Nigger

By Randall Kennedy,

Book cover of Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word

Book description

The twentieth anniversary edition of one of the most controversial books ever published on race and language is now more relevant than ever in this season of racial reckoning—from “one of our most important and perceptive writers on race" (The Washington Post).

In addition to a brave and bracing inquiry…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Nigger as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I will never forget Professor Kennedy’s welcome speech during my first week at Harvard Law School, trembling in my boots that admitting me must have been some sort of administrative error. Kennedy’s penetrating wit showed me what we need to know if we want to think effectively about complex social controversies.

That impression was powerfully confirmed when I read his outstanding book about racist speech. Tracing back through his own childhood steeped in racial discrimination, Kennedy explains the problems we cause when we allow people to voice racist ideas and the problems we cause when we try to censor them. 

From Eric's list on understanding hate speech.

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