Color Conscious: The Political Morality of Race

Appiah, a Harvard philosophy professor, and Gutmann, dean of the faculty at Princeton, add an academic gloss to two issues already much debated today: the legitimacy of the notion of ""race"" and whether color-blind policies can further justice in America. Appiah's sometimes ponderous philosophical excursion reminds us that the notion of race fails as a biological construct (despite contemporary efforts like The Bell Curve to prove otherwise), but he does acknowledge that race shapes social identity in America. But because America's racial groups do not necessarily share a single culture, Appiah protests, as others have, that there should not be one way to be ""black"" and hopes for the possibility of multiple identities and allegiances. Gutmann's essay returns us to the here and now, calling for color consciousness, which acknowledges the effects of race without assuming genetic determinism. She argues that ""fairness"" comes closer to justice than color-blindness, and that color-conscious policies--rather than class-conscious ones--can address the effects of race. Gutmann makes a distinction between ""affirmative action"" and more regrettable ""preferential treatment"" that may be disputed; she does acknowledge that color-consciousness today aims to achieve a future color-blind society. (Nov.)