay? So I'm against that sort of arrogance. I'm entitled as if I taught myself how to read. No, you didn't teach yourself how to read. There were people who did all sorts of things for you and you don't even know it. Okay, so I want to get rid of the arrogance. Have decent humility. I'm all for that. At the same time, you know...”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, so. Was a run DMC, one of the rap groups. We're all written down on the same list. We're all written down on the same list. Yes, we're, you know, so I want to recognize our fundamental humanity. I don't think that that, I think that one can recognize our fundamental humanity and one can also recognize as far as I'm concerned that we all collectively should make sure that we do all that we can to prevent people from sinking below a certain level and being in misery. All for that. But I want to be careful. About some of the attacks that I hear on meritocracy. So some of the people, including, again, I have all the respect in the world for Michael Sandell. He talks about the arrogance of the winners.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To develop yourself. You know, sometimes those are psychological. Sometimes it's, you know, you're not around people who've done things that give you the idea that you can do things. I want to get rid of that. But the idea of You know, people. The idea, by the way, of distinguishing, you know, this is excellent. And the people who are excellent They're here. And then there are people who are They excellent? No, they're not excellent. They're good. I'm not going to close my eyes to that distinction.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think that Mary, yes, I think that there are values in meritocracy extremely important, that in fact the movement from feudalism, the movement from status, the idea of your father or mother was. I don't care from what part of town you come from. I don't care what your last name is. I don't care what your color of your skin is. Show me what you can do. And then somebody sits down, okay, I'll show you what you can do, you know, what I can do. And they show it, you're in. I think there's a lot to that. And the impulse, the sentiments behind that, I resonate with that. I think that there's a lot there. What I want to do is I want to get rid of those features in society that deprive people of what you need.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, you mentioned Michael Sandell. He's a wonderful colleague and he's a wonderful friend. I've known him a long time. I think he makes very important arguments about meritocracy. I disagree with some of the points that he makes about merit.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, and you know, we see it in various ways. So, you know, this, you know, this attack on testing. Not like I'm holding some tests or not good tests. I think we should be skeptical of everything. But there are a lot of tests that, yeah, they tell us something all right. They tell us who knows what. And there's some people who are really, you know, dead set against testing because they're dead set against anything that might show a gap. Well, I think, by the way, are there gaps? Yeah, there are gaps. And what we need to do is be cognizant of those gaps and do things to make it so that if there's a gap, if you're deficient, no shame in being deficient. Heck, I'm deficient about a lot of things. Let's learn so that I catch up. But there's, you know, but I think sometimes there have been people who've been afraid. of even acknowledging”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Want to avoid the stigmatizing burden of affirmative action, there's some people who, to deal with that, have said, oh, actually, there is no difference between, you know, the beneficiaries of affirmative action and the other kids. There is no difference. If the affirmative action kids got, let's say, a 500 and the other kids got a 750, that doesn't make any difference. That's just BS. The only reason the kid who the 550 kid didn't get 750 is because Sorry Yes, there is a difference. There's a 200-point difference. Does the difference matter? Yes, the difference matters. And by the way, if you don't know what a yacht is, you can know what a yacht is without owning a yacht, okay? And there's this denialism. that I think has really seeped into not just into various conversations.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I would have gotten it hadn't been for that racial affirmative action. They're resentful. Well, you know, should they be resentful? No, they shouldn't be resentful, but they are resentful. Does that have a consequence? Yet it has a consequence. It has a consequence on how they act towards other people. It has a consequence on how they vote. It has a consequence. And, you know, that's something. Are there other things? Yeah, and, you know, in my book, I have various. I think that there is a I think that there is a certain sort of denialism. That has accompanied the affirmative action debate. So because Black people like myself.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Most colleges and universities in the United States because they're not selective. Hell, they'll take anybody who, you know, if you can pay, come on in. Only a fairly small set of schools that are selective, but of course those are the most elite schools, those are the schools that people most want to get into. And that's one of the reasons why we have all this, you know, fighting over those schools. You know, there's a whole how many millions of people are there in America who have applied to various places they didn't get in And what do they say? The white person who applied to Harvard applied to Yale, applied to Columbia, you know, applied to Georgetown, applied to NYU. Didn't get in. What do they say?”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, perfect boom. Yes, that's exactly what the situation. And by the way, I wasn't the only one. I wasn't being idiosyncratic. I wasn't the only one. There weren't many black people in that class, but All of us And we laughed about it later. We laughed about it, but that was there. So there's the stigma issue, and some people have made a lot of this. Some people have really made a lot of the stigma issue. My attitude towards astigma issue, yeah, it's there. It's, you know, again, it's part of the situation, but I think that the benefits outweigh the burdens. But is that a burden? Yeah, that's a burden. What are some others? Resentment. Resentment in society. And that's, you know, so in the fancy schools. And by the way, remember when we're talking about affirmative action.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Just at issue. And so now all of this is happening really quickly. He calls on the student. This is happening like in seconds And she responded and she responded really strongly. It was clear he asked her a question. She answered the question. She answered the question, you know, beautiful. I mean, very strong, comprehensive, wonderful response. Now, you might say, okay, well, you know, smart student, okay, fine. Next. After class. After class I went up to her. And I clearly remember this. I said, that was great. Thank you. Why? Because I'm a black student, predominantly white institution, Yale Law School. And... I felt Some of the Again, you know, affirmative action, I felt some of the burden of this affirmative action stigma.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Call on me because it's called on somebody else was a black woman student. And I Different. I felt as if I Was I felt as if I was somehow At issue. felt as if my place, I felt as if my status was You know, some small degree.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To avoid the stigmatization. That is imposed by affirmative action. But is that stigma there? Yes, it's there. It is there. I'll tell you another way in which it comes up from a student's point of view. I'll never forget this. It was my second year of law school It was in tax class. We had a very famous tax teacher, wonderful tax teacher, on the very first day of class. Professor Bitger, wonderful man, wonderful teacher, Boris Bitker. Called on the very first person he called on was a black student. I remember this as if it were yesterday called on a black student and was a black woman student. And I remember when he called on her, I remember just. I felt I felt as if the room got quieter. Really, I felt as if the room got quieter, and I know there was a real teness within me.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You lose, okay, brother. Let me just tell you that. And he was telling me that because when he was, you know, in an earlier time, Tai Tai lose. If it's even and there's a choice to be made, the white person is going to get the benefit of the doubt. Now under affirmative action, there's been a switcheroo. Oftentimes it's the black person who gets the benefit of the doubt, but I'm still in a situation which...”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“People are going to think that. And are they crazy to think that? No, they're not crazy to think that. No, that's a perfectly logical thing for somebody to think. Does it have an effect on me as the teacher? He actually does have an effect on me. Sure. I'm aware that some people are thinking that. It doesn't, I'm not, you know, it doesn't, you know, make me shake in my boots. Am I aware of it? Yeah, I'm aware of it. Does it have an effect? Yeah, it probably does have an effect. It probably does. It probably It probably makes me... It probably makes me redouble my efforts. Because I don't want anybody to think justifiably. that I'm less able than my colleagues. It's funny. When I was growing up, my father used to tell me over and over again, Randy.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'm a professor at Harvard Law School. One of the subjects I teach is contracts. Actually, that's probably the subject I most enjoy teaching. I think I most enjoy writing about racial conflict and the legal system. But as far as teaching, I most enjoy teaching contracts. Well, on that very first day, on the very first day, when I, you know, 80 students come, they're especially first-year students, they're nervous. I show up. I'm quite sure that there's some students there who are thinking Okay, well Is this guy as good as my other teachers? Because, you know, I know that institutions like Harvard have made a special effort to bring in people like this guy Kennedy. Is he as good? Well, I mean, I'm sorry if you have an affirmative action.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And who we're going to be thinking to themselves, hmm. So and so is here and they were given a special boost. Doesn't that mean that they were not as proficient as the other people who were here and who did not have that boost? So if they are not as proficient, that means that they might not be as good, they might not be as up to snuff. Is that part of our affirmative action world? Yes, it's part of our affirmative action world. Yes”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, you know, to that extent, I can see under that scenario, maybe it does matter. So, you know, I'll have to recalibrate. Still, those are the three, those are the three leading justifications for affirmative action. You ask me, where do I stand with respect to affirmative action? Oh, no, before we get to that, are there criticisms? The answer is yes. There are criticisms of affirmative action. Affirmative action is a policy like, you know, any policy, any policy is going to have some downsides to it. And affirmative action is no different. Does affirmative action have some downsides? Yes, it does have some downsides. What are they? Well, let me mention a couple. One... Stigma stigma. So if you have an institution that says that it Reaches out to give a boost to certain people. A racial basis. Going to be People who observe that”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Okay, well, you know, I think. I think you've made a good point. Maybe so. So let's go back to the physics. I mean, let's suppose that under one scenario there's a classroom and a kid sticks his head in, you know, a black kid sticks his head in the classroom and doesn't see anybody else black there and has to make a quick decision and says, yeah, you know, nah, this ain't for me. Versus they stick their head in the classroom, they see a smattering other black people in the classroom. They say, let me try this. And then they try it, and it turns out, damn it, they're, you know, Albert Einstein.