Reckoning the Racial Reckoning: A Post-Mortem and Way Forward with Prof. David Troutt
Thursday, February 12, 2026 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
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Prof. David Troutt discusses his book, Reckoning the Racial Reckoning, exploring structural backlash vs accountability after George Floyd.
The talk will discuss Troutt’s upcoming book, Reckoning the Racial Reckoning: From Awareness to Accountability after George Floyd, which evaluates the two-year moment of awareness of systemic racism that gave rise to a punishing structural backlash rather than the accountability at the heart of remedial approaches to racism.
David Dante Troutt is Distinguished Professor of Law and Derrick A. Bell Scholar at Rutgers Law School-Newark where he also founded and directs the Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity (CLiME). He emphasizes using law and interdisciplinary study in order to understand structural inequality and to formulate legal and policy reform strategies. Troutt teaches tort law, business torts/intellectual property, civil rights and a multidisciplinary approach to racial and economic inequality (land use, civil rights, state and local government, housing and poverty law). Troutt is the author of five books: Reckoning the Racial Reckoning: Awareness and Accountability after George Floyd (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press), The Price of Paradise: The Costs of Inequality and a Vision for a More Equitable America (NYU Press), The Monkey Suit: Short Fiction on African Americans and Justice (The New Press), After the Fall: Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina (The New Press), and a novel, The Importance of Being Dangerous (Amistad/HarperCollins). His public scholarship on equitable growth, housing and structural inequality/civil rights is available at www.clime.rutgers.edu. In addition to many scholarly articles, he writes frequently on issues of law, race and inequality for a variety of national publications. A Harlemite relocated to New Jersey, Troutt is the proud father of two tremendous daughters, a dedicated teacher, jazz drummer and keeper of soulful aquatic fish.
Lunch will be served inside of Room 170 starting at 12:50 PM. RSVPs will be prioritized.
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