Customer Reviews

The Violence of Hate: Confronting Racism, Anti-Semitism, and Other Forms of Bigotry

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

 

 

I am taking a diversity class at my local community college called "Racial and Cultural Minorities".

"The Violence of Hate" is a mandatory book assignment and the teacher said he was going to give us extra credit if we'd write up a little critique about it. Since there's not much on the net about this, I figured I'd share it with the rest of you, too.

The book is written by Dr. Jack Levin, a professor of Sociology and Criminology. He's also director of the Brudnick Center on Conflict and Violence at Northeastern University in Boston.

Although boring at times, the book was educational. It gives the reader an overview of hate terminology and clarifies their meanings. It made me realize that even though I am not prejudiced, I was a "spectator"- much like the Germans who failed to act during the Nazi regime, I have also witnessed bigotry and failed to speak up against it.

It explains the psychological and economic advantages of bigotry with lots of statistics and book references. This was the part that I found most tedious.

There were some interesting parts to this book such as his personal recollections about appearing on the Jerry Springer show with three racist skinheads. Another story of a white woman who, several years before, was being treated for cancer in South Africa was fascinating. She had a reaction to chemotherapy which turned her skin dark, and she got a first hand experience of the cruelness of Apartheid.

I wish he had elaborated on his personal experiences a bit more.

At the end of the book is a list of Anti-Hate Websites.
I'm an Internet geek, so I found these to be helpful; especially since another extra credit assignment involved visiting one and writing a paper about it. It would have been more complete had he included a list of Hate websites as well. (I also visited a few of these as well and they were horrifying but ultimately more interesting.)

If history interests you, you might enjoy it a little bit more than I did. I did learn a little so I guess that's worth something. Ultimately, if it wasn't for the class, I don't think I would have ever read this.