CHAE Speaker Series Event: Professor Nancy Leong

Professor Nancy Leong

William M. Beaney Memorial Research Chair, the University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 6:15 PM ET

Virtual Book Talk, Registration Required: https://bit.ly/LeongBookTalk

Join us as Professor Leong, the William M. Beaney Memorial Research Chair at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, discusses her new book Identity Capitalists — The Powerful Insiders Who Exploit Diversity to Maintain Inequality. In Identity Capitalists, Professor Leong asks “Why do people accused of racism defend themselves by pointing to their Black friends? Why do men accused of sexism inevitably talk about how they love their wife and daughters? Why do colleges and corporations alike photoshop people of color into their websites and promotional materials? And why do companies selling everything from cereal to sneakers go out of their way to include a token woman or person of color in their advertisements?” To explain these patterns, Leong coins the term “identity capitalist” to label the powerful insiders who eke out social and economic value from people of color, women, LGBTQ people, the poor, and other outgroups. Leong deftly uncovers the rules that govern a system in which all Americans must survive: the identity marketplace. She contends that the national preoccupation with diversity has, counterintuitively, allowed identity capitalists to infiltrate the legal system, educational institutions, the workplace, and the media. Using examples from education, from law to literature, and from politics to pop culture, Leong takes readers on a journey through the hidden agendas and surprising incentives of various ingroup actors. Identity Capitalists is essential reading for any educational professional, especially those of us engaged in diversity work.

Professor Leong is the William M. Beaney Memorial Research Chair at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where she also directs the Constitutional Rights and Remedies program. She graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University before attending Stanford Law School, where she graduated with distinction and was a member of the Stanford Law Review. She is the author of over forty law review articles and essays on topics related to constitutional rights and remedies, criminal procedure, antidiscrimination, and law and culture.