Adolph Reed Jr.

Columnist

Adolph Reed Jr. is a columnist for The Nation and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught at Howard, Yale, and Northwestern Universities, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the New School for Social Research. His most recent book is The South: Jim Crow and its Afterlives (Verso 2022), and he is co-author with Walter Benn Michaels of the forthcoming No Politics but Class Politics (Eris 2023). He appears on the Class Matters podcast.

ClassFebruary 20, 2023

Race and Class: The Beginnings of an Argument

Some personal and theoretical reflections on intersectionality and its discontents.

Adolph Reed Jr.
Election 2020June 19, 2019

The Charter School Industry’s Dishonest Attack on Bernie Sanders

Arguing that charter schools offer unique opportunities for poor African American children isn’t borne out by the facts.

Adolph Reed Jr. and Cornel West
Election 2016December 2, 2015

Bernie Sanders’s ‘College for All’ Plan Is Fair, Smart and Achievable

Of all the candidates, only Sanders proposes an alternative to the neoliberal model of higher ed.

Heather Gautney and Adolph Reed Jr.
Racism and DiscriminationAugust 17, 2015

Equality: Why We Can’t Wait

In a 1991 special issue, Julian Bond argued that the fight for racial and gender equality wasn’t a “special interest”—it was essential to the progressive struggle.

Julian Bond and Adolph Reed Jr.
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HistoryMarch 23, 2015

Adolph Reed Destroys ‘The Bell Curve’

Despite their concern to insulate themselves from the appearance of racism, Herrnstein and Murray display a perspective worthy of an Alabama filling station.

Adolph Reed Jr.
ElectionsMarch 3, 2014

What Nihilism? A Response to Michelle Goldberg

The focus of left politics must be to change the terms of a debate that leaves us with impoverished choices. It’s only in the context of a shriveled political imagination that that looks like nihilism.

Adolph Reed Jr.
Labor OrganizingJune 15, 2012

OpinionNation: Labor’s Bad Recall?

Unions invested heavily in the campaign to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Was that a huge mistake?

Gordon Lafer , Doug Henwood , Jane McAlevey , Bill Fletcher Jr., Mike Elk and Adolph Reed Jr.
HistoryMarch 20, 2008

Race and the New Deal Coalition

Most New Deal programs were anything but race- and gender-neutral in their impact. They were both racially discrminatory and a boon to many black Americans.

Adolph Reed Jr.
Campaigns and ElectionsOctober 10, 2007

Malcolm Suber: Good for New Orleans

A longtime activist, running in a special City Council election, is just what New Orleans needs.

Adolph Reed Jr.
CitiesAugust 31, 2006

Undone by Neoliberalism

Before the storm, neoliberalism shaped the social and economic inequities of New Orleans; after Hurricane Katrina, it worsened them by making government the tool of corporations and investors.

Adolph Reed Jr.

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Adolph Reed Jr.

Columnist

ClassFebruary 20, 2023

Some personal and theoretical reflections on intersectionality and its discontents.

Election 2020June 19, 2019

Arguing that charter schools offer unique opportunities for poor African American children isn’t borne out by the facts.

Election 2016December 2, 2015

Of all the candidates, only Sanders proposes an alternative to the neoliberal model of higher ed.

Racism and DiscriminationAugust 17, 2015

In a 1991 special issue, Julian Bond argued that the fight for racial and gender equality wasn’t a “special interest”—it was essential to the progressive struggle.

The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

HistoryMarch 23, 2015

Despite their concern to insulate themselves from the appearance of racism, Herrnstein and Murray display a perspective worthy of an Alabama filling station.

ElectionsMarch 3, 2014

The focus of left politics must be to change the terms of a debate that leaves us with impoverished choices. It’s only in the context of a shriveled political imagination that that looks like nihilism.

Labor OrganizingJune 15, 2012

Unions invested heavily in the campaign to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Was that a huge mistake?

HistoryMarch 20, 2008

Most New Deal programs were anything but race- and gender-neutral in their impact. They were both racially discrminatory and a boon to many black Americans.

Campaigns and ElectionsOctober 10, 2007

A longtime activist, running in a special City Council election, is just what New Orleans needs.

CitiesAugust 31, 2006

Before the storm, neoliberalism shaped the social and economic inequities of New Orleans; after Hurricane Katrina, it worsened them by making government the tool of corporations and investors.