S4 E27 | George Washington, the New Single Drop Rule and Reclaiming Agency with Ian Rowe

The Dissidents

In this week’s Dissidents Podcast, Jennifer Richmond and Winkfield Twyman, Jr. speak with Ian Rowe. Ian recently wrote a review of their book (Letters in Black and White: A New Correspondence on Race in America), which he entitled Three Cheers for Colorblindness.

Wink and Jen, much like they start their book, start the conversation with Ian by getting his “origin story,” i.e. what makes you tick?? The author of Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E) for All Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power, shares with us his upbringing and family foundations, that leads into the discussion of Wink’s ancestral ties to America’s founding father, George Washington.

With such rich origin stories, why do we reduce individuals to the singular characteristic of race (the single drop rule)? The dearth of nuance and complexity that is denied when we tell our children that “blackness is oppression, nothing else matters,” constrains us from a full life of self-determination, agency and the dignity of achievement.

At the end of the day, we are all cousins and recognizing that common humanity is the best path forward.

Podcast Resources:

Three Cheers for Colorblindness, Ian Rowe https://rlo.acton.org/archives/125823-three-cheers-for-color-blindness.html

Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E) for All Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power, Ian Rowe https://www.amazon.com/Agency-F-R-Children-Victimhood-Narrative/dp/B0C3WQCYKF/

Letters in Black and White: A New Correspondence on Race in America, Winkfield Twyman, Jr & Jennifer Richmond https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Black-White-Correspondence-America/dp/1634312368/

White Jamaicans, Winkfield Twyman, Jr. https://twyman.substack.com/p/white-jamaicans

Please Resign Harvard University President Claudine Gay, Winkfield Twyman, Jr. https://twyman.substack.com/p/please-resign-harvard-university

Liberalism in Practice Panel Discussion: Lessons from Harvard after the Claudine Gay Affair, The Institute for Liberal Values https://youtu.be/uMzFvMPHeBU?si=yHxhR7p3dlBWJvdY

Matisyahu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matisyahu

Vertex Academies https://www.vertexacademies.org/

FREE Initiative https://www.aei.org/free/

A Better Chance (ABC Program) https://abetterchance.org/