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“Died of a Theory”

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Race and Morality

Part of the book series: Clinical Sociology ((CSRP))

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Abstract

It was the 1970s and I was completing my doctoral studies at the City University of New York. Being without private funds, like many other poverty stricken graduate students, I took a job to meet my expenses. In my case, this entailed driving a taxi. The garage that employed me was located in Brooklyn, but as we cabbies understood, the majority of the work lay on the other side of the East River. The first thing we did each morning therefore was to cross the Manhattan Bridge. Once beyond this span, we would cruise up and down the island, transporting passengers on short, lucrative hauls along well-worn tracks. To recross the river was an act of folly that placed one in an area with fewer fares and where one was in jeopardy of getting lost.

“I waited and waited and waited After the ninth taxi refused me, my blood began to boil. The tenth taxi refused me and stopped for a kind, well-dressed, smiling female fellow citizen of European descent. As she stepped in the cab she said, ‘This is really ridiculous, is it not?’” Cornel West, Race Matters

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“Died of a Theory”

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  1. Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia

    Melvyn L. Fein

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  1. Melvyn L. Fein
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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Fein, M.L. (2001). “Died of a Theory”. In: Race and Morality. Clinical Sociology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1281-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1281-3_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5476-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1281-3

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