Book
I am currently reading a new book I just received. It is Covering: The hidden Assault on our Civil Rights, by Kenji Yoshino. Yes books take up valuable TV watching time, but as long as it is not time for the Simpsons or The Daily Show I enjoy a good book. The following is an excerpt copied and pasted from the description on the inside cover to give an idea of what's it's about. As I get into it further I will give my insights.
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...Everyone covers. To cover is to downplay a disfavored trait so as to blend into teh mainstream. Because all of us possess stigmatized attributes, we all encounter pressure to cover in our daily lives. Given its pervasiveness, we may experience this pressure to be simple fact of social life.
Against that conventional understanding, Kenji Yoshino argues that the demand to cover can pose a hidden threat to our civil rights. Though we have come to some consensus against penalizing people for differences based on race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, and disability, we still routinely deny eual treatment to people who refuse to downplay differences along these lines. Racial minorities are pressed to "act white" by changing their names, languages, or cultural practices. Women are told top "play like men" at work. Gays are asked not to engage in public displays of same-sex affection. The devout are instructed to minimize expressions of faith, and individuals with disabilities are urged to conceal the paraphernalia that permit them to function. In a wide ranging analysis, Yoshino demonstraits that American civil rights laws have generally ignored the threat posed by these covering demands. With passion and rigor, he shows that the work of civil rights will not be complete until it attends to the harms of coerced conformity.
At the same time, Yoshino is responsive to the American exasperation with identity politics, which often seems like an endless parade of groups asking for state and social solitude.......
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Unfortunetly while at Caribou this morning with caffiene life juice in one hand and the book in the other, I was interrupted by my cell phone with work issues. In my office, there are three managers, one being me, and three other staff members. It boggles my mind that I cannot leave for a day the office in the hands of two managers and three staff members without having to be bothered on my day off. Is it ethical as a manager to ignore the calls from your office? So that got me pissed off and I wasn't in the mood to read, hence my lack of my own details.
Now off to play racquetball.....