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sksrenninger's review against another edition
4.0
Approachable and engaging language and a generally short book. I had never conceived of white and black Americans in this framework. The idea of a colony is definitely interesting and makes me want to go back and read some other history. However, I generally felt like the conversation on policing was pretty similar to what already is out there in books like The New Jim Crow and Ghettoside. Great, useful citations—I plan to look up many of the books mentioned.
codyisreading's review against another edition
4.0
Chris Hayes opens his second book with the following framework: we Americans live in two fractures states, the colony and the nation. The colony lives within the nation but is subject to the nation's laws, institutions, and norms. The colony's wealth, education, economic opportunity, and overall quality of life has been wholly dictated by the nation over generations. And like any nation worth its salt, the nation committed to maintaining the status quo at the expense of the well-being of the colony.
Many would tell you that we're living in a post-racial society due to the election of Barack Obama and that definitively proves that racism is on the wane in the good ol' U.S. of A. It's the great lie that we like to tell ourselves, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Throughout his book, Chris Hayes charts a few of the major (note major, because there are probably too many to micro ones to count) reasons racism not only hasn't subsided since the Civil Rights era, but has been further codified into our society.
Why, in the summer of 2014 when Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri were we suddenly witnessing what appeared to be a societal tipping point?
As a white liberal I'm not sure Chris Hayes is necessarily the best person to speak on behalf of minorities but he's certainly done his research and can point to a few overarching trends that paint a picture of a colony being stepped on by the nation: a militarized police force looking to maintain "law & order" (classic dog-whistle), a failed war on drugs that has claimed millions of lives and billions of dollars with no end in sight, crime policing that focuses less on the community and more on drawing battle lines, redistricting educational institutions to encourage White Flight, and a whole host of other means forced upon the colony by the nation.
Sadly, much of this isn't surprising to anyone currently plugged in to what's happening in the world. What struck me most was how we're still fighting a lot of the civil liberties battles today that were seemingly being settled 50, 60 years ago. It can be depressing to see how short we've fallen, but hopefully it will galvanize people with a renewed sense of civic responsibility.
I listened to the audiobook, so a quick note to Chris Hayes: maybe don't do voices when quoting someone. I get that you're trying to create an engaging listener experience but I don't need your Nixon impression and you can get by just fine without the need to faithfully recreate the speaker.
Many would tell you that we're living in a post-racial society due to the election of Barack Obama and that definitively proves that racism is on the wane in the good ol' U.S. of A. It's the great lie that we like to tell ourselves, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Throughout his book, Chris Hayes charts a few of the major (note major, because there are probably too many to micro ones to count) reasons racism not only hasn't subsided since the Civil Rights era, but has been further codified into our society.
Why, in the summer of 2014 when Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, Missouri were we suddenly witnessing what appeared to be a societal tipping point?
As a white liberal I'm not sure Chris Hayes is necessarily the best person to speak on behalf of minorities but he's certainly done his research and can point to a few overarching trends that paint a picture of a colony being stepped on by the nation: a militarized police force looking to maintain "law & order" (classic dog-whistle), a failed war on drugs that has claimed millions of lives and billions of dollars with no end in sight, crime policing that focuses less on the community and more on drawing battle lines, redistricting educational institutions to encourage White Flight, and a whole host of other means forced upon the colony by the nation.
Sadly, much of this isn't surprising to anyone currently plugged in to what's happening in the world. What struck me most was how we're still fighting a lot of the civil liberties battles today that were seemingly being settled 50, 60 years ago. It can be depressing to see how short we've fallen, but hopefully it will galvanize people with a renewed sense of civic responsibility.
I listened to the audiobook, so a quick note to Chris Hayes: maybe don't do voices when quoting someone. I get that you're trying to create an engaging listener experience but I don't need your Nixon impression and you can get by just fine without the need to faithfully recreate the speaker.
sara_shocks's review
4.0
4/5 stars
Accessible discussion of America’s history of policing, law & order, white fear and justice. I found the final chapter most frustrating, because I wanted to see it go farther. The afterword from the 2018 paperback feels like a necessary addition, I’d recommend this edition.
Accessible discussion of America’s history of policing, law & order, white fear and justice. I found the final chapter most frustrating, because I wanted to see it go farther. The afterword from the 2018 paperback feels like a necessary addition, I’d recommend this edition.
kimball_hansen's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. This was surprising good and non-partisan for being a political book. And so far he only mentioned Trump once. Good job for not being a political idiot.
I liked the nice, cliffhanger ending.
Supposedly under Saddam Hussein, Iraq had the highest number of gun ownership. Fact checkers, please do your due diligence instead of whatever nonsense you do on bookface.
White fear maintains a colony.
I liked the nice, cliffhanger ending.
Supposedly under Saddam Hussein, Iraq had the highest number of gun ownership. Fact checkers, please do your due diligence instead of whatever nonsense you do on bookface.
White fear maintains a colony.
mattleesharp's review against another edition
3.0
Occasionally really insightful, but mostly just a survey of news items from the last 3 years and Ta-Nehisi Coates excerpts.
jbzar's review against another edition
3.0
Sometimes you just have to read what you don’t agree with
This author and his book strikes me as a bit too self-righteous, full of lamentations, short on solutions. Is his fundamental premise of colony in a nation wrong, perhaps not. Does his idealistic view of how things should be offer an action plan for a better world, not so much. That said, I thought his perspective and observations were worth the time it took to absorb them. I’m grateful that I was born into and have earned the right to live in relative comfort in his nation. Everyone, any race, deserves a fair chance for similar comforts. I’ll pay taxes to provide equal educational opportunities. Can society endure the hard actions that might be required to make it matter? Hopefully it can. In the meantime, maintain order, safety and civility.
This author and his book strikes me as a bit too self-righteous, full of lamentations, short on solutions. Is his fundamental premise of colony in a nation wrong, perhaps not. Does his idealistic view of how things should be offer an action plan for a better world, not so much. That said, I thought his perspective and observations were worth the time it took to absorb them. I’m grateful that I was born into and have earned the right to live in relative comfort in his nation. Everyone, any race, deserves a fair chance for similar comforts. I’ll pay taxes to provide equal educational opportunities. Can society endure the hard actions that might be required to make it matter? Hopefully it can. In the meantime, maintain order, safety and civility.
dc_mike's review
3.0
A good, quick read with many important insights. And three stars indicates I "liked it." But it still seems a couple of distant stars away from others on my bookshelf like Desmond's "Evicted," and the books by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Eric Michael Dyson. Read those first, and this book will hardly seem essential.
twithee's review against another edition
4.0
The colony/nation paradigm was a novel and interesting way to analyse the problems with America’s criminal justice system. The section on how we approach “policing” on (elite/largely white) college campuses at first felt like an excursion from his main point, but really highlights the fact that privileged groups (white, rich) live in a different nation with a much gentler approach to law enforcement. Overall pretty illuminating.