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think it's often pretextual. I think, frankly, the real reason has to do with Belief, and I think it's a good belief. I associate myself with the belief. It's just that because of the legal rules, the authorities can't say this belief out loud, but it's still the case that a lot of institutions want to help American society overcome its racial past. That's the real animating force. Now this thing about, you know, we'll have better classroom discussions, you know, some discussions. I mean, you know, with some subjects. Listen, I'm an ignoramus when it comes to physics. My sense of it is, however, that if you're talking about physics, you're talking about physics, and frankly, it doesn't much matter in terms of mastering physics. What the demographics of that classroom are you either know physics or you don't.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't think that's what's really going on for the most part. I mean, if that's what's really going on, why don't we have more foreign students? You know, why isn't there a greater effort to bring in more foreign students? Why isn't there a greater effort to bring in more, I don't know, religious fundamentalists? Why isn't there a greater effort to bring in? And you could just name various groups that are, you know, you hardly ever see them on campus.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The reason that the school, so yeah, as you know, there is a case we'll know about it, it'll be announced sometime in the next month. Well, month, month and a half It's a case of the Supreme Court of the United States in which the affirmative action program at Harvard and the affirmative action program at the University of North Carolina are being challenged. Most people think, including me, that the Supreme Court of the United States is going to limit, if not Seek to As things currently stand, My university and other universities embrace affirmative action on the third ground, the diversity ground. And what they say is we need affirmative action because affirmative action is good for pedagogical reasons. Now, frankly, Do I think there's something to that? I think there's a little something to that with respect to some subjects.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In that justification, legitimacy is sometimes mentioned. So for instance, people will say things like, well, you know, if we're going to, in the armed forces, you can't have an armed forces in which the sort of the people on the ground. You have a lot of people on the ground who are people of color, but none of the people calling the shots, none of the generals, none of the colonels are people of color. No. The people on the ground are not going to stand for that. So for purposes of legitimation, we need to, for purposes of buy-in, we need to have a situation in which people get the sense that even if they're sort of low down. They're still part of the story. They're part of the team. So that's part of the sort of. I don't know distributive justice notion.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Gave the black folks the old textbooks. That's what the black kids read. The white kids read the newest textbooks on and on and on. So reparative justice. We're going to try to repair the scars left by past racial injustice. And so it's sort of an effort to overcome the vestiges of past misdeeds. That was one justification for affirmative action. And frankly, I think that's the justification that has always been the predominant justification whether people owned up to it or not. But that's one justification. The distributive justice justification is there. Like I say, people, we want an integrated America. We want an America that looks like America.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And so they go into competitions and it's unfair. Yeah, they score less well on the standardized test, but, you know, surprise, surprise, what the heck? They went to schools in which they got the leavings of the white folks. You know, the white folks...”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I can make the case for and I can make the case against. The case for I won't spend much time on this. Like I said, there are three Main justifications. Your audience should know that One, the justification that actually led to affirmative action is a justification that you don't hear about in the courts because the courts have said that that justification is insufficient. So the real justification behind affirmative action was in the late 1960s, in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Revolution, in the aftermath of the civil rights movement, there was a feeling that, well, okay, fine, we're not discriminating against black people anymore, but black people have been disadvantaged by the discrimination that has been put upon them. And this discrimination that was put upon them has disabled them.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Reach out and give a boost to certain groups, they won't be here. And we want a campus that looks like America. And we won't have a campus that looks like America unless we give a special boost to, I don't know, the Latino kids or unless we give a special boost to black applicants. So reparative justice, distributive justice, or third, diversity, we just want to have an interesting student body and to have an interesting student body. We want kids from a wide array of places. We think that that'll make for a better campus, more interesting campus. Those are three justifications, all of which, however, are justifications for in a competition, giving a special boost to some people based on their race.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Some are grounded, like I said, in reparative justice. Some might be granted in distributive justice, so for instance when people say nowadays we want a cabinet, we want a team, we want a student body that looks like America. That might be a distributive justice theory for why you want affirmative action unless we reach us, unless we...”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Why? Well, black kid, all there is to it. Black kid, we want to, you know, maybe, and then our theory, you know, maybe our theory is that black people have been done wrong in the United States and we want our institution to contribute to making amends. That might be a theory. Another theory might be, we think that we'll have a more interesting student body, we'll have a better student body, a more better discussion if there are more black kids on campus and unless we make a special effort to bring more black kids on campus, our student body will be overwhelmingly monoracial. We'll just have white kids, a few Asian kids, a few Latino kids if there are no black kids here. I don't know it'll be lacking an important aspect of American life. Some sort of the so-called diversity story. So anyway, there are various theories.