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Title: Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America by John McWhorter ISBN: 0-06-093593-6 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.02 (124 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Book That Answers Questions About Black Americans!
Comment: Why do African-Americans perennially score lowest on SAT tests? Why can't Blacks climb out of their ghettos, when Vietnamese did so in two generations (and they couldn't even speak English)? Why does every Black criminal, no matter how red-handed he is caught, yell, "Racism"? How could Blacks acquit O.J. Simpson in the face of incontrovertible DNA evidence, when even they now say, "Sure he did it, but . . ." Why did Blacks fight so hard for integration, and then hang out only at the Black Student Union in colleges all over this land? And why, with all the billions of dollars this country has poured into special education for minorities, is it only African-Americans whose scores on all forms of educational tests have not closed the gap between Whites and Asians?
Every five or ten years I read a book that changes my world view, in some important way. This book profoundly changed the way I view African-Americans. It gave me answers to questions like those posed above, and many more. It gave me principles which can be applied to future questions that will surely arise in race relations in this country.
Professor John McWhorter's logical presentation and defense of each of his three theses is, in my opinion, unassailable. And lest you think that Prof. McWhorter is some racist red-neck, know that he is an African-American professor of linguistics at the University of California, Berkley, one of the premier, liberal universities in this country.
He posits that Blacks are "Losing the Race" because they have a built within their community a "cult of victimology". This has fostered a strong "cult of separatism" and perhaps most damaging, a "cult of anti-intellectualism". He tells of students who excel in school being abused with taunts of "going White" and being an "oreo". He concludes that Black Americans have the mental powers to succeed (contrary to the thesis of The Bell Curve) because Africans and Caribbean Blacks who emigrate to this country excel in academia, they not being inflicted with the Black American anti-intellectualism to stifle their pursuit of educational excellence.
While Prof. McWhorter's logic is impeccable, his writing style leaves something to be desired, which was all the more distracting because he is, after all, a professor of linguistics; though perhaps I expected too much from such a language specialist. He needed a good editor to eliminate a number of glaring typos and incomplete sentences, which distract somewhat from the compelling ideas he presents.
In a word, this was one of the best, most mind-changing books I have ever read. If African-Americans worked as hard to excel in school as they do on the athletic field, the occasional incident of racism would pale in comparison to the achievements of Blacks rich and poor. Were it within my power, I would send a copy to every Black journalist and African-American leader who thinks racism is the only thing that keeps Blacks down and out in America and losing the race in every important arena except the sports stadium.
Rating: 5
Summary: Possibly the Most Insightful Book on Race Ever Written
Comment: There seem to be many reviews here already summarizing the book, so I will clear up two major misconceptions:
1. Mcwhorter's Losing the Race gets frequently attacked as a conservative or right-wing book because of his stances against affirmative action. This is fallacious: I have talked to Mcwhorter personally and he is at most centrist in his political views; I would describe him as a liberal. Mchworter is not against the idea that government can be used to help those that have been given a hard lot in our society...but one major enlightening point he makes that throughout the book is that being black in America is not synonomous with hardship.
Liberals and conservatives alike can enjoy and agree with Mcwhorter's points - Losing the Race transcends the political spectrum.
2. The book is "anecdotal." This is a very poor way of describing Mchwhorter's research and analysis. Yes, Mchwhorter does make reference to many personal examples he has seen throughout his life. In many types of writing, this would indeed be unprofessional, but Mcwhorter is talking about culture, where this style is completely appropriate. The book is not anecdotal, it is anthropological in its methodologies. You cannot describe culture merely in terms of statistics or formal pyschologial studies.
Rating: 4
Summary: Every black teacher should read this book
Comment: I happened to come across an interview of Mr.McWhorter on C-Span's Booknotes. He was talking about his book, and I found the topic interesting and picked it up.I am a teacher in an all black middle-class suburb in New Jersey. The Parents here are teachers,police officers,computer programers,nurses,and ex..In a privilaged crimeless community many of McWhorters claims about a rejection of learning in the black community are true.I have students in class that make all of the statements McWhorter mentioned in his book and it frustrates me.some in the black community associates being smart and having a love for learning as being white and this is a dangerous way of thinking.If to be smart is acting white then to be black is to act dumb.This is not good. McWhorters book is a hard read for a black person because he is speaking the truth and sometimes the truth hurts I struggeled over these pages. This book is not what I would consider racist and can not be compared to The Bell Curve.McWhorter says the problem is not biological but it is culturally, which means the black community can unlearn its bad habit of anti-intellectualism. He actually traces the problem to white racism of the past...slaves not being allowed to read, Jim Crow laws of the South, where it could be dangerous for blacks to try to learn. McWhorter says the black community is not innocent either because now that we have the opportunity to recover a love for education and learning we do not.The only flaw I see in book is that sometimes McWhorter gives his opinions on subjects he did not master. He is a linguist, but feels he is qualified to attack Afrocentricity as some type of quack study, with out really touching on the issue aside from a few paragraphs.I suggest he read Richard Poe's book Black Spark White Fire the arguments are strong especially on the race of the Egyptians who phenotypically look closer to East Africans than to West Africans or Europeans.He ask whether Saddat was a brother, and I had to laugh because one could argue that Saddat is darker and phenotypically looks more African than Mr.McWhorter.He also at times seems a bit sarcastic and insensitive when making his points.Though I believe McWhorters general thesis to be true he would get many more black converts if he would use less harsh language...which I know he will have no problem doing because he is a linguist.I do feel as though any teacher working in a majority black school system should have this book.It is essential to solving the problem.
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Title: Authentically Black: Essays for the Black Silent Majority by John H. McWhorter ISBN: 1592400019 Publisher: Gotham Books Pub. Date: 27 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning by Abigail Thernstrom, Stephan Thernstrom ISBN: 0743204468 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care by John McWhorter ISBN: 1592400167 Publisher: Gotham Books Pub. Date: 09 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: The Content of Our Character : A New Vision of Race In America by Shelby Steele ISBN: 006097415X Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 September, 1991 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: A Dream Deferred : The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America by Shelby Steele ISBN: 0060931043 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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