Randall Kennedy
Randall Kennedy
Randall L. Kennedyis 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...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEducator
Date of Birth10 September 1954
CountryUnited States of America
Any successful black person will have to face suspicion within his or her own community about his or her loyalty to other blacks.
I was born in Columbia in 1954, the year the Supreme Court invalidated racial segregation in public schools. I visited frequently but did not live there.
I think that many black people thought this would be a wonderful and extraordinary thing, for a black family to occupy the White House. Not only black people; a lot of white people thought that, too, but particularly black people.
The biggest accomplishment, in racial terms, for Barack Obama was being elected. He had to overcome his blackness to be elected. He climbed the Mt. Everest of American politics, becoming an historic first.
In elite, primarily white institutions, there are many blacks who have white wives. So much so that sometimes there is almost the assumption that I would be married to a white woman.
I will say go into the world and try to find good people that feel genuine affection and love for you, and disregard everything else about their background.
We know that we're not supposed to be racially biased, and we don't want to think of ourselves as racially biased, so we tell ourselves a different story.