Customer Reviews

Afraid of the Dark: What Whites and Blacks Need to Know about Each Other

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a black woman from the deep south dating a white man from the northeast. We wanted to read something together, so that we could learn more about each other's culture, background, experiences, etc., in a challenging but fun environment. The Myers book was very quick paced and engaging, something an interracial couple could read together on a Saturday morning, highlighting sections of interest and asking "Is this your experience?" or "Do you think this way?" or "What do you think can be done about this situation?" Sometimes the answer may lead to other questions and answers, so in this way the book is a great conversation starter as well as being a great learning opportunity. It is so easy to read, passionately evocative and controversial, that I think (a very liberal view, I admit) it should be taught at freshman seminar at every university in the country. In a society where glass ceilings, race-based killings, racial profiling, prejudice and discrimination still exhists, and where the Confederate flags still flies over Dixie, this book is a wonderful tool for learning about race relations in the United States that may be less academic, than say a Cornell West book, but can speak more directly to a broader range of people. If you liked the John Gray series on relationships between men and women, and if you are open-minded, then you'll like this book, too.

Not since Andrew Hacker has a white author been as conversant and intuitive about both sides of the race issue in America. Jim Meyers presents both black and white 'world views' thoroughly and fairly and without rose colored glasses--a feat not often accomplished by privileged whites. In my experience, black authors write from a more reality-based position than do whites, but Meyers obviously walks the walk.

Meyers guides the reader through a variety of situations in which we all find ourselves. Of particular interest to me was his discussion of how a person of color might feel upon meeting a white stranger and vice-versa. How might each person be feeling, what might they be thinking, how are they conditioned to respond, which self-preservation behaviors kick in? Useful information for those of us who try, as best we can, to encourage cross racial and cross cultural friendships and understanding.

Icon charts incorporated throughout this book provide powerful, at-a-glance imagery of the ratios of blacks to whites in America and help illustrate why some blacks may be hesitant to speak their minds in certain social settings. Since much race-related literature speak in abstract terms, Mr. Meyers use of math and numbers is also a powerful learning tool.

Like the author, I am also a white person previously married to a black spouse who surrounds myself with friends of all ethnicities. I believe race relations is the single most important issue facing America today. I give Jim Meyers credit for presenting this topic in a fresh, conversational way that is easy to read and very enlightening.

I recommend this book to people of all races who want answers to questions that many may find too difficult to ask in the real world.

This fascinating book is brilliantly-written, fun to read, and one of the most IMPORTANT books you could read today.

If you are white (as I am) and you think you know everything you need to know about blacks, think again. This book will prove to you otherwise. I worked in an all-black environment for 15 months and I STILL didn't find out some of the things I learned from this book.

We all need to read this book. There are other books on this subject which have excellent information in them, but Jim Myers has beat them all for sheer readability, originality, and usefulness. Every library in America should absolutely have this book. It is THAT useful and important.

I recently read this book after feeling lost in my understanding of "race" relations in America. This book cleared up a lot of details for me and in so doing illuminated a few of the ways in which American discourse on "race" can be improved. However, after seeing the numbers as Myers so thoroughly lays out, I am incredulous that such discourse will enter the public arena any time soon.

This book, by Jim Myers, is an insightful probe into US race relations. Well-written and meticulously researched, Afraid of the Dark is an essential guide for all interested in the color divide.

This book attempts to cross the color line and explain why there can be such a communication gap between black people and white people. I read this book as part of a integrated reading circle. We met over 18 months and discussed one chapter per meeting. The chapters in this book were an excellent starting point for the discussion and both the black and white participants in the group learned a lot, both from the book and the discussion, about their counterparts. There is an companion discussion guide that was very helpful.

This book is VERY interesting and provocative...I kept finding myself reading bits of it aloud to friends. It also made me want to ask for comments on its material from people of all races. Though Mr. Myers provides a lot of fascinating, and enlightening, statistical information, I occasionally wondered how reliable it was....Numbers can't tell the whole story, and a given set statistics can be interpreted in many ways. I don't think that Mr. Myers is a particularly able writer. He generates a lot of hashed metaphors ("...tumbled into the abyss filled with...." "Abysses" AREN'T filled, they're voids, empty spaces, gaps. That's what makes them abysses, Jim.), and sometimes writes in a cute, snappy style which is at odds with the nature of his material. However, the vast amount of interesting and valuable information makes it worth the reader's while to skim over these cosmetic defects.

fathered a child out of wedlock while giving advice to clinton how to be slick.