Customer Reviews

Showing My Color: Impolite Essays on Race and Identity

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Clarence Paige is a voice of wisdom in a discussion often dominated by the most strident, offensive voices. He pulls no punches about what race means in America, yet he offers hope. I plan to buy multiple copies to give to all of my friends, black and white, who often seem baffled or hopeless about the future of race relations in this country.

Found book to be very enlightening and imformative; easy to read, understand, and relate to. Says what needs to be heard; unfornately many who need to hear aren't listening.

Watching Clarence Page on the McLaughlin Group, with his flashing eyes, his subtle stutter and his insightful comments on whatever subject was under discussion at the time, I knew when I saw this volume (as a tourist) in a Pensacola bookshop (The Bookworm-$6.00)it was mine. Although it has taken me several years to pull it down and begin reading, I'm glad I did. While it was published 15 years ago, it is still current; things haven't changed that much (have they?)except for a black president. I was impressed with the 57 "selected bibliography" references and wondered how he had time to work and do all that reading. The last essay contained several phrases new to me: the one-drop rule, "brown paper bag" clubs, and "blue vein" societies. I especially liked the personal references he shared with readers to illustrate his point. Also, he referred to a book I inherited from my mother; in fact, I gave the book to her in 1997, but I have no recollection of why or where I found it: Shirley Morris Taylor Haizlip's The Sweeter the Juice (1994). This will be my next reading project. No wonder Clarence Page has a Pulitzer; he writes intelligently for the reader who cares about the subject of race and class. Recommended.

This is a thoughtful look at racial realities in the USA. Author Clarence Page correctly examines racial divides as perplexing and multi-dimensional, while avoiding pandering and one-sided attacks. Page examines such hot-button subjects as victim-hood, affirmative action, middle-class values, relations between Jews and blacks, the widespread fear of young black males (which Page admits to), and the failure of many African Americans to grasp increased opportunities. Readers may not always agree with the author, but they can learn from him. I wish he'd gone further and focused more on Latino's and Asians, regional differences, plus hostilities between native and Caribbeans. Still, this is a welcome improvement over the many offensive "blame whitey" (or "blame blackie") treatises that prove so counter-productive.

Clarence Page is a Pulitzer-winning journalist for the Chicago Tribune blessed with an easy-reading style. He's written a serious and thoughtful book about our racial divide, one that makes it seem a little less insoluble.

what i loved about clarence page's book is it's very readable. i read it in 2 days and was able to grasp the concepts that he put forth in his tome. race is a subject that has baffled blacks and whites for ages; even our most intellectual peers are dumbfounded about how to confront this hydra. page shows us that by confronting race,we can get past race : we can begin to establish a dialogue between each other. page calls for blacks to get out of the "victim " mentality and take advantage of the opportunities available to african-americans. he also encourages blacks to build themselves up intellectualy and use their intellectual talents to survive in america. page then tells whites that they must get beyond their fear of black people and learn more about them and their culture and also be eager to embrace multiculturalism as a start to overcoming racial woes. the book is flawless ! what really startled me was page stated that in present-day america, most ethnic groups have begun to segregate themselves; blacks, primarily because they are tired of learning about whites and trying to relate to them in order or survive ( it has never been vice versa ! )and whites, because they are tired of defending themselves as not being " racist. " i have always been a cosmopolitan person, willing to learn from any culture and to love people simply as people. judging by the number of reviews of this book, i doubt if a lot of people will ever read it or take page's advice. it did my heart and mind good to discover it.

"The Race Card" is a collection of essays originally published in Heterodoxy magazine and edited by Peter Collier and David Horowitz. The chapter based on this book ("Clarence Page's Race Problem, and Mine" by Horowitz) is an excellent dissection of Page's book and a must-read to put proper perspective on the recent race hysteria.