Accidental American: August 2009 Archives

Courtesy of Sum of Change, here's our own Rinku Sen (executive director of the Applied Research Center, publisher of ColorLines, author of The Accidental American) at Netroots Nation 2009.

Speaking on the "Stepping it up: Creating Powerful Multiracial Alliances with Progressive Bloggers" panel, Rinku takes on the questions — why are race-related social justice issues so often forfeited by the predominantly white liberal blogosphere? And how is policy affected when the discourse is dominated by uncontested racism? Rinku outlines how we fall into the trap of staying within the established racist frames, and how this has led to policies that punish people of color disproportionately and leave them vulnerable to injustice and exploitation.

Yesterday, we posted Rinku's appearance on "Myth of Post-Racial America." Be sure to check out all of Sum of Change's video from Netroots Nation at their site.

Courtesy of Sum of Change, here's our own Rinku Sen (executive director of the Applied Research Center, publisher of ColorLines, author of The Accidental American, list goes on).

Speaking on the "Myth of Post-Racial America" panel, Rinku takes post-racialism head-on, saying that we in the movement need to realize that those outside of the movement just don't know about racism. That is, the average person thinks that racism is always 'individual, intentional, and explicit' — a definition that neatly precludes the acknowledgement of, and action against, systemic and structural racism in all their forms.

Check in tomorrow for Rinku's appearance on "Stepping it up: Creating Powerful Multiracial Alliances with Progressive Bloggers," and be sure to check out all of Sum of Change's video from Netroots Nation at their site.

The Progressive Book Club has started a video series, Open Books, in which they ask "PBC authors to tell us about the books they love." This week, Rinku Sen, ARC's Executive Director and co-author of The Accidental American, recommends two novels about characters trapped “between the oppressed and the oppressor,” and tells us why these books speak to her.

The Accidental American is available now.