Reading black is a skill detached from the reader’s own race

Evidence

I employ the term “read back” because I find it particularly useful as a concept. It suggests the practice of jurors asking for a “read back” of testimony not just so that they can rehear what has already been said, but rehear it within the context of having heard and seen all of the evidence, armed with the tools to ascertain not only what was said, but what was not said. Put differently, I use the term here to suggest a rereading that reads not only contextually, but also critically, sensitive to the stated and the unstated, the revealed and the concealed, and the meaning to be gleaned from both. Equally useful is the term “reading black.” It suggests a reading practice that is not only critical, but particularly attuned to the frequencies and registers of race. Already, I need to make a few clarifications. First, although I deploy the term “reading black,” I do not mean to suggest any racial litmus test for the reader. More specifically, one does not have to be black to read black. Nor does being black necessarily equip one with the skills or desire to read black. Justice Thurgood Marshall, I believe, read black. So did Justice William Brennan. Justice Clarence Thomas, with one or two notable exceptions, generally does not. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 365

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes ‘reading black’ as an analytic sensitivity to race’s registers that neither requires nor is guaranteed by Black identity.
• SEED: The named contrast between Justices Marshall/Brennan reading black and Thomas not offers a compact case-study essay on how interpretive method, not identity, produces race-critical jurisprudence.
• XREF: connects to: Reading judicial opinions as cultural productions exposes races’ contested origins — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 364; Race has no scientific basis and is a social myth dating to UNESCO 1950. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 98; Reading Black means decoding commonsense assumptions that make legal subordination seem logical. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 368

Broader Connections

• Reading Black means decoding commonsense assumptions that make legal subordination seem logical. #qualifies (0.80) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 368