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abanks617's review against another edition
4.0
Admittedly, I am not big on history, so I often got kind of lulled by some of the intricate details. However, there were points in the book that I never would have learned had I not listened to it. There are so many parts of this that we should have learned about in history class, but so much was glossed over. It is no wonder that the wealth gap is so giant and we have so many racial disparities. Time to study history, people. It can tell us so much and make us understand how we fix these systemic issues facing our society.
justaprilann's review against another edition
4.0
Gave such important history about Black leaders and their different philosophies for how the Black community could/should build up after enslavement.
shaunireads1's review against another edition
5.0
As someone not very well-versed in the intricacies of the financial sector, I still found this to be a worthwhile read. Baradaran upends the notion popularized by Booker T. Washington that the solution to the racial wealth gap lies in Black individuals and communities pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. She points instead to segregation and discrimination by the government and financial institutions as the primary culprits of racial inequality, and identifies the GI bill and FHA loans, largely denied to African-Americans, as measures that were particularly egregious in widening the wealth gap. While she delves deeply into the history of racist policies that impacted where African-Americans could and could not live, work, and attend school, as well as the impact discriminatory lending practices had on their ability to generate wealth, she admits in the epilogue that she doesn’t have clear solutions. Instead, she calls for those who are in positions of power and influence (especially in government and banking) to do what they can to level the playing field and make up for lost time in wealth generation.
tshrope's review against another edition
5.0
Should be required reading for every American. Perfect companion to The New Jim Crow, both show how Blacks in America have been oppressed (and continue to be oppressed) not only through outright racism but through exclusion from government programs, court rulings, and "liberal" politicians making sure they weren't viewed as too "liberal" by overcompensating in their policy and rhetoric (i.e. Obama, "I am not the President of Black America, I'm the President of the United States of America." Clinton's policies on Welfare to Work and Crime all affected the black community in a negativ and devasting way, and Johnson stated that poverty was due to a moral failure on the part of the impoverished. And yes, Conservative Presidents were even worse.
To understand systemic racism we need to understand the history of Black America and how our laws, government, judicial system, healthcare system, education system and economic system have all worked to keep them oppressed. This book does an excellent job of explaining a lot about how we got to where we are today.
My only small complaint about the book is the author's overuse of the word "Robust." Toward the end I actually started counting how many times she used it. Twice every 45 minutes (I listened to the audio version). I know this is a buzz word these days, but authors need to stop being so lazy and get a Thesaurus.
To understand systemic racism we need to understand the history of Black America and how our laws, government, judicial system, healthcare system, education system and economic system have all worked to keep them oppressed. This book does an excellent job of explaining a lot about how we got to where we are today.
My only small complaint about the book is the author's overuse of the word "Robust." Toward the end I actually started counting how many times she used it. Twice every 45 minutes (I listened to the audio version). I know this is a buzz word these days, but authors need to stop being so lazy and get a Thesaurus.
emilyhan0906's review against another edition
5.0
The best book I’ve read on the topic of race, one of the most thorough, thoughtful and accessible analysis of the systemic racial oppression in the US. The book provides powerful challenges to mainstream economic theories/ deep-seated beliefs, and explains how policy making based on those beliefs have failed and trapped Black communities. Maybe economics as a subject matter prevents this book from reaching the same popularity as many other books on this topic, but this is really the most important and irrefutable background information that everyone who care about this topic will benefit from. I wish this book were cited as frequently in policy discussions as the economics canons, and taught together in school.
scholastic_squid's review against another edition
5.0
This book is legend…..
Wait for it….
Dary.
It took me forever to read the book because I wanted to absorb all the information. Besides that, this book is legendary and full of information that I was otherwise ignorant to… not on my own doing, (well, not entirely) but that the schooling I received in law and history did not cover this to the extent it deserved.
The amount of work the author put into this is astounding and even her footnotes have led me to additional books in my to-read pile.
Thank you compiling all this information and helping me become more woke :)
Wait for it….
Dary.
It took me forever to read the book because I wanted to absorb all the information. Besides that, this book is legendary and full of information that I was otherwise ignorant to… not on my own doing, (well, not entirely) but that the schooling I received in law and history did not cover this to the extent it deserved.
The amount of work the author put into this is astounding and even her footnotes have led me to additional books in my to-read pile.
Thank you compiling all this information and helping me become more woke :)
common_household_mom's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
ielerol's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't deliberately plan to be reading this book while also on a work trip interviewing Black business owners about their experiences getting business credit (I just knew I'd have a lot of reading time on the plane and in the hotel), but it was certainly a powerful combination. This is a detailed, devastating account of the ways that separate can never mean equal when it comes to the financial system, and ties in well with [b:The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America|32191706|The Color of Law A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America|Richard Rothstein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493422076l/32191706._SY75_.jpg|52832599] to document how segregation and inequality are self-reinforcing.