The Arc of a Bad Idea: Understanding and Transcending Race

by Carlos A. Hoyt

For the vast majority of human existence we did without the idea of race. Since its inception a mere few hundred years ago, and despite the voluminous documentation of the problems associated with living within the racial worldview, we have come to act as if race is something we cannot live without. The Arc of a Bad Understanding and Transcending Race presents a penetrating, provocative, and promising analysis of and alternative to the hegemonic racial worldview. How race came about, how it evolved into a natural-seeming aspect of human identity, and how racialization, as a habit of the mind, can be broken is presented through the unique and corrective framing of race as a time-bound (versus eternal) concept, the lifespan of which is traceable and the demise of which is predictable. The narratives of individuals who do not subscribe to racial identity despite be ascribed to the black/African American racial category are presented as clear and compelling illustrations of
how a non-racial identity and worldview is possible and arguably preferable to the status quo. Our view of and approach to race (in theory, pedagogy, and policy) is so firmly ensconced in a sense of it as inescapable and indispensible that we are in effect shackled to the lethal absurdity we seek to escape. Theorist, teachers, policy-makers and anyone who seeks a transformative perspective on race and racial identity will be challenged, enriched, and empowered by this refreshing treatment of one of our most confounding and consequential dilemmas.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 5, 2016

About the author

Carlos was born in Costa Rica and immigrated to the United States when he was four years old. He grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, an urban neighborhood of Boston. Carlos attended Boston Public Schools through sixth grade, and then enrolled in METCO, a voluntary busing program that transported disadvantaged and underrepresented students from under-resourced school systems to better schools. From seventh grade through high school, Carlos attended Dover-Sherborn Regional Junior and High Schools, after which he attended Wesleyan University, Boston University School of Social Work, and Simmons College, where he earned his PhD in social work.

Through his research and writing, Carlos interrogates master narratives and the dominant discourse on race with the goal of illuminating and virtuously disrupting the racial worldview. Carlos eschews race as a useful aspect of identity, and, based on his study of nominally black individuals who do not subscribe to racial identity, he presents the non-racial worldview as an alternative and antidote to our societies centuries-old inability to move beyond the puzzles and perils inherent in a racialized perspective on human differences. Carlos’ perspective is presented in his recent book, The Arc of a Bad Idea: Understanding and Transcending Race, published by Oxford University Press.

Carlos holds a PhD in social work and is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker. He is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Wheelock College in Boston, MA, and he has held teaching positions at Simmons College, Lesley University, and Boston University, providing instruction in clinical skills and practice, and cultural competence. Before joining the Wheelock community in 2015, Carlos served as the Associate Dean of Students at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, where he provided psychotherapy to students, and consultation, training, supervision and support to faculty and student leaders. Carlos serves as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advocate at the Chestnut Hill School in Chestnut Hill Massachusetts. His work with students in grades beginner through sixth in addition to his teaching at Wheelock provides him with a unique perspective on learning and growth across a wide spectrum of development.

Carlos has authored peer-reviewed articles on spirituality in social work practice and the pedagogy of the definition of racism, and has presented his work at numerous conferences. His most recent work is The Arc of a Bad Idea: Understanding and Transcending Race, published by Oxford University Press.

Further information about Carlos can be found at his website: www.carloshoyt.com

Reviews

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sumamente interesante. Algunas partes son pesadas de leer porque tiende a ser muy académico y demasiado fiel a sus entrevistados, pero logra su punto.