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thujaplicata's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
I didn't agree with all of it but it is necessary and important. I look forward to more in this vein
eznark's review
5.0
"Frankly it is better said by someone black"
Towards the end of the book McWhorter writes the above. It applies to this entire, excellent book. I recommend the audiobook, which the author reads himself. It is tremendous.
Towards the end of the book McWhorter writes the above. It applies to this entire, excellent book. I recommend the audiobook, which the author reads himself. It is tremendous.
jedwardsusc's review
2.0
What surprised me about "Woke Racism" is not the tone (I get that he's being polemical); it's the sloppy use of language. John McWhorter is a very well-credentialed linguistics professor. Yet he repeatedly asserts that circa-2020 anti-racism movements are a "religion." He then reduces "religion" to some simplified, fundamentalist version of Christianity. And then he warns readers that these pseudo-Christians are (of course?) a superstitious, witch-burning, mentally unbalanced "mob" who are coming for you, your children, your celebrity chefs, your culture, and the whole of post-Enlightenment modernity. And this isn't just some bizarre, fear-mongering analogy he tosses out once or twice; it is a major theme that runs all the way through the book. I suppose it's not a bad polemical choice to declare your opponents religious zealots who are incapable of rational thought, but (beyond counting up the fallacious and underdeveloped arguments) it doesn't make for particularly interesting reading.
It's easy for me to imagine a very different book in which McWhorter engages in some nuanced critique of Coates, DiAngelo, and Kendi while spending a lot more time developing and exploring the benefits and challenges of his three major proposals at the end (stop the war on drugs; teach phonics; and promote trade schools). I feel like I would have benefited from (and probably enjoyed) that book. I don't feel like I came away with much from this one.
It's easy for me to imagine a very different book in which McWhorter engages in some nuanced critique of Coates, DiAngelo, and Kendi while spending a lot more time developing and exploring the benefits and challenges of his three major proposals at the end (stop the war on drugs; teach phonics; and promote trade schools). I feel like I would have benefited from (and probably enjoyed) that book. I don't feel like I came away with much from this one.
tittypete's review
4.0
Interesting perspective: Woke people are full of shit. And maybe we can fix the racism with ending the drug war, teaching phonics and telling people it's OK go to tech schools.
rjea's review
5.0
A much anticipated book, from a true critical thinker.
This is essential reading, regardless of where you stand on the topic. I do hope it gets the attention it deserves.
P.S. And the writing is as rich and entertaining as you would expect from someone who is boundlessly passionate and knowledgeable about language. I would buy the hardcover version of this man's grocery list.
This is essential reading, regardless of where you stand on the topic. I do hope it gets the attention it deserves.
P.S. And the writing is as rich and entertaining as you would expect from someone who is boundlessly passionate and knowledgeable about language. I would buy the hardcover version of this man's grocery list.
emromc's review
4.0
A breath of fresh air. Thanks for the permission to not have to label myself racist just because I'm white.
There's a lot of work to do to combat racism, AND I'm not racist.
I can believe both, turns out.
Worth a listen/read.
There's a lot of work to do to combat racism, AND I'm not racist.
I can believe both, turns out.
Worth a listen/read.
jennystout21's review
challenging
fast-paced
2.25
Damn, this is a hard book to grade. McWhorter, a Black linguist who considers himself a "centrist Democrat" basically writes this as a take down of the modern anti-racism movement, arguing that the politics of the movement act more as a religion, where the "Elect" (his word) get to call others racist while positioning themselves as the ones who truly understand racism. While McWhorter makes some good points (for example, he points out how condescending it is for white leftists to basically make anti-racism all about them), he also magnifies the potential danger of these woke militants (he writes, "these people are coming for your kids" at one point) while basically waving a dismissive hand at, well, actual racism. I think his is a perspective worth reading, but his arguments didn't convince me that anti-racism is more dangerous than racism.
walden2ite's review
4.0
This was a very good brutally logical take down of the current far left woke movement in the US. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I wanted to see more data backing up the author's opinion and showing the fallacies in the opposing perspective.
allibroad's review
2.0
I got beyond the clickbait title and decided to read this book after listening to an interesting interview on the NYT Books podcast with McWhorter. He identified and expounded on some real contradictions in (what he terms) third-wave anti-racism. I read it with an open mind, but he relied too much on anecdotes and straw man arguments.
