Professor Watchlist

Jennifer Kling is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Legal Studies at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. According to her university profile, her “philosophical areas of special interest” include Philosophy of Race, Feminism, and Social and Political Philosophy.

To date, the professor has co-authored many books, written articles in several academic journals and edited collections. Her works include:

• Can War Be Justified? A Debate (with Andrew Fiala, Routledge 2023)
• Racist, Not Racist, Antiracist: Language and the Dynamic Disaster of American Racism (with Leland Harper, Lexington 2022)
• The Philosophy of Protest: Fighting for Justice without Going to War (with Megan Mitchell, Rowman & Littlefield 2021)
• War Refugees: Risk, Justice, and Moral Responsibility (Lexington 2019)

In 2022, Anna Squires, a reporter for The Communique, interviewed Kling about her new book, “Racist, Not Racist, Antiracist: Language and the Dynamic Disaster of American Racism.” The book discusses how situations are categorized as either racist, not racist, or antiracist. The authors argue this is a problem because there is no language to describe situations that could be considered in-between. The description states:

“This is especially true for white people, who tend to take claims of racism—be they interpersonal or institutional—as a personal attack. This is problematic, not only because it means that white people never learn about their own racially troubling behaviors, but also because such fragility keeps them from being able to engage in productive discussions about systemic racial oppression.”

The reporter, Anna Squires, said that, “at the heart of the book is the idea that America could become a W.E.B. Du Boisian democracy.” Du Bois was a profound marxist, and Kling argued that his race-centered ideas for society should be introduced in the US, saying:

“To transform the United States into a Du Boisian democracy, we need to create conversational spaces where people can engage in difficult, productive dialogue about the nature of the race-based problems American society faces and potential solutions. For this to happen, we need to find a way to converse with others about race-based incidents without triggering their white fragility. Only then do we have a chance of achieving true democratic equality for all.”