Customer Reviews

Racist America : Roots, Current Realities and Future Reparations

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

 

 

One reviewer practically foamed at the mouth ranting how Marxist and anti-White the author was so I expected some stereotypical book in which Whites are bashed, uniformly portrayed as evil, and the cause of all life's problems. Instead, I found an articulate and thoughtful academic approach to the historical roots of American racism, interesting anecdotes about systemic racism's "current realities" in everyday practice and possible anti-racist strategies and solutions. Feagin's ideological sympathies are clearly with the victims of racism but not, I think, to the extent that it distorts history or unfairly attacks one race. The book isn't about "attacking" one group unless you define attacking as recounting historical facts or current reality. So why did the other reviewer find it so offensive? The title - Racist America - implies to the superficial reader that all (White) Americans are racist and the subject - racism - is unpleasant and embarassing to the superficial reader ("Why not forget the bad and accentuate the positive?"). If you're reading a book, for example, on cancer, or poverty, or famine, you don't get angry, thrown down the book and say, "I don't have cancer. Most people aren't poor. Famines are rare," you recognize that that is the subject of the book. This book does not condemn America but its focus is on our national original sin and its enough to make anyone squeamish.

If you're a racist, you'll hate this book. If you're an equality-loving person of goodwill who wants to understand how and why racism operates in America, you'll find this book to be extremely valuable.

This is a bold, provocative, innovative, and insightful book. Professor Feagin walks us through the history of racism from its roots in Europe and colonial America to its current-day manifestations. He shows just how thoroughly racism has always permeated life in America since the anti-black views of America's Founding Fathers like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madison. Feagin also examines Reconstruction, the lynchings of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the Jim Crow racism of the modern Civil Rights era, and the new "color-blind" racism of the post-Civil Rights period.

Professor Feagin lays bare the economic, ideological, and political structure of American racism. In so doing he develops an anti-racist theory rooted not only in the latest empirical data but also in the current reality of racism in the U.S.

This book is quite an eye-opener!

This is a really important book for white people in the United States to read. It is a history of their country they are NOT taught and retaught in their daily lives. It is written well and I would love to have one in my purse at all times to give out as needed.

Racism is a fact of life in American society: it's practiced by all Americans of all colors. This explores its presence and how it's enacted, considering the economic, ideological and political structure of American racism. The analysis offers many thoughtful points about how racism has permeated the system.

I gave this book three stars. My thoughts on this book were mixed.

What's good about it: It is definitely thought-provoking. To paint American history and current reality as flawless is very confused. It is very discouraging to see the realities in history, and even more so to see that these statements are at times applicable to myself.

What's bad about it: Feagin, in many places, gives inadequate documentation to support his statements. Frequently, the definitions of racially-connected terminology are not adequately defined. His comments on race and entertainment (music, movies, sports, TV, etc), are very contradictory. And at times, he unfairly smears people who disagree with his views, such as those who have objections to affirmative action. For example, he cites a GOP campaign ad focusing on a black rapist, and quotes from several white politicians. However, he doesn't account for other views.

His tactics of attacking people who oppose his views on what could solve racism are very confused, and at times vicious. He talks of affirmative action and reparations for slavery as though there could be no possible other solutions and actions against racism in general and discrimination in particular.

I have by no means thoroughly examined the contents of this book. I spent more time describing the negative aspects of the book than the positive, but I do not mean much by that.

TELL IT LIKE IT IS, JOE!! This is what I wanted to yell out loud as I read through this wonderful book. It is so refreshing, especially in these conservative times in which we live, to know that there are white men who are willing to speak honestly about racism and the way in which it pervades ALL aspects of American life. What I really like about this book is that Feagin presents information about prominent white historical figures (Thomas Jefferson, Richard Nixon and Charles Darwin, for example) that most white authors try to keep hidden from the public. For those who enjoyed reading this book, I recommend WHITE RACISM (also written by Joe Feagin), which I think is just as well written. Joe Feagin is an excellent writer and I love his books!

