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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
Some parts were a bit repetitive but I'll give it a pass because this book is a collection of essays/articles Coates wrote in the 8 years of Obama's presidency, so they weren't originally telling a singular story therefore the repetition wasn't repetitive in its individual publishing.
In this Coates discusses mass incarceration, redlining, the Civil War, reparations, Obama, Black Power Movement, Trump, and also debunks the newly-created and annoying myth that white America has always loved MLK and the Civil Rights Movement. All in all great read but incredibly frustrating and disheartening. Although that is to be expected. The pessimism of Coates might be off putting for some, but I think what he does is take the rose-colored whitewashed glasses off America, and instead speaks about the way it is and has always been rather than the sanitized version that absolves the sins and tells black ppl the only "true patriots" are ones who wrap themselves in a flag that suffers from dual personality disorder. I'm similar to Coates in that I don't have much optimism or faith. Also, I don't want to misrepresent the book as solely opinionated. He does point to some historical/present-day evidence and statistics, in some articles more than others (e.g. The Case for Reparations). I hadn't read these essays before except for the last one entitled, The First White President. That one was published pretty recently, so I'll admit that I skimmed the last couple of pages.
Reading this made me think of when President Obama was still in office, and how I sometimes imagined going up to him and shaking him saying, "Quit being so damn positive all the time. F****** tell them off! Even when it was their own white children being murdered they still refused to work with you. They rolled their eyes over you crying for them. Stand up for yourself! If they're going to be hypocritical; lying racists then go ahead, be the angry black man. Lord knows we've had our fill of the angry white man. If that's what they expect then that's what they deserve. Why do we have to put up with it all the time? They can yell and scream and stomp their feet for 8 yrs and tell you to put your mouth on their gun with no repercussions but we can't so much as take a silent knee?!" Of course Obama could and would never do that. As Coates discusses in the book, he doesn't have that generational grief and anger that most African-Americans have (after all his black side isn't a product of slavery like the rest of us), and in a way, I'm glad for him. Although, he does bare some blame in regards to playing to the "culturally depraved" and "respectability politics" narrative about black people that conservative, neoliberal, and black elites often use to absolve themselves of systemic problems they aren't interested in fixing. His politics aren't exactly in the progressive spirit of what we know black liberation, Civil Rights, and the Poor People's Campaign struggles to have been in.
I'm not going to go into an in depth review, but just know I'd highly recommend it, and this is coming from someone who still hasn't read Between the World and Me. Just keep in mind this isn't going to make you happy lol. Get ready for a lot of ignorant; bigoted quotes from average citizens to ppl holding political power that craft/uphold bigoted policy. And don't even get me started on Cosby and his ilk (Pound Cake speech). Ugh...
In this Coates discusses mass incarceration, redlining, the Civil War, reparations, Obama, Black Power Movement, Trump, and also debunks the newly-created and annoying myth that white America has always loved MLK and the Civil Rights Movement. All in all great read but incredibly frustrating and disheartening. Although that is to be expected. The pessimism of Coates might be off putting for some, but I think what he does is take the rose-colored whitewashed glasses off America, and instead speaks about the way it is and has always been rather than the sanitized version that absolves the sins and tells black ppl the only "true patriots" are ones who wrap themselves in a flag that suffers from dual personality disorder. I'm similar to Coates in that I don't have much optimism or faith. Also, I don't want to misrepresent the book as solely opinionated. He does point to some historical/present-day evidence and statistics, in some articles more than others (e.g. The Case for Reparations). I hadn't read these essays before except for the last one entitled, The First White President. That one was published pretty recently, so I'll admit that I skimmed the last couple of pages.
