Do brown people have brown thoughts? Richard Rodriguez’s philosophy of race, culture, and identity

Bibliographic Data

ID12722509
AuthorsMichael Nieto Garcia (Clarkson University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume22
Issue1
Pages5-28
Publication date2023-07-07
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatino Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1476-3435 • E-ISSN: 1476-3443
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1057/s41276-023-00413-7
OpenAlexW4383534506
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

Ever since the publication of Hunger of Memory in 1982, Richard Rodriguez has been read by scholars almost exclusively through the lens of identity politics. Twenty years later, in Brown , Rodriguez sought to reconcile some of the contradictions of identity, at least his own. Ultimately, Rodriguez concludes that the contradictions of identity cannot be reconciled. Our identities are always more complex and nuanced than the boxes we try to fit people in. In expressing his philosophy of identity, Rodriguez reflects on the concept of brownness and “brown thoughts,” invoking brown as a metaphor for cultural miscegenation, and thereby for diversity and genuine inclusion. Rodriguez’s philosophy of race, culture, and identity moves us beyond toxic forms of tribalism and cultural essentialism to an identity politics that unites rather than excluding and dividing

Aesthetics · Essentialism · Humanities · Identity (music · Identity politics · Political science · Politics · Race (biology · Sociology · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Latin American and Latino Studies · Law · Philosophy · Rhetoric and Communication Studies

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