See the section on school suspensions, in which McWhorter made up a policy position (Black boys should never be punished or suspended?), and then argued against it. He bypassed the actual thorny conversations: What are the consequences of the suspensions/arrests in schools? What kind of early interventions or supports can be provided for kids whose behavior is deteriorating? Whither disparate funding for schools or poverty..?
Finally, the criticisms of Ta-Nehisi Coates and others are bizarre, somehow praising and resentful. I think McWhorter wrote this in good faith, but I wonder his aim.
See the section on school suspensions, in which McWhorter made up a policy position (Black boys should never be punished or suspended?), and then argued against it. He bypassed the actual thorny conversations: What are the consequences of the suspensions/arrests in schools? What kind of early interventions or supports can be provided for kids whose behavior is deteriorating? Whither disparate funding for schools or poverty..?
Finally, the criticisms of Ta-Nehisi Coates and others are bizarre, somehow praising and resentful. I think McWhorter wrote this in good faith, but I wonder his aim.
helpfulsnowman's review
5.0
I think the big thing to say about this book and its thesis is that it feels almost taboo to read it and give it five stars.
This book, by a black man, that is so leftist that it proposes, as a full third of a plan to improve the lives of black people, the complete end to the war on drugs, is taboo to read.
It feels taboo because while the ideas are leftist, they aren’t the same kind of woke-ism proposed by so many others.
And that’s the weirdest thing about it. This book that proposes an alternate method by which racism can be addressed (a more concrete, solutions-based system that prioritizes improving the lives of black people rather than a lot of the more emotional, feelings-based soul-searching proposed by some others) feels taboo, but not because of what I’d hear from someone who believes racism isn’t real or the earth is flat or something. It feels taboo to talk about with left-leaning people who want to improve the lives of black people.
I just think that’s a weird feeling to have about a book, especially this particular book.
If you’re afraid to read this book, don’t be. It will not make you into a monster.
The only other thing I have to say is that reading this has spurred me on to take another shot at Coates and Kendi, just because I want to see for myself whether what McWhorter says about their work is true. After my first attempt at Between the World and Me, I didn’t move on to other texts on racism. I felt…preached at. I felt that reading other texts that saw the world differently was somehow disrespectful. And because so many people I know loved that book so much, I felt like it was a sin to step away from it feeling, well…like it was assigned reading. To be a good person, you had to read it, and you had to either love it or just not talk about it.
I’ve only experienced this sort of thing with religious texts before. Never a memoir.
But I’m giving it another go because now I feel like there’s some context. I think reading it as sermon as opposed to hard journalism is a good approach for me. I think maybe it’s meant to evoke feeling more than it’s meant to be a quantitative thesis on race in America.
What’s important about that is that I read two books on the same topic. One slammed on the brakes for me. The other hit the gas. One left me feeling confused and talked at. The other left me feeling like I wanted to learn more.
This book, by a black man, that is so leftist that it proposes, as a full third of a plan to improve the lives of black people, the complete end to the war on drugs, is taboo to read.
It feels taboo because while the ideas are leftist, they aren’t the same kind of woke-ism proposed by so many others.
And that’s the weirdest thing about it. This book that proposes an alternate method by which racism can be addressed (a more concrete, solutions-based system that prioritizes improving the lives of black people rather than a lot of the more emotional, feelings-based soul-searching proposed by some others) feels taboo, but not because of what I’d hear from someone who believes racism isn’t real or the earth is flat or something. It feels taboo to talk about with left-leaning people who want to improve the lives of black people.
I just think that’s a weird feeling to have about a book, especially this particular book.
If you’re afraid to read this book, don’t be. It will not make you into a monster.
The only other thing I have to say is that reading this has spurred me on to take another shot at Coates and Kendi, just because I want to see for myself whether what McWhorter says about their work is true. After my first attempt at Between the World and Me, I didn’t move on to other texts on racism. I felt…preached at. I felt that reading other texts that saw the world differently was somehow disrespectful. And because so many people I know loved that book so much, I felt like it was a sin to step away from it feeling, well…like it was assigned reading. To be a good person, you had to read it, and you had to either love it or just not talk about it.
I’ve only experienced this sort of thing with religious texts before. Never a memoir.
But I’m giving it another go because now I feel like there’s some context. I think reading it as sermon as opposed to hard journalism is a good approach for me. I think maybe it’s meant to evoke feeling more than it’s meant to be a quantitative thesis on race in America.
What’s important about that is that I read two books on the same topic. One slammed on the brakes for me. The other hit the gas. One left me feeling confused and talked at. The other left me feeling like I wanted to learn more.