“There are very few people who have nothing of any value to say.” — Coleman Hughes
Today it’s great to have Coleman Hughes on the podcast. Coleman is an undergraduate philosophy major at Columbia University and a columnist for Quillette magazine. His writing has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, City Journal, and the Spectator.
In this episode we discuss:
- Coleman’s initial plan in life to become a trombonist
- Coleman’s early childhood education
- Coleman’s transformation of his thinking about race
- Coleman’s nuanced thoughts on intersectionality
- Why we set up a norm against racial stereotyping
- Is reverse-racism legitimate?
- How the main message of the civil rights movement is often ignored today
- Coleman’s humanistic perspective on race
- Coleman’s criticism of the woke mindset
- What makes sense about the woke mindset
- Looking at things from the perspective of police officers
- Understanding the causes of the underrepresentation of African Americans in gifted education programs
- The moral imperative to enhance cognitive development of people in the bottom of society
- How racial categories can mislead us
- How people underrate the value of local programs and community to solve problems of racism
- Why policy shouldn’t look at racial disparities
- The important distinction between culture and race
- Why focusing on racial disparities (assuming that racial disparities are a proxy for well-being) is a mistake
- Coleman’s vision for the good society