Prejudicial Appearances: The Logic of American Antidiscrimination Law. By Robert C. Post, with K. Anthony Appiah, Judith Butler, Thomas C. Grey, and Riva B. Siegal. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001. 184p. $54.95 cloth, $18.95 paper

Extract

In Prejudicial Appearances a primary essay on the nature of American antidiscrimination law by Robert Post is followed by four responsive essays. Post's essay effectively analyzes the way that the ostensible goals of antidiscrimination law fail to gibe with the law's actual application. According to Post, it is generally understood that the intention of antidiscrimination law is to render certain characteristics, such as gender and race, as a practical matter, invisible to those making hiring and other employment decisions. The law embraces the goal of “functional rationality.” Employers must not be allowed to rely irrationally upon prejudice in their decision-making process. Rather, they must, as President Clinton averred about gays and lesbians in the military, be judged by what they do and not by who they are. Post describes this as “the dominant conception” of antidiscrimination law.