Reflections on Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia Symposium—The Plenary Panel

Abstract

Reflections on Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia Symposium -- The Plenary Panel in the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice represents the author’s reflections on the recent important book PRESUMED INCOMPETENT edited by Gabriella Gutierrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. Gonzalez, and Angela P. Harris. PRESUMED INCOMPETENT has started a national movement of attention to treatment of women of color in academia; google the reviews and check out the book’s Facebook presence. In this recreation of the symposium plenary, the panelists discuss issues surrounding race and gender in academia, particularly in law schools. My own contribution to the book (co-authored with Margalynne Armstrong) and summarized for the panel focused on working across racial lines and the use of “color insight” to build such alliances.