As someone who has studied sociology Feagin should know that the roots of racism predate the 14th century. Racism is a part of the human condition, in fact, Black Americans who state that people of color cant be racist, are, in actuality, planting the seed of racist thought. Feagin does not seem to understand that white's from Kant to Jefferson were actively questioning why certain races of people where seemingly culturally advanced and why others seemed to be stunted. Throughout history people have made war or dealt in other ways with different culturers, comparison naturally begins (race being a factor of many such comparisons)..example: in the 12th century Arab traders in the South of Africa noted that the inhabitants were dirty, drank to much and behaved in a lewd manner to their own women. Rightfully or not those traders formed a comparative opinion; much of what we now call racism is just that!

In reading this book, in order to understand its real content, I had to look beyond what was being stated. I had to "deconstruct" the motive or purpose of this hateful diatribe against Whites, and especially White males. Feagin is a Marxist and uses his dialectics to tell a story about how White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASP's) were the most vile oppressors to have ever inhabited the earth, primarily against African slaves and Native American Indians, and how this legacy of oppression still exists today. According to Feagin, who relies on story telling rather than empirical facts, all of the current wealth held by these WASPs was stolen through slavery and that the wealth is still present today. That is, much of what WASPs have, own or control comes from past oppression. But he does not stop there.

He goes on to claim that there is a conspiracy amongst these WASPs still going on today to oppress and exploit Blacks. He calls this systemic racism, and he tells some pretty tall tales about how it takes place. Apparently, within the inner essence of these WASPs, they are maintaining a racist system in order to continue the oppression of Black people to further use Black labor for their own financial gain. How WASPs do this, all acting in concert, he doesn't really address. In fact, most people who put forth such conspiracy theories are usually looked at with great skepticism or as just plain paranoid. But in the circles of Marxist identity theories they seem to have an almost mythical explanation about the White human ant-hill acting as automatons, following some central dictum that keeps their mischief highly coordinated. It reminded me of the conspiracy theories put forth in the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, where Jews were conspiring to dominate the world in some fiendish plot.

But in simpler terms, Feagin just hates WASPs, especially males, with his hatred for Whites diminishing as the vile nature of Whites in general gets farther away from the center core, like concentric circles. In fact, the hate portrayed against Whites in this book was just a tad less ludicrous than Malcolm X's The End of White Racism, where Whites are portrayed as beasts with tails and all, no better than dogs. But is this hatred just another form of bigotry? Perhaps not. It has more to do with an ongoing power struggle between the old Marxists and the general White population that is, contrary to Feagin's thesis, quite apolitical and unwilling to yield to a new totalitarian egalitarian state (Communism). The very fact that Whites are so accepting of any and all races today, unlike in the past, poses a great threat to these Marxists.

by feagin, super-racist. it never ceases to amaze me that when a black racist writes or speaks on his/her crazed views there is always some hippie (see guilty white suburban dwellers) publisher/station willing to give that person an outlet for their hate diatribe. skip this, try auto of malcolm x or dr. king instead. and for all you haters out there, i'm also black.

ask yourself, who elected these clowns as the black 'leadership'"
al sharpton: racist, does it for the attention
jesse jackson: 'reverend' who paid millions to hush up his secret lover, loves to yell 'racist' at anyone (companies, etc.) so that they will pay him money to go away
farrakhan: super hate-monger, rivals bin-laden, insane

real black role models in a perfect world:
condoleeza rice: beautiful intelligent black woman who also happens to run this country
colin powell: honored military veteran (a real hero), a real man, should have run for president (he would have won), also runs this country

What kind of loaded (...) is that? Oh, wait... its a trained ethic studies student who creates definitions of racism that strategically place anyone who disagrees with left-wing, reparations supporting, racial separtist ideas in the category of being the a hateful racist. Supporters of books like this tend to have confused MLK's message. This guy's agenda precludes anything he says from being taken seriously. There is a ridiculous bias in all ethnic studies departments which creates unchallenged ideas that essentially try to figure out better ways to bash people of European descent. When will the radicals and post-civil right movement nuts realize that they are hypocratical and merely just victicrats (see Larry Elder)?
Please, stop the racial divisions. You people think you are helping some cause, but you are really just pissing whites off. No, we aren't racist, we are sick of having the little boy call wolf when there is no wolf.