Kenji Yoshino

Yoshino's current project looks at the leadership role corporations are taking in the advancement of civil rights. Corporations have traditionally been seen as the enemies of civil rights, usually pictured at the defendant's table in lawsuits. Recent years, however, have seen a sea change in the relationship many corporations have to traditionally underrepresented groups. Corporations are now using the most innovative social science techniques to smoke out implicit racial bias, fashioning the smartest work-life policies to retain women, and playing a crucial role in the national and global struggle for LGBT equality. Along many dimensions, corporations have become the thought leaders in this era of civil rights. The reason for this paradigm shift is clear: corporations have come to understand the "business case for diversity." The changing demographics of the United States, as well globalization, mean that corporations must ensure that they have access to the broadest pool of talent and consumers. In his project, Yoshino explores the promises and the pitfalls of this new market-based civil rights paradigm, not just for corporations, but for the United States and the world.

Are same-sex laws going to change? Recently, two historic cases on same-sex marriage have been granted review by the Supreme Court. Whatever the outcome, the ramifications for individuals, schools, and even corporations will be major and far-reaching. In this talk, legal scholar and bestselling author Kenji Yoshino tackles this momentous and complex question from several angles—everything from corporate to legal to human and civil rights issues are explored with Yoshino’s trademark empathy. With sixteen years of experience writing on these issues, Yoshino is uniquely qualified to balance history against the present moment—and to draft a comprehensive portrait of America’s near future. 

In a culture where racial minorities are pressed to "act white", women are told to "play like men", and gays are dissuaded from engaging in public displays of affection, it is difficult to believe that we are as "diverse" as we'd like to think. Drawing on his experience as a gay Asian American, Kenji Yoshino examines the prejudices embedded in both American life and in Civil Rights legislation-- prejudices that hinder our ability to be our authentic selves. Key to his talk is the phenomenon of "covering," where people downplay stigmatized traits in order to blend into the mainstream. Moving past conventional discussions of identity politics, Yoshino explains the dangers of a society that claims to support racial, gender, orientation, religious, and physical differences but still routinely denies equal treatment of these people when they refuse to downplay their differences. With a hopeful vision of the future, Yoshino, one of our best legal minds, proves how the ubiquity of "covering" provides an opportunity to redefine civil rights and lift this legislation into a higher, more universal register.

With a modern twist, Kenji Yoshino offers an inspired reading of ten Shakespearean plays, showing us how they provide parables of justice relevant to our times. With a great ear for Shakespeare and an eye trained steadily on current affairs, Yoshino considers how competing models of judging presented in Measure for Measure resurfaced around the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; how the revenge cycle of Titus Andronicus illuminates the "war on terror" and our military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq; how the white handkerchief in Othello and the black glove in the O. J. Simpson trial reflect forms of proof that overwhelmed all other evidence. Thousand is an altogether original book about Shakespeare and the law, and an ideal starting point to explore the nature of a just society-- and our own. This talk is appropriate not only for educational institutions that seek to remind students of the continuing relevance of the humanities, but also for law firms seeking to provide meaningful CLE (continuing legal education) programs.