Randall Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Randall L. Kennedy is an American Law professor and author at Harvard University
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. He is the Michael R. Klein Professor of Law and focuses his research on the intersection of racial conflict and legal institutions in American life. He supervises written work and accepts press inquiries regarding the topics of contracts, freedom of expression, race relations law, civil rights legislation, and the Supreme Court
.
Kennedy has written four books: Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity and Adoption; Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word
; Race, Crime, and the Law; and Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal. Additionally, Kennedy has published numerous collections of shorter works. Many of his articles can be found in periodicals and newspapers such as: The American Prospect
, The Nation
, The Atlantic Monthly
, Georgetown Law Journal
, Harvard BlackLetter Journal, and The Boston Globe
. His book Race, Crime, and the Law won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.
, the middle child of Henry Kennedy Sr., a postal worker, and Rachel Kennedy, an elementary school teacher. He has two siblings, Henry H. Kennedy, Jr.
, United States District Court Judge for the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. and Angela Kennedy, a lawyer in the Public Defender Service for D.C. Kennedy has stated that tales of racial oppression and racial resistance were staples of conversation in his household. His father often spoke of watching Thurgood Marshall
argue Rice vs. Elmore, the case that invalidated the rule permitting only whites to vote in South Carolina's Democratic primary. Later that decade, fleeing the abuses of Jim Crow, his parents moved from South Carolina
to Washington, D.C.
For his education, he attended St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.
, Princeton University
(A.B.
, 1977), University of Oxford
(graduate studies, 1977–79), and Yale Law School
(J.D.
, 1982). He was also a Rhodes Scholar. He served as a law clerk
for Judge J. Skelly Wright
of the United States Court of Appeals from 1982–83 and for Justice Thurgood Marshall
of the United States
Supreme Court
from 1983-84. He was admitted to the Washington, D.C.
bar in 1983. Additionally, he is a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States
, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
, and a member of the American Philosophical Association
.
, teaching courses on race relations law and freedom of expression.
Kennedy first came to prominence as a legal-academic scholar when he began addressing affirmative action. In 1997, Kennedy published Race, Crime, and the Law, which received a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award in 1998. "This book is a brave, honest, forceful intervention in that debate," wrote William A. Galston and David Wasserman in the Wilson Quarterly
. The same article noted, "With restrained passion, he documents the myriad ways in which our legal system has betrayed the principle of fair and equal treatment for African Americans." While Kennedy argues in the book that African Americans have suffered at the hands of the criminal justice system, he also notes that blacks have committed a "notably large proportion" of the crimes that people are most afraid of (robbery
, rape
, murder
, aggravated assault). He likewise points out that the need to protect black communities from crime has often been neglected. Galston and Wasserman wrote, "Too often, says Kennedy, black leaders show more concern for black perpetrators of crime than for their black victims."
. Kennedy has written extensively on interracial marriages and adoptions
, and on the relationship between race and crime. His views have won acclaim but they have also courted controversy. "One of the things they [critics] find disconcerting is that I ask questions," Kennedy told Lawrence Donegan
in the London Observer. "I actually question the premise of my own thinking and push my own conclusions hard. I thought that was what intellectuals were supposed to do." Despite the firestorm created by his published work, Donegan noted that Kennedy's "colleagues variously describe him as brilliant, well-read and personable."
In 2002 more controversy erupted when Kennedy published Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. "The power of 'Nigger
,'" noted Charles Taylor in Salon
, "is that Kennedy writes fully of the word, neither condemning its every use nor fantasizing that it can ever become solely a means of empowerment." In this slim volume Kennedy explores the history of the controversial word, noting that the meaning varies according to the person using it and the context of its use. "I'm not saying that any particular instance of using the N-word
is any more horrifying and menacing than any other such word," he told Daniel Smith in The Atlantic. "I am saying that from a broad sociological view, the word is associated with more havoc in American society than other racial slurs."
In Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity and Adoption, published in 2003, Kennedy attempts to bring greater understanding to the racial issues that continue to trouble American society. "His premise is based on common sense," wrote Emily Bernard in Black Issues Book Reviews. "Until Americans
confront racial bias in the most intimate arenas of their lives, we will continue to live with racism and its consequences." Unlike a number of black intellectuals, Kennedy has supported interracial adoption. "Parenting is a mysterious thing," he told Lise Funderburg in Essence
. "People will learn what they need to learn in order to help their child along. I'm willing to assume that with respect to all parents, including White people
who want to adopt Black kids." Kennedy also explores interracial marriages throughout American history as well as their presence in literature and film. "There is something hopeful in Kennedy's historical accounts," noted Bernard. "In spite of the law ... some individuals managed to maintain honorable and nuanced relationships with people they were legally forbidden to approach as equals."
Kennedy's views have proved controversial even among other black intellectuals. Darcus Howe
noted of Nigger
in The New Statesman
, "Had a white person used the word, rejection would have been immediate. Now white society can always point to Kennedy and say that a negro
advanced the view that 'nigger
' is acceptable." Many black scholars have labeled his work conservative, and worry that books like Race, Crime, and the Law provide political cover for traditional academics. "Over the years," wrote Derrick Bell
, "Professor Kennedy has become the impartial, black intellectual, commenting on our still benighted condition and as ready to criticize as commend." When asked by Kate Tuttle of Africana
how he felt about the controversy over Nigger
, Kennedy replied: "What's the worst that happens? That someone writes a very long diatribe in The New Yorker
excoriating me.... I'm not facing firing squads, I'm not facing exile
, I'm not facing jail
."
on hot-button racial issues in the public arena. "If you are socially isolated," he told Regan Goode in The New York Times
, "you are more vulnerable to stereotypes and myths, you won't have the opportunity to have conversations with someone who has a different social background than you." While many critics have attempted to use Kennedy's work to advance their own agendas, he has retained his academic independence. "Against black pessimists," wrote Galston and Wasserman, "[Kennedy] argues that substantial progress has been made toward the ideal of color-blind justice. Against complacent whites, he argues that there is still a long way to go." The relationship between white and black America, Kennedy noted, remains one of America's most perplexing problems. "Obviously there are all sorts of ethnic, racial conflicts in American society," Kennedy told Smith, "but there's one that is deeper than all the others and that's white/black racial conflict."
Kennedy currently serves as a Trustee of Princeton University.
, 1977–79; Earl Warren Legal Training scholarship, 1979-82.
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. He is the Michael R. Klein Professor of Law and focuses his research on the intersection of racial conflict and legal institutions in American life. He supervises written work and accepts press inquiries regarding the topics of contracts, freedom of expression, race relations law, civil rights legislation, and the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
.
Kennedy has written four books: Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity and Adoption; Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word
Nigger (2002 book)
Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word is a 2002 book by Professor Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School about the history and sociology of the word "nigger"....
; Race, Crime, and the Law; and Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal. Additionally, Kennedy has published numerous collections of shorter works. Many of his articles can be found in periodicals and newspapers such as: The American Prospect
The American Prospect
The American Prospect is a monthly American political magazine dedicated to American liberalism. Based in Washington, DC, The American Prospect is a journal "of liberal ideas, committed to a just society, an enriched democracy, and effective liberal politics" which focuses on United States politics...
, The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
, Georgetown Law Journal
Georgetown Law Journal
The Georgetown Law Journal is a student-edited scholarly journal published at Georgetown University Law Center.-Overview:The Journal publishes six issues each year. It also publishes the Annual Review of Criminal Procedure, a comprehensive practitioner's guide to criminal procedure.The first volume...
, Harvard BlackLetter Journal, and The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
. His book Race, Crime, and the Law won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.
Background and education
Randall LeRoy Kennedy was born September 10, 1954, in Columbia, South CarolinaColumbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
, the middle child of Henry Kennedy Sr., a postal worker, and Rachel Kennedy, an elementary school teacher. He has two siblings, Henry H. Kennedy, Jr.
Henry H. Kennedy, Jr.
Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. is a senior United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.-Biography:...
