Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Talk

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Talk by Darrin Bell

23 reviews

annreadsabook's review against another edition

2.5

This book felt very...basic?

I get the author’s desire to examine his own experiences as a biracial Black man and the complexities that come with it. But I think a lot of this book reads very repetitive and surface level…realizing cops racially profile, sometimes biracial kids aren’t accepted into either community, etc. As a Black person reading this, it felt very much written for while folks.

And a couple things bothered me:

The failure to acknowledge the privileges that did undoubtedly come with having a white parent/primary caregiver, as well as being lighter skinned; and
There's a very brief mention of Bell's creation of a caricature of turban-wearing "terrorists" after 9/11 that were extremely racist and harmful...and he glosses over this in only a couple of panels. This was extremely jarring and felt almost as though Bell included the couple of panels out of a feeling of obligation, not necessarily out of a true desire to reckon with his own prejudices.

For a book that's singularly devoted to talking about race in America, it felt quite surface-level and limited. Each vignette left me feeling dissatisfied; there was much more in each scene that needed to be unpacked.

This book felt more invested in considering at far range the harms the author experienced while not stopping to really consider his own role in harming others or his own privileges.

Wanted to love this, just missed the mark for me.

Thank you to Henry Holt for the gifted copy.

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rasputina_99's review against another edition

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challenging funny inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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cecilie_who_reads's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

It is a beautiful but also very sad book about racism in the U.S. and the mortal danger from white people, and especially the police, that most black men experience several times or even often, and black women also experience, though not on the same everyday basis. (I mean the mortal danger. Racism, alas, is not scarce, there's plenty for every gender).
Darren Bell argues his point slowly, thoroughly, emphatically. You could say this book contains "The Talk" that parents still need to have with their black sons, but also the talk that a lot of white people need to have, to become either a little bit or a whole lot wiser.

I have wondered how during slavery, even if enslaved people were officially counted as "livestock" they were treated far worse than anyone would ever treat their actual livestock. I came to the conclusion that enslavers had to hate black people so much because they (the enslaved ones) were clearly human and thereby demonstrated that it was a sin (to God and/or humanity) to claim you "owned" them. The same furious aggression still exists, denying the sins of American racism even up to this day. The last pages of this book is the first time I have seen someone state the same thing; that all that hate comes from knowing you're in the wrong. I felt kind of relieved to read it.

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bravelass85's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

4.5

A deeply personal tracing back of growing up and later developing self-knowledge of earlier experiences. Book very much feels like it in conversation with Ta-Nahesi Coates.

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