#379 – Randall Kennedy: The N-Word – History of Race, Law, Politics, and Power

Lex Fridman Podcast

Lex Fridman

Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science, Technology

4.7 • 13K Ratings

🗓️ 24 May 2023

⏱️ 194 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Randall Kennedy is a law professor at Harvard and author of many seminal books on race, law, history, culture, and politics. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Randall's Website: https://hls.harvard.edu/faculty/randall-l-kennedy
N*****: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word: https://amzn.to/3MbrXSC
Say It Loud!: On Race, Law, History, and Culture: https://amzn.to/3MfQWUT
For Discrimination: Race, Affirmative Action, and the Law: https://amzn.to/3BASZxZ
Race, Crime, and the Law: https://amzn.to/3pVtVyU

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OUTLINE:
Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) - Introduction
(06:11) - The N-word
(41:55) - The three N-words
(1:08:28) - Education
(1:21:31) - Critical race theory
(1:32:05) - Racism and policing
(1:39:25) - Racial profiling
(2:08:57) - Racism in US history
(2:26:55) - Affirmative action
(3:10:22) - Martin Luther King Jr.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The following is a conversation with Randall Kennedy, professor at Harvard Law School,
0:04.5	an author of many seminal books on race, law, history, culture, and politics, including
0:11.0	specifically on affirmative action, criminal justice, policing, and the topic explored extensively
0:18.0	in this conversation the single most powerful word and slur in the English language, the
0:23.9	N word, with a hard R at the end.
0:27.1	Randall has written a book with this word as the title, N word, the strange career of
0:33.2	a troublesome word.
0:35.1	Please be warned that Randall uses this word throughout this conversation deliberately
0:40.3	and skillfully to discuss its power and its role in the history of the United States.
0:46.2	I don't intend to shy away from controversial topics like these, and I'll work hard to
0:52.5	handle them thoughtfully and thoroughly with respect and with empathy.
0:57.4	Often with several guests who have very different perspectives on the topic.
1:01.8	In the end, I believe in the power of long-form conversations that he'll divide by furthering
1:06.9	understanding of human nature, of human history, and the full diversity of the human experience.
1:14.7	And now a quick few second mention of each sponsor.
1:17.5	Check them out in the description as the best way to support this podcast.
1:21.5	We got A sleep, for naps, linoid, for linux cloud systems, and inside track of four tracking
1:29.2	your biological data, choose wisely, my friends.
1:32.2	Also, if you want to work with our amazing team or always hiring, go to lexfreedman.com slash
1:37.6	hiring.
1:38.6	And now onto the full ad reads.
1:40.7	As always, no ads in the middle.
	...

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