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1 Introducing Rodrigo IN WHICH RODRIGO AND I MEET IN AN UNLIKELY SETTING AND RESOLVE TO DISCUSS POSTDIVERSITY RACIAL REMEDIES “Professor, is that you?” The familiar voice from behind gave me quite a start. Wheeling around so suddenly that my cart almost collided with that of an oncoming shopper, a young woman who smiled at me indulgently, I sputtered , “Rodrigo! What are you doing here?” The tall, smiling youth strode out from behind his own cart, shook my hand warmly, and said, “Giannina and I are in town for a few days, staying with her mother, who has a time-share condo here. She uses it every summer to get away from the Florida heat. The two of them are making plans for when the baby comes, then in about a week we’re heading for Mexico for a few days’ vacation. We tried calling you, but the law school says your voice mail has been down.” “I never much cared for the new technology,” I said, then motioned toward his supermarket basket, which was piled high. “Looks like you’re stocking up.” “Giannina’s mom has to start over every time she comes to town, because the previous tenants are required to clean everything out. She gave me quite a shopping list.” “I’ve got a long one myself,” I said, easing my basket along the aisle and motioning him to follow. “What a nice surprise. We must get together before the two of you take off.” “Giannina made me promise to set something up. I was going to drop by your office on the way home and leave a note if I didn’t find you. Mrs. Pellegrini said we should invite you over for tea. She’s 7 interested in meeting you. Oh, here are the anchovies.” Rodrigo took a small tin and added it to his already overflowing basket. “I’d be honored,” I said. “How is Giannina doing these days?” “Fine, except that she has these strange cravings. Just the other day, she wanted a peanut butter sandwich with anchovies on the side.” I smiled, remembering the time, many years ago, when my late wife had been pregnant with my own two daughters. “And what is her mom like?” “You’ll like her,” Rodrigo said. “She’s an ardent environmentalist. In fact, she’s at a meeting of the local wildlife federation right now.” “Then I know just the present for her,” I said, reaching for a long, narrow box of transparent sandwich wrap that I used to pack my lunches for work. Then, after a pause to allow a pair of fast-moving teenagers with baskets speeding down the aisle to clear us, I said, “And what are you working on these days?” “Oh,” replied Rodrigo, frowning and peering closely at two pricing labels for almost identical-looking packages of crackers. “Let’s see, this one looks like it’s . . . twenty-four cents an ounce, while this other one . . . okay, I’ll take this one. . . . Oh, what am I working on? Well, I’ve got my vacation reading right out in the car, as a matter of fact—four books on the current racial scene. An advance copy of the National Urban League’s State of Black America,1 Terry Eastland’s diatribe against affirmative action,2 Bowen and Bok’s The Shape of the River,3 and The Good Black.”4 “That’s quite an assortment,” I said, slowing down to round the corner of the aisle and head down the next. “What made you select those four?” “Just keeping up on my reading.” Rodrigo paused a moment at the meat counter to scrutinize some pink-looking filets of salmon. “Mmmm. Those look good. Giannina and her mother love salmon. But, as I was saying, after reading three of them and nearly finishing the fourth, a hypothesis occurred to me. I was just starting to talk it over with Giannina when an old friend stopped by to drop off a baby present , so we had to put it on hold. Maybe we can discuss it when you come for tea.” “Sounds good to me,” I said. “I’ve read Eastland, which struck me as a particularly remorseless dissection of affirmative action, as cold and uncaring as I’ve seen. And of course I’ve read Bowen and Bok, which everybody has been talking about—even the tables and charts. I 8 INTRODUCING RODRIGO [18.117.76.7] Project MUSE (2024-04-25 17...

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