Jeff Chang Discusses His New Book on Race and Resegregation – EXTENDED INTERVIEW

FEATURING JEFF CHANG – The US Presidential election this year has inspired severe levels of anxiety, particularly among people of color who have borne the brunt of violent rhetoric from Donald Trump and his cohorts. If we believe the racist and xenophobic rhetoric, we deserve to be banned from entering the country, or pushed behind a wall, or imprisoned, or priced out of our homes. And if we are poor we deserve to remain poor. It is a difficult moment indeed.

But my guest Jeff Chang, in his new book reminds us that “We Gon Be Alright.” In a series of thoughtful essays Chang links the various social trends and movements of our day, ultimately arguing that we are witnessing a great resegregation and that our salvation as a society lies in reversing that trend.

NOTE: Watch the Extended version of this interview, available only to our subscribers, or to rent or buy.

Jeff Chang, Executive Director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University, USA Ford Fellow in Literature, Winner of the American Book Award and the Asian American Literary Award. His earlier books were Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, and Who We Be: A Cultural History of Race in Post-Civil Rights America. His latest book is called We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation.