Sunday, June 30, 2019
We got up early, had coffee and bagels on the Avenue, then met up with Richard at Peet's at 11 for Arizmendi pizza and about 40 minutes of chat time. Another beautiful day.
At 2, we went to Richard and Lisa's for our first ever Lakeshore book club. The weather was heaven, and so was the food. Our first book, The Color of Law, is one of those earth shattering reads that I can't stop thinking about. It comes up all the time in American life and politics. I came up just the other night when Thursday night's Presidential candidates squared off to create a moment (or two) to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack.
When Joe Biden and Camilla Harris had their moment about school busing, the real point of contention is the complicity of the United States government to keep America segregated. What Biden doesn't get, or doesn't see, or doesn't fully appreciate is that our government has never stood for equality and has condoned segregation throughout its history. This book does an amazing job shattering the illusion that "de facto" tendencies (i.e., people wanting to live with people of the same color) created segregation more than "de jure" tendencies (i.e. government control/force/desire/laws that allowed segregation to thrive and prosper). The big lie of America (one of many, unfortunately), is that our rules and laws and idea of fairness works for everyone. It does not. If you still believe that lie, read this book.
In attendance were Lisa, Richard, Alice, Margaret, Kara, and Kara's friend Rachelle. It was a great discussion. Our next book is "Winners Take All," by Anand Giridharadas. This book looks good too!
We got up early, had coffee and bagels on the Avenue, then met up with Richard at Peet's at 11 for Arizmendi pizza and about 40 minutes of chat time. Another beautiful day.
At 2, we went to Richard and Lisa's for our first ever Lakeshore book club. The weather was heaven, and so was the food. Our first book, The Color of Law, is one of those earth shattering reads that I can't stop thinking about. It comes up all the time in American life and politics. I came up just the other night when Thursday night's Presidential candidates squared off to create a moment (or two) to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack.
When Joe Biden and Camilla Harris had their moment about school busing, the real point of contention is the complicity of the United States government to keep America segregated. What Biden doesn't get, or doesn't see, or doesn't fully appreciate is that our government has never stood for equality and has condoned segregation throughout its history. This book does an amazing job shattering the illusion that "de facto" tendencies (i.e., people wanting to live with people of the same color) created segregation more than "de jure" tendencies (i.e. government control/force/desire/laws that allowed segregation to thrive and prosper). The big lie of America (one of many, unfortunately), is that our rules and laws and idea of fairness works for everyone. It does not. If you still believe that lie, read this book.
In attendance were Lisa, Richard, Alice, Margaret, Kara, and Kara's friend Rachelle. It was a great discussion. Our next book is "Winners Take All," by Anand Giridharadas. This book looks good too!
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