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Faces at the Bottom of the Well

The Permanence of Racism

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Faces at the Bottom of the Well

Written by: Derrick Bell, Michelle Alexander - foreword
Narrated by: Brad Raymond
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About this listen

The classic work on American racism and the struggle for racial justice

In Faces at the Bottom of the Well, civil rights activist and legal scholar Derrick Bell uses allegory and historical example to argue that racism is an integral and permanent part of American society. African American struggles for equality are doomed to fail so long as the majority of Whites do not see their own wellbeing threatened by the status quo. Bell calls on African Americans to face up to this unhappy truth and abandon a misplaced faith in inevitable progress. Only then will Blacks, and those Whites who join with them, be in a position to create viable strategies to alleviate the burdens of racism. "Freed of the stifling rigidity of relying unthinkingly on the slogan 'we shall overcome,'" he writes, "we are impelled both to live each day more fully and to examine critically the actual effectiveness of traditional civil rights remedies."

©1992 Derrick Bell (P)2018 Hachette Audio Africa Law Racism & Discrimination Social Sciences United States Civil Rights Equality War Critical Race Theory
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What the critics say

"Effective...chilling." (New York Times Book Review)

"A disturbing but ultimately inspiring book." (San Francisco Chronicle)

"Eerily prophetic, almost haunting, and yet at the same time oddly reassuring." (Michelle Alexander, from the foreword)

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Foundational philosophy on par with Aristotle

Critical arguments on the permanence of racism and the limitations of legal remedies. The use of allegory is essential to providing context beyond case studies of legal precedents. The characters provide nuanced debates for exploring ideas. Avoiding straw man positions.

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