Race & Class: More than a Liberal Paradox

Abstract

This article argues that it is impossible to address race and class as long as basic issues of social justice are seen as operating within the frame of the liberal paradox. Gunnar Myrdal’s, An American Dilemma referenced in Brown v. Board footnote 11 is an illustrative example of the different social outcomes, dependent on if social justice is seen through the lens of a paradox, versus a dilemma. U.S. social theory treats class and race within a liberal paradox, while the welfare state treats race and class as a dilemma. If we see class and race as a dilemma there is a presumption that there is a solution to social injustice. As long as social justice is seen as a paradox, there per definition is no solution, the choice between the freedom of the individual and the protection of the collective is a perpetual paradox, and with that there is no political accountability to claim.

Keywords: race, social justice, liberal paradox, Gunnar Myrdal, social injustice