In speaking about Black American disadvantage and its implications for American democracy,

I draw on my many years of study as an economic theorist and public intellectual.

First, I offer two statements of principle.

Persistent Black disadvantage is an American tragedy.

It is a national, not merely a communal disgrace.

Secondly, where inequality is a national, not merely a communal disgrace. Secondly, where inequality is a problem, let us address it forthrightly. But let us do so on behalf of a program of human decency, not of racial equity.

All right. Welcome to Current Affairs. My name is Nathan Robertson. I am the editor-in-chief of Current Affairs magazine. My guest today is the Distinguished Professor of Economics, Glenn Lowry. Professor Lowry has a long career as a commentator on economics, on race,

on sociology. He was the first black tenured professor in the Harvard Economics Department

in his early 30s. He is the man who coined the term social capital, and he has produced

a number of fascinating,

controversial, provocative works that we're going to dive into. He has just reissued his book,

The Anatomy of Racial Inequality. This is the second edition with a new preface out from Harvard

University Press. Professor Lowry, thank you so much for joining me. You're welcome,

Nathan. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you for the introduction. So the anatomy of racial

inequality is where I'd like to start. So this book is an attempt to do a few things. You

originally published it back in 2002. You're bringing it back

out now. I think it's a really, I really think it's a totally fascinating book because,

for first, because economists, I'm a sociology PhD student and economists generally don't take much interest in sociology,

but I feel like this book shows what kind of the way in which the work of economists can be

kind of enriched by sociology. And I don't think many people are doing this. And it's really

quite cool

just from an academic perspective.

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