White Racism: The Basics [Paperback]

Joe R. Feagin (Author), Hernán Vera (Author), Pinar Batur (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415924618 | ISBN-13: 978-0415924610 | Publication Date: November 17, 2000 | Edition: 2

"White Racism" probes white racism in contemporary society. Central to the book's analysis is a careful documentation of key events which demonstrate the process of racial victimization. The authors focus on "notorious cases", including the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles and its aftermath. The analysis of lesser known anti-black activities - on a liberal college campus, in a heartland city, and in chain restaurants - reveal the everyday character of white racism. The authors' accounts give special attention to the role of stereotyping and rumour, black reaction to white racism, and the mass media's role in ritualized enactment of racialized events.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Calling white racism "the most consequential [problem] for the nation's future," two University of Florida sociologists offer several recent case studies: cross burnings in Dubuque, Iowa; discrimination against black patrons at the Denny's restaurant chain; the readiness of the Boston police and the media to believe Charles Stuart when he accused a black man of committing the murder he himself committed-a case consistently mentioned in discussions Sue Smith, who said a black man kidnapped her two children before she confessed to killing them. Much of this has already been picked over by the media but the authors suggest that these events could have turned out differently save for certain individual and societal perceptions and reactions. For example, the authors uncover knee-jerk reactions in media treatment of 1988 presidential campaign scarecrow Willie Horton and rapper Sister Souljah. The book's opening description of the Los Angeles riots as an "urban rebellion" telegraphs a strong PC bias, in which the authors avoid nuanced discussion of race (try Stephen Carter or Cornel West), dismiss white (not to mention black) fears of black crime and offer such dubious proposals as reparations for slavery and a new constitutional convention that would entrench identity politics. Still, the authors are correct to say that blacks have more contact with whites than vice versa, and that whites must develop cross-racial empathy; those who have "some personal experience with exploitation, discrimination, or oppression" are, they say, more likely to empathize.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Feagin and Vera's well-intentioned book presents seven case studies of American racism perpetrated by middle-class whites against blacks (who, for Feagin and Vera, belong to no class). The cases are those of cross burnings in Dubuque, Iowa, that protested a proposal to attract black families to the preponderantly white city; ill will among undergraduates at a college (Olivet) founded by abolitionists; discrimination in family restaurant chains (Shoney's, Denny's, IHOP); whites (skinheads) who murder blacks or frame them for murder; Rodney King and the LAPD; Willie Horton and George Bush; and Sister Souljah and Bill Clinton. The concise recaps of these newsy racial incidents may become godsends to students with term papers to write but don't make up for the book's great weakness--deploring racism's cost in dollars but nowhere even estimating it. The volume's final contribution to understanding American racism could be glossed, unimpressively but not completely unfairly, "Few white Americans realize that racism was not ended by the Civil War. Even fewer realize something even more disturbing: racism is wrong." Roland Wulbert --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (November 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415924618
• ISBN-13: 978-0415924610
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #393,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling look at Racism within the country, January 31, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: White Racism: The Basics (Paperback)

After reading some of the reviews, and finishing this excellent study, it is apparent that the message of this book did not come across to some. Feagin is not picking on "white" (European Americans) people, he is merely pointing out the inequalities that exist within the United States. This book is thorough in proving the experiences of people of color and of European Americans are extremely different. Feagin found police brutality, for example, occurred increasingly more for people of color than for European Americans. African Americans experience harassment far more than European Americans, and the cases Feagin uses illustrates this fact. Also, the recent debate of affirmative action is also covered well in this book.

"Reverse racism" as many would like to claim Feagin is guilty of, is not real. People of color cannot be racists because racism is linked to power. People of color can be bigots, but since power in this country is held by European Americans, as Feagin points out in many of his chapters, people of color cannot act on their hatred or resentment. Since European Americans are found in government, police forces, Fortune 500 companies, and other vessels of power, "white" interests are protected.

As one can see, this book causes the reader to think. Even though you might not agree with Feagin's conclusions, it causes us to examine a social ill that has been with this country since its founding. I will not only answer questions, but help raise critical questions about ethnic relations in this country.

13 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Right idea. Wrong approach., October 1, 2001

By 

Levi Barnes (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Racism: The Basics (Paperback)

The authors speak of real problems, but address them ineffectively. By peddling generalizations of the white race, they perpetuate the victim/victimizer dichotomy which divides instead of uniting. Further, the boundary between victim and victimizer is drawn rigidly along racial lines. They fail to recognize that any progress has been made in the decades since the civil war toward a more loving, color blind society. This truly dishonors the memory of those whose blood and tears watered the garden from which African Americans now harvest financial and educational opportunities as well as self worth. A better discussion, in my opinion, can be found in Joel Kovel's book by the same title.

10 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars White Racism, February 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: White Racism: The Basics (Paperback)

I have read the book White Racism and it is an excellent book. Racism is viewed from a different perspective. This book give the real reasons whites don't like black people and the reasons for the coverup. White's should take a long look at imbedded racism and see all people as one. A part of the human race.