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The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality

reviewed by Jeff Sapp - July 18, 2007

Title: The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality
Author(s): Walter Benn Michaels
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (Henry Holt and Company, Inc.), New York
ISBN: 0805083316 , Pages: 256, Year: 2007
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There is something about Walter Benn Michaels’ The Trouble With Diversity: How We Learned To Love Identity And Ignore Inequality that reads and feels right when you begin the short introduction. Michaels believes that Americans love to talk about race and identity because they don’t like to talk [about], or even acknowledge, class. To distract themselves, Americans celebrate cultural diversity rather than address the difficult issues surrounding economic inequity. I like the short introduction. It’s the rest of the book that is problematic. Michaels attempts to deconstruct current race theories that declare race as a social construct. He believes that we misunderstand race by making it synonymous with culture or identity. Culture doesn’t work because it relies on race. And what is identity? It is simply “acting” a certain way, for instance “acting black” or “acting white.” No, Michaels is sure that race is biological. Michaels is perplexed by why the United... (preview truncated at 150 words.)

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Cite This Article as: Teachers College Record, Date Published: July 18, 2007
https://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 14555, Date Accessed: 11/11/2019 7:23:42 PM

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About the Author
Jeff Sapp California State University, Dominguez Hills E-mail Author JEFF SAPP is a Professor of Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. He teaches classes on literacy at the elementary and secondary levels as well as supervising student teachers in the greater Los Angeles area. His research and writing involve issues of diversity and antiracism and can be found at www.jeffsapp.com. His recently published children�s book, Rhinos & Raspberries: Tolerance Tales for the Early Grades, just won the prestigious Golden Lamp Award from The Association of Educational Publishers, its highest honor.

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