Elizabeth Anderson's Argumentative Analysis

In this essay I will be critically assessing Elizabeth Anderson’s proposal of racial integration to prove that while not perfect, it is one of the only options that seems to want to better society on a whole. I will first explain what Anderson’s proposal is and how each of her steps provides a positive outcome all the while arguing against obvious arguments that are against her. I will also look at how simply integrating within schools is not enough to better society, as well as Tommie Shelby’s argument that Anderson is not properly taking into account that some people of colour do not want to integrate. Concluding that some flaws in Anderson’s proposal must be rectified, but it is currently the most sensible solution.

Elizabeth Anderson’s

And easy example of this would be apartheid, which limited the amount of spaces white people and black people could interact in and both have access to. Once again, many would claim that apartheid is not an issue any more because it was abolished and now in most places it would be illegal to refuse service based off of people’s race. What they would be failing to take into account, would be that people will not go to certain areas of cities because a prominent part of the people who live there are of a certain race. White people are often unwilling to go to certain restaurants because of where it is located. Similarly, it must be tiring going somewhere and only seeing white people, who expect everyone else to adhere to their behaviours.

Simply not denying service is not enough to make people feel welcome. Everyone should become more used to the idea of sharing what they perceive to be “their” restaurants, or bars, or even parks. This follows on nicely from formal desegregation because if, for example, school children are used to being integrated. They will be much more open to spatial integration, they will not see anything wrong with people who are the same race as their classmates going to the same places they do, because that is already what life is like for them on a daily

This would namely be implemented in work places and educational facilities. Really it applies to all institutions but for now I will focus on the work place. Companies are not allowed to hire anyone based off of race, but work places still need to put effort in where integration is concerned. This does not only mean hiring more people of colour that is a different, although extremely prominent issue. Companies should strive to encourage their workforce to interact with one another anyway since this leads to higher productivity. But this becomes difficult if people are uncomfortable due to race barrier. White people might be worried about offending their co-worker, and their co-worker might feel ostracised as a result of not only being a minority, but also because their co-workers will not approach them.

These problems can be rectified through less formal means, such as office barbeques or training days. Even if more effort was put forth by the majority or someone in a leadership position making more effort to include them, which would mean that everyone would be able to get to know one another beyond simply being someone who works in the office. The reason this is important is not only for obvious reasons of integration, but from what follows. People of colour would be more protected within their institutions. They would be protected from harassment, hurtful stigmas, and many, many other issues such as