See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

32 used & new from $1.94

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Some of My Best Friends: Writings on Interracial Friendships
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

Some of My Best Friends: Writings on Interracial Friendships (Paperback)

by Emily Bernard (Author) "My mother will deny this but it's true..." (more)
Key Phrases: sneaker store, interracial friendships, New York, Los Angeles, Puerto Rican (more...)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


8 new from $4.75 24 used from $1.94
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (Bargain Price) 14 used & new from $3.75
Hardcover 43 used & new from $0.01

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

by Barack Obama
4.4 out of 5 stars (510)  $10.17
Can We Talk About Race?: And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation

Can We Talk About Race?: And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation

by Beverly Daniel Tatum
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  $15.61
The Colors of Us

The Colors of Us

by Karen Katz
4.4 out of 5 stars (24)  $7.95
Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten

Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten

by Langston Hughes
5.0 out of 5 stars (3)  $11.70
Black and White Racial Identity

Black and White Racial Identity

by Janet E. Helms
4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  $33.95
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Bernard gathers the reflections of authors, journalists, editors, activists and professors in a collection of essays that represents "an unwavering commitment to representing the painful, beautiful realities of friendships complicated by race and history." The strongest pieces elegantly and honestly use intensely personal stories to articulate larger political and social realities, and they celebrate unlikely alliances with an eye towards their sometimes tenuous nature. In "Nearer, My God to Thee," John Gennari examines his seemingly innocuous hero worship of an African American student at Harvard in the context of deep-seated, virtually subliminal beliefs about race. "When I admire William’s Olympian self-possession ... is it a case of my admiring William for challenging assumptions about how a black man should sound and act?" Gennari asks. "Conversely, when I resent or am made uncomfortable by his seeming lack of humility ... is this a case of my tapping into the white man’s age-old anxiety about ‘uppity’ Negroes?" Novelist Trey Ellis’s "Repellant Afro" explores the author’s relationship with Jewish children from his neighborhood in the ‘70s. Race, says Ellis, wasn’t really discussed among the friends: "For us, somehow, talking about our differences felt tacky." But Ellis did experience his blackness intensely and clandestinely, as both a source of pride and fear. "My blackness was my pornography," he writes. The authors don’t shy away from hard truths; nor do they offer up easy answers. But that’s as it should be: the value here lies in their willingness to explore their own assumptions and examine how friendships break through some boundaries to confront new ones.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
As if friendships weren't complex enough, Bernard offers essays that add the additional layer of complication that comes when friends are of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. A young Korean American Harvard student, part of a posse of blacks, Hispanics, and a mixed Korean and black friend, tries to bridge his life between campus and the streets of Philadelphia; an Italian, the first of his family to attend college, ponders a friendship with a black intellectual who challenges his assumptions about race and ethnicity; a black woman considers the white men who have served as friends and mentors, including a Jewish godfather and the writer John Hersey. These heartfelt essays explore the difficulties of maintaining friendships through disappointments and betrayals, including what makes some last a lifetime and others collapse at the first sign of strain, and the stresses that are added by the real and imagined boundaries of racial identity. Among the 15 diverse contributors are Trey Ellis, Pam Houston, Luis Rodriguez, Susan Straight, William Ayers, and Darryl Pinckney. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (June 28, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060082771
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060082772
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #736,202 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.

Citations (learn more)
3 books cite this book:


Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
 

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars In America, the Racists are Still Winning, May 11, 2007
This is an eclectic collection of testimonials by those occupying America's most infamous "no mans land," the intersection on the nation's Social grid between the dominant racist culture and those struggling to integrate it -- despite the nation's deep reservoir of racism.

In every instance, these are quiet but profoundly heroic tales about those struggling out on the very slippery precipice of our society trying to maintain a modicum of dignity while not genuflecting under the withering pressure to conform to the omnipresent racist norms and standards. Almost all have willingly paid the price in living lives, often of quiet desperation, always of self-imposed denial and always by distorting their own lives to coexist with a racist way of life.

More than anything else, this is a mostly upbeat reminder of how deeply embedded the newest form of racism, the seemingly more benign, yet much more (passive) aggressive form, is.

Even though this group straddling America's no mans land is slowly increasing, they remain stranded "in" but never completely "of" America. They are often brutally cut off by both sides of the color divide from the normal connections one would find in a more civilized society. Yet, they push on relentlessly, surprisingly making a much larger impact on the racist culture than their numbers would suggest.

Thank God for their courage! For the sake of the rest of us they must keep pushing!

In a more perfect world, or in an America that took its cherished values and principles seriously, there would be no need for these stories, or a need for telling them. This book proves, with dramatic "lived" evidence that in America, despite exaggerated claims to the contrary: the racists are still winning. Five Stars.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A moving collection on a difficult subject., February 10, 2005
Emily Bernard tackles a complex and often uncomfortable subject with grace, humor, and true feeling. Her selection of contributors is intriguing and they approach the subject from all sorts of angles you might not expect. Truly a means to opening a very important dialogue.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]

   


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)



Look for Similar Items by Category


Cut Wood Down to Size

Cut Wood Down to Size

Split wood with ease using a log splitter from the Outdoor Power & Lawn Equipment Store.

Shop all log splitters

 

Big Savings in Books

Bargain Books
Find great titles at fantastic prices in our Bargain Books Store.
 

Summer Reading for Kids & Teens

Summer Reading for Kids and Teens
Discover everything from beach reads and board books to teen romance and action-adventure series in Summer Reading for Kids & Teens. And, check off the kids' required reading lists in our Summer School Reading Store.
 

Paint the Town--or Just Your Home

Shop for painting tools and supplies
From applicators to paint, stains, and solvents, find all the painting tools and supplies you need to spruce up your walls.

Shop Painting Tools & Supplies now

 

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.



Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue shopping: Top Sellers

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates