The Many Faces of Bias
By Julianne Malveaux
If 2002 did nothing else, it provided those who teach African American studies with scores of “teachable moments” about race, class, gender, history and intersectionality. The year-end flap about Sen. Trent Lott’s hankering back to the good old days of segregation could easily take up hours of conversation, with a dissection of his BET interview — the Pascagoula, Miss., “apology” and embrace of affirmative action.
It was amusing and amazing to listen to the coded signals that Lott continued to send until the end, and alarming to think that the Republican Party or Democrats, for that matter, can sidestep the issue of race by using Lott as a sacrificial lamb. And it will be interesting to see if Lott’s newfound racial sensitivity results in any amended actions on his part. Will he, indeed, tour the South with Georgia Congressman John Lewis? Will he continue to support Judge Charles W. Pickering Sr. for an appointment to the federal appeals court?