, United States District Court Judge for the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. and Angela Kennedy, a lawyer in the Public Defender Service for D.C. Kennedy has stated that tales of racial oppression and racial resistance were staples of conversation in his household. His father often spoke of watching Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
argue Rice vs. Elmore, the case that invalidated the rule permitting only whites to vote in South Carolina's Democratic primary. Later that decade, fleeing the abuses of Jim Crow, his parents moved from South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
For his education, he attended St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
, 1977), University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
(graduate studies, 1977–79), and Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
(J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
, 1982). He was also a Rhodes Scholar. He served as a law clerk
Law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
for Judge J. Skelly Wright
J. Skelly Wright
James Skelly Wright was a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and anti-segregationist. The J...
of the United States Court of Appeals from 1982–83 and for Justice Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
from 1983-84. He was admitted to the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
bar in 1983. Additionally, he is a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, and a member of the American Philosophical Association
American Philosophical Association
The American Philosophical Association is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly activity in philosophy, to facilitate the professional work...
.
Personal life
In 1986, Kennedy married Dr. Yvedt Matory, a cancer surgeon. They had three children: Rachel, Thaddeus, and Henry. Yvedt Matory died on April 15, 2005 of complications arising from melanoma.Academic career
In 1984 Kennedy joined the faculty at Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, teaching courses on race relations law and freedom of expression.
Kennedy first came to prominence as a legal-academic scholar when he began addressing affirmative action. In 1997, Kennedy published Race, Crime, and the Law, which received a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award in 1998. "This book is a brave, honest, forceful intervention in that debate," wrote William A. Galston and David Wasserman in the Wilson Quarterly
Wilson Quarterly
The Wilson Quarterly is a magazine published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The magazine was founded in 1976 by Peter Braestrup and James H. Billington. The Quarterly is noted for its nonpartisan, nonideological approach to current issues, with articles...
. The same article noted, "With restrained passion, he documents the myriad ways in which our legal system has betrayed the principle of fair and equal treatment for African Americans." While Kennedy argues in the book that African Americans have suffered at the hands of the criminal justice system, he also notes that blacks have committed a "notably large proportion" of the crimes that people are most afraid of (robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, aggravated assault). He likewise points out that the need to protect black communities from crime has often been neglected. Galston and Wasserman wrote, "Too often, says Kennedy, black leaders show more concern for black perpetrators of crime than for their black victims."
Views
Randall Kennedy is known as a scholar who is unafraid of tackling difficult racial issues. He has written for academic and popular journals, published several books, and served on the editorial boards of the magazines American Prospect and The NationThe Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
. Kennedy has written extensively on interracial marriages and adoptions
Interracial adoption
Interracial adoption refers to the act of placing a child of one racial or ethnic group with adoptive parents of another racial or ethnic group....
, and on the relationship between race and crime. His views have won acclaim but they have also courted controversy. "One of the things they [critics] find disconcerting is that I ask questions," Kennedy told Lawrence Donegan
Lawrence Donegan
Lawrence Donegan , is a musician and journalist, currently Golf Correspondent at The Guardian.Donegan was educated at St Modan's High School and the University of Glasgow, where his musical career began. He was the bassist in The Bluebells, whose biggest hit was "Young at Heart," and Lloyd Cole and...
in the London Observer. "I actually question the premise of my own thinking and push my own conclusions hard. I thought that was what intellectuals were supposed to do." Despite the firestorm created by his published work, Donegan noted that Kennedy's "colleagues variously describe him as brilliant, well-read and personable."
In 2002 more controversy erupted when Kennedy published Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. "The power of 'Nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
,'" noted Charles Taylor in Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, "is that Kennedy writes fully of the word, neither condemning its every use nor fantasizing that it can ever become solely a means of empowerment." In this slim volume Kennedy explores the history of the controversial word, noting that the meaning varies according to the person using it and the context of its use. "I'm not saying that any particular instance of using the N-word
N-word
N-word may refer to:* Nigger – Common euphemism for "nigger" or "nigga": viz., variant forms of a word commonly used in a derogatory way meaning or relating to black people, the latter form a colloquial reference typically utilized without malice and within the black community itself*The...
is any more horrifying and menacing than any other such word," he told Daniel Smith in The Atlantic. "I am saying that from a broad sociological view, the word is associated with more havoc in American society than other racial slurs."
In Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity and Adoption, published in 2003, Kennedy attempts to bring greater understanding to the racial issues that continue to trouble American society. "His premise is based on common sense," wrote Emily Bernard in Black Issues Book Reviews. "Until Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
confront racial bias in the most intimate arenas of their lives, we will continue to live with racism and its consequences." Unlike a number of black intellectuals, Kennedy has supported interracial adoption. "Parenting is a mysterious thing," he told Lise Funderburg in Essence
Essence (magazine)
Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49. The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty with an intimate girlfriend-to-girlfriend tone.-History:...
