The Rodrigo Chronicles: Conversations About America and Race
Author(s): Richard Delgado (Author)
Publisher: NYU Press
Publication Date: 1 April 1995
Language: English
Print length: 296 pages
ISBN-10: 0814718639
ISBN-13: 9780814718636
Book Description
Dubbed a pioneer of critical race theory, Delgado offers a book of compelling conversations about race in America Richard Delgado is one of the most evocative and forceful voices writing on the subject of race and law in America today. The New York Times has described him as a pioneer of critical race theory, the bold and provocative movement that, according to the Times “will be influencing the practice of law for years to come.” In The Rodrigo Chronicles, Delgado, adopting his trademark storytelling approach, casts aside the dense, dry language so commonly associated with legal writing and offers up a series of incisive and compelling conversations about race in America. Rodrigo, a brash and brilliant African-American law graduate has been living in Italy and has just arrived in the office of a professor when we meet him. Through the course of the book, the professor and he discuss the American racial scene, touching on such issues as the role of minorities in an age of global markets and competition, the black left, the rise of the black right, black crime, feminism, law reform, and the economics of racial discrimination. Expanding on one of the central themes of the critical race movement, namely that the law has an overwhelmingly white voice, Delgado here presents a radical and stunning thesis: it is not black, but white, crime that poses the most significant problem in modern American life.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Richard Delgado is a triple pioneer. He was the first to question free speech ideology; he and a few others invented Critical Race Theory, and he is both a theorist and an exemplar of the importance of story-telling to the workings of the law. This volume brings all of Delgado’s strengths together in a stunning performance.” — Stanley Fish,author of There’s No Such Thing as Free Speech; and It’s a Good Thing, Too
“An excellent starting place for the national discussion about race we so desperately need.” ―
The Washington Post Book World
“A probing, thoughtful explication of the unexamined myths and assumptions that condition so many current U.S. public policy debates.” ―
Booklist
“A novel in which two ‘intellectuals of color’―the narrator, a middle-aged law professor, and his protege, Rodrigo Crenshaw―sit down and hash out the issues of our time. . . Intellectually exuberant” ―
Los Angeles Times
From the Back Cover
In The Rodrigo chronicles, Delgado adopts his trademark storytelling approach that casts aside the dense, dry language so commonly associated with legal writing to offer up a series of incisive and compelling conversations about race in America. Rodrigo, a brash and brilliant African-American law graduate, has been living in Italy and has just arrived in the offices of a professor when we meet him. Through the course of the book, the professor and he discuss the American racial scene, touching on such issues as the role of minorities in an age of global markets and competition, the black left, the rise of the black right, black crime, feminism, law reform, and the economics of racial discrimination. Expanding on one of the central themes of the critical race movement, namely that the law has an overwhelmingly white voice, Delgado here presents a radical and stunning thesis: it is not black but white crime that poses the most significant problem in modern American life.
About the Author
Richard Delgado is John J. Sparkman Chair of Law at the University of Alabama and one of the founders of critical race theory. His books include The Latino/a Condition: A Critical Reader (coedited with Jean Stefancic) and The Rodrigo Chronicles.
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