The Color of Our Future: Race in the 21st Century (Paperback)

by Farai Chideya (Author) "America is a chameleon..." (more)
Key Phrases: perfect diversity, newcomer school, hate movement, United States, Media Academy, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In her penetrating cross-country tour of the United States, gifted media star-on-the-rise and cultural critic Farai Chideya reveals how America's young people are deconstructing the white/black definition of race and constructing a new pluralistic paradigm that encompasses the country's white, black, Hispanic, Asian, and native peoples. Chideya shows us the trials and triumphs of several young adults who dare to brave the new multicultural world, including Earl, a New York City-born, Spanish-speaking, Chinese/Panamanian/African American college sophomore; Nicole, a biracial 15-year-old Californian; Jaime and Bubba, a persecuted interracial couple in the Deep South whose dead daughter was disinterred from an all-white cemetery because of her bloodlines; Beth, a Washington State blueblood and member of a skinhead organization; and B.J., a high school "wigger"--a white person who adopts black hip-hop culture (hence the derivation from the hated N word). Chideya also scrutinizes affirmative action, mixed-race census categories, and bilingual education with wisdom and accuracy beyond her years. "We do not obey the laws of race. We make them," she writes. "Now is the time for us to chose wisely what we will preserve about our racial and cultural history, and what destructive divisions we need to leave behind." --Eugene Holley Jr. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Noting that the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that nonwhites will be a majority of the American population by the year 2050, ABC News correspondent Chideya set out on a cross-country trip to take a sounding of American attitudes about race and came up with a book that raises many good questions but shies away from challenging answers. She focused on what she calls the "Millennium Generation," 15- to 25-year-old blacks, whites, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, mixed-race persons and others, both native- and foreign-born, because, she writes, "they're more likely to interact with people of other races and backgrounds than other generations." As her respondents air their diverse opinions on affirmative action, voucher programs, immigration, prejudice, jobs, underfunded schools and their dreams and prospects, a valuable composite portrait emerges of America's multiethnic, multiracial future. Chideya, a contributing editor at Time and Vibe, challenged media stereotypes of African-Americans in her first book, Don't Believe the Hype. Here she advocates "color equality" rather than "color blindness" in efforts to transcend cultural stereotypes. Chideya is a good listener, and readers will be entertained and sometimes enlightened by what her subjects say about the role of race and ethnicity at home, at school and on the street. But the book promises more than it delivers. While Chideya sensibly calls for coalition-building among minority groups to strengthen their collective power and develop a political agenda, she stops short of articulating what such an agenda should be. Agent, Charlotte Sheedy; author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (March 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688175805
• ISBN-13: 978-0688175801
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #796,993 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I wanted to like this book, July 2, 2001

By	"[e-mail]" (Annandale, VA United States) - See all my reviews

I really wanted to like this book. Ms. Chideya is very likable and connects to many of the kids in her book. The problem is she dismisses people who don't share her view points out of hand. My biggest problem with her book is that she is adamant that Affirmative Action is the only possible solution to racism, but she fails to provide any proof and dismisses those who think otherwise as racist. With one notes exception she failed to discuss schools in which white students were the minority. (She did discuss the singular white student in an Oakland school, but thats not really multi-racial because one is not a group).

If i could speak with Ms. Chideya, I would suggest that for her next book she studies the relative successes and failures of her multi-ethnic gradutating class and study the benefits of affirmative action on that group. I think that she, and most affirmative action pundits, would be suprised to find out how much more class effects sucess than any factor. I suspect that there will be more commonalities in the demographics of her high-school class than differences because white, black or asian they all come from the same lower-middle class background.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Falls Flat, June 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Color of Our Future : Our Multiracial Future (Hardcover)

While the ideas have some merit, nothing is really fresh and interesting. The biggist problem is that the writing is so bland and unfocused that the book could not maintain my interest. My impression is that the author needed more time to develop this. As there are many better alternative books available, I simply cannot recommend this.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Que Sera?, March 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Color of Our Future : Our Multiracial Future (Hardcover)

The musical "South Pacific" has a line, that while out of context, is good for this book. "Who can explain it, who can tell you why. Fools give you reasons, wise men never try."

While interracial activities are going on the results is anyone's guess. Reading historical documents of the late 19th and early 20th century, Irish,Germans and Italians were not considered part of the majority culture. Now they are.

I expect there will be new realities but considering the higher rate of mixed white-hispanic couples than black-white marriages, etc the result may be different than the author expects.