Knowledge Bank

Racial equality has been a moral and political demand from people of color for hundreds of years.  But discussions within philosophy of this concept, and what it would take to realize it as an ideal, are still comparatively rare.  Mills will argue that racial equality as a concept and an ideal is indeed worthy of philosophical exploration.  Moreover, given (what I claim is) the centrality of race and racial inequality to modernity, racial equality as an achieved reality would have far-reaching implications that would dramatically reshape the world. For people of color, racial equality as a theme and an aspiration is not at all yawn-inducing liberal boilerplate, for the non-achievement of this goal despite liberalism's promise is the central problem that has constrained their lives for hundreds of years. In this talk, Mills will look at some of the different dimensions of racial in/equality, the theoretical problems it poses for Rawlsian justice theory, and offer some suggestions as to how these challenges might be addressed.