Richard T. Ford

The practical goals of civil rights are contested. During the Jim Crow era, anti-racists agreed that the goal was to dismantle explicitly discriminatory practices and formally enforced segregation. But it wasn't clear whether the ultimate goal was to achieve formal legal equality, economic equality or whether there was a more substantive commitment to social integration. With blatant discrimination on the wane, it's become obvious that anti-racists don't agree on the ultimate goal: mainstream liberals favor social integration, but black nationalists and some multiculturalists reject integration in favor of racial solidarity and cultural autonomy.

When the ultimate goal is contested, it can be hard to tell what furthers racial justice and what hinders it. For instance, affirmative action is inconsistent with formal equality but it furthers economic equality and integration; separate ethnic and racial organizations and clubs promote solidarity and cultural autonomy but violate norms of equality and cut against social integration. This can produce a Catch-22 where any course of action will be "racist" according to someone. I call this problem the clash of ends. This lecture will look at conflict over the ultimate goals of the civil rights movement.