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We think that there will be too few racial minority kids who do well enough in this competition to be admitted to our school. So what we're going to do is we are going to, in various ways, give a boost to the minority kids. If it comes down to you have two kids, They both, you know, I don't know, have 99 on the test. There's one place left. We only have one spot left, two kids. One's a black kid, one's a white kid. They both got 99. We're going to give it to the black kid.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Bingo. Why is it that we, again, there's various ways in which institutions reach out to help various sectors of our population? Why is it that this is the one that generates all of the pulling out of hair and gnashing of teeth? We can put that to the side for a moment. Racial affirmative action refers to efforts in which institutions reach out to provide assistance to racial minorities. Now, the reaching out has can happen in different ways. A light form of affirmative action might be reaching out in terms of recruiting. Making a special effort to make sure that young people, let's say in racial minority neighborhoods, know about your college. You know, that's recruitment. On the other hand, racial affirmative action might take a stronger form. It might take the form of saying, okay, we have a competition.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Sure. Well Affirmative action Refers to racial affirmative action because there's various sorts of affirmative action. I mean, you can have affirmative action for veterans. You can have affirmative action for in-state residents. Let's suppose you have a school, you know, the University of blah, blah, blah, and we're going to, we want to give out a hand to boost help people who live within this state. We're going to have a boost for veterans. We're going to have a boost for, you know, for women. We're going to have a boost for men in certain circumstances. Well, the most The type of affirmative action that gets most attention, and that's worth noting as well. There's lots of sorts of affirmative action, but when you say affirmative action, the type of affirmative action that immediately people are thinking about is racial affirmative.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, it's absolutely an absolutely extraordinary story. And so one of the difficulties I have at this moment is wrapping my head around Two stories that are in such tension with one another. One is the continuing story of racism, which is an awful story. But the other story is a story that is encapsulated in the title of a great book of history by John Hope Franklin from slavery to freedom. And those are two stories in American life, and it takes an awful lot to put your mind around both stories. And I'm trying to.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Has the United States changed? Yes. And again, if we want to go international. United States is not the only country that is a country that has wrestled with deep division. You think about, I don't know, think about India. Think about the United Kingdom. Think about practically any large nation state. They've all grappled with divisions. If one asks about the United States and the race question, And one puts on the table that in 1865, now when I talk with students, I say 1865, they think, oh my God, isn't that when dinosaurs roam? No, it wasn't when dinosaurs roam. 1865, frankly, is not all that long ago. In 1865, the great mass of black people in the United States had recently been released from chattel slavery. The great mass of black people in the United States in 1865 were illiterate. Now”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Is a black woman. And we could go on and on and on and on. This is not, you know, we're not, when I was growing up, when I was growing up, when I was, let's say, 10 years old, we got a magazine, Ebony Magazine, every month. And in Ebony magazine, you could turn to the middle of Ebony, and they would have black first, the first black person to do this, the first black person to do this. You could read Ebony, and frankly, I could tell you all of those first, I knew their names. Now? I read stuff You know, the leading cadet, the chief cadet at the United States Naval Academy I'm reading, I'm reading, then I see a picture black woman. I didn't know that back in the day I would have known that now. Has the United States changed? Yes. Is there racism? Yes. Is it a substantial force in American life? Regrettably, tragically, yes.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's also true, Pup, that the vice president of the United States, as we speak, is a black woman. As we speak, it's true that the Secretary of Defense. Now, Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of Defense is the head of the Pentagon. The Secretary of Defense knows where the button is, okay? This is not a small out of the way thing. This is the Secretary of Defense. Is a black man. There are a slew of black generals. There have been black secretaries of state. There are black people who are the heads of police forces, there are black mayors, there are black people who are the heads of some of our foremost foundations. There are the president-elect. Harvard University”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I want to be careful here and I don't want to. Don't want to. You're right. I don't want to give up on the optimist camp. I don't. My optimism has definitely been dampened. It has definitely been tested. I am certainly not. I am not as triumphalist as I once was. I am not as indignant as I once was in my criticism of pessimists. But at this moment as we speak, Am I more in the optimist camp than I'm in the pessimistic camp? I'm still probably more in the optimist camp. My optimism has been dampened. But as I speak, I have to say the following things. And I'd say the following things if my father, but again, whom I revere. Great man. But if my father was sitting here with us, I would say, listen, pop. It's absolutely true that the country is more racist than I had thought. That is true.”
2023-05-24 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source