. "People will learn what they need to learn in order to help their child along. I'm willing to assume that with respect to all parents, including White people
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
who want to adopt Black kids." Kennedy also explores interracial marriages throughout American history as well as their presence in literature and film. "There is something hopeful in Kennedy's historical accounts," noted Bernard. "In spite of the law ... some individuals managed to maintain honorable and nuanced relationships with people they were legally forbidden to approach as equals."
Kennedy's views have proved controversial even among other black intellectuals. Darcus Howe
Darcus Howe
Darcus Howe is a British broadcaster, writer, and civil liberties campaigner. Originally from Trinidad, he moved to America in the 1960s, then arrived in England intending to study law, where he joined the British Black Panthers, the first such branch of the organization outside the United States...
noted of Nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
in The New Statesman
The New Statesman
The New Statesman is an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time...
, "Had a white person used the word, rejection would have been immediate. Now white society can always point to Kennedy and say that a negro
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
advanced the view that 'nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
' is acceptable." Many black scholars have labeled his work conservative, and worry that books like Race, Crime, and the Law provide political cover for traditional academics. "Over the years," wrote Derrick Bell
Derrick Bell
Derrick Albert Bell, Jr. was the first tenured African-American professor of Law at Harvard University, and largely credited as the originator of Critical Race Theory. He was the former dean of the University of Oregon School of Law.- Education and early career :Born in the Hill District of...
, "Professor Kennedy has become the impartial, black intellectual, commenting on our still benighted condition and as ready to criticize as commend." When asked by Kate Tuttle of Africana
Africana
Africana is a Latin word, the feminine form of africanus meaning "African":*feminine singular:**as a Roman cognomen*** Cornelia Africana, the daughter of Scipio Africanus*** Cornelia Africana Major Africana is a Latin word, the feminine form of africanus meaning "African":*feminine singular:**as a...
how he felt about the controversy over Nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
, Kennedy replied: "What's the worst that happens? That someone writes a very long diatribe in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
excoriating me.... I'm not facing firing squads, I'm not facing exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
, I'm not facing jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
."
Current activities
Through numerous appearances on the lecture circuit, Kennedy continues to promote debateDebate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
on hot-button racial issues in the public arena. "If you are socially isolated," he told Regan Goode in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, "you are more vulnerable to stereotypes and myths, you won't have the opportunity to have conversations with someone who has a different social background than you." While many critics have attempted to use Kennedy's work to advance their own agendas, he has retained his academic independence. "Against black pessimists," wrote Galston and Wasserman, "[Kennedy] argues that substantial progress has been made toward the ideal of color-blind justice. Against complacent whites, he argues that there is still a long way to go." The relationship between white and black America, Kennedy noted, remains one of America's most perplexing problems. "Obviously there are all sorts of ethnic, racial conflicts in American society," Kennedy told Smith, "but there's one that is deeper than all the others and that's white/black racial conflict."
Kennedy currently serves as a Trustee of Princeton University.
Awards
National Achievement scholarship, 1973–77; Rhodes scholarshipRhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
, 1977–79; Earl Warren Legal Training scholarship, 1979-82.
Books
- 1997. Race, Crime, and the Law, Vintage Books.
- 2002. Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word, Pantheon.
- 2003. Interracial Intimacies: Sex, Marriage, Identity and Adoption, Pantheon.
- 2008. Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal, Pantheon.
- 2011. The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency, Pantheon.
External links
- Faculty page for Randall Kennedy at Harvard
- Video (and audio) of interview/discussion with Randall Kennedy and John McWhorterJohn McWhorterJohn Hamilton McWhorter V is an American linguist and political commentator. He is the author of a number of books on language and on race relations. His linguistic specialty is creole and the process through which it forms.-Early life:...
at Bloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tv is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast online to viewers... - Faculty page for Randall Kennedy at Harvard University Department of African American Studies
- NPR Interview: Randall Kennedy Mulls Meaning of Being Branded a 'Sellout'
- Interview: Randall Kennedy about the presidency of Barack Obama and affirmative action La Clé des langues