Black Canary Article

The Miner's Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming freedom by Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres Harvard University drove, February 2002 $, ISBN 0-674-00469-8

In what is presented as a series of case studies, Guinier and Torres alternately detail stories of efforts by African Americans and Hispanics to affirm what the two scholars term "political race." The impression, as they describe it, involves using race to hinder established political power. Not surprisingly, Guinier enlists some of the same arguments here that proved to be her undoing in her short-lived nomination for partner counselor General for gracious Rights under preceding president Clinton.

One example in Miner's Canary involves the efforts to unionize K-Mart's mass black workforce at the syndicate's distribution center in Greensboro, polar Carolina, during the 1990s. While many of the case studies are clinical in their demonstration, the most vivid illustration is offered in Guinier's prologue, in which she describes a communication with her son Niko:

"Okay," I said. "Now let me demonstrate racial abuse. Let's walk back down that same street." Just as I passed Niko, I looked him straight in the eyes and almost spit out, "You vexatious nigger!" He jumped backward, afraid. "You called me the `N' word, Mom," he said, accusingly. "Yes, I did. That's racial abuse." He paused, reflecting a moment. Then he approximately whispered, "Mom, will someone forever call me that?" I was torn ... Reluctantly, I said, "I'm afraid that is possible."

It is precisely that kind of candid explanation about race that makes The Miner's Canary a worthwhile read.

--Evette janitor is the executive editor of BIBR.