RACISM AND PLANNING

Racism shapes and influences what many planners do. Interviews with th ree minority planners illustrate three different objectives in the eli mination of racism: equal opportunity, affirmative action, and cultura l inclusion. Two detailed stories contrast a white professional's affi rmative action efforts with an African-American female's account of co ping with the subtle and painful indignities of institutional and cult ural exclusion. The efforts individual planners take to avoid discrimi nating by race and to redress racial injustice are important. However, these efforts alone do not address the justice gap between African-Am erican minorities and the white majority.