Reading this made me think of when President Obama was still in office, and how I sometimes imagined going up to him and shaking him saying, "Quit being so damn positive all the time. F****** tell them off! Even when it was their own white children being murdered they still refused to work with you. They rolled their eyes over you crying for them. Stand up for yourself! If they're going to be hypocritical; lying racists then go ahead, be the angry black man. Lord knows we've had our fill of the angry white man. If that's what they expect then that's what they deserve. Why do we have to put up with it all the time? They can yell and scream and stomp their feet for 8 yrs and tell you to put your mouth on their gun with no repercussions but we can't so much as take a silent knee?!" Of course Obama could and would never do that. As Coates discusses in the book, he doesn't have that generational grief and anger that most African-Americans have (after all his black side isn't a product of slavery like the rest of us), and in a way, I'm glad for him. Although, he does bare some blame in regards to playing to the "culturally depraved" and "respectability politics" narrative about black people that conservative, neoliberal, and black elites often use to absolve themselves of systemic problems they aren't interested in fixing. His politics aren't exactly in the progressive spirit of what we know black liberation, Civil Rights, and the Poor People's Campaign struggles to have been in.
I'm not going to go into an in depth review, but just know I'd highly recommend it, and this is coming from someone who still hasn't read Between the World and Me. Just keep in mind this isn't going to make you happy lol. Get ready for a lot of ignorant; bigoted quotes from average citizens to ppl holding political power that craft/uphold bigoted policy. And don't even get me started on Cosby and his ilk (Pound Cake speech). Ugh...
spending the last seven months inside ta-nehisi's brain has been wonderful and brutal at the same time. so thankful that he has shepherded these hard truths out into the open
A very challenging read, but completely worth it. Coates’ critiques of Obama’s presidency, his exploration of respectability politics, and especially his examination of the (tragic) American incarceration system are educational and incredibly thought-provoking.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I both read this book slowly and also devoured it. I read it with a pen in hand and marked something on nearly every page that struck me as something I didn't know, some perspective I hadn't considered, or an eloquent summary of something that perhaps I had been thinking but didn't know just how to articulate. I appreciated the way the book was constructed - a collection of essays (I believe most if not all published in The Atlantic) from every year of the Obama administration with an introduction to each essay reflecting back on what was happening at the time. This book feels both incredibly relevant to our current political circumstances and also presents a necessary history of race and systemic oppression in our country. I confess I am one of those people who thought Trump wouldn't and couldn't win. I heard everything he said on the campaign trail and was thoroughly disgusted. He insulted everyone who was different than him. I couldn't understand why someone would vote for him, would look at him and think he was the better choice (either in the primaries or the general election.) I was optimistic and trustful that voters would see the hate speech and racist (sexist, et al.) rhetoric for what it was. I was only considering current events as I had experienced them, not in the context of the whole arc of our history. After reading this I feel like I can finally apply a logic as to how we got here and how Trump happened. I am embarrassed of my ignorance but I will continue to learn.
Liberals should read this. Of course Conservatives should read it too but we all know they're not going to.
I liked this book fine. It is not even close to being as gripping and engaging as Between the World and Me. I actually was close to falling asleep at some monotonous parts of the book.
In regards to the early Obama years (the first few chapters), I understand the need for someone to work through their feelings about the current administration vs. feelings from the previous administration. It didn't inspire me, however. It's quite a downer. I guess I empathize with the nostalgic aspects of how different life was during those 8 years. Life is different now, though. Perhaps I'll read these chapters 10, 20 years from now and hopefully feel different, more smug about things eventually turned out okay.
Reading this in Jan. 2018 just keeps me frustrated with current politics and angsty. I didn't agree with these perspectives as much as I did with Between the World and Me. I often felt that some nuance and further explanation was needed. I couldn't follow some arguments, so I got kind of bored.
For example, in chapter 7, he focuses on mass incarceration. I appreciated the history lessons but The New Jim Crow does it better. The most interesting parts of this chapter and the others were quotes taken from other books. So if anything, I got some good book recommendations.
This book is 3 stars because it is important to read during our ridiculous times. I acknowledge and appreciate that a perspective that's usually overlooked and ignored made it to the bestselling mainstream and is a worthwhile read. I just think it could be better.
I liked this book fine. It is not even close to being as gripping and engaging as Between the World and Me. I actually was close to falling asleep at some monotonous parts of the book.
In regards to the early Obama years (the first few chapters), I understand the need for someone to work through their feelings about the current administration vs. feelings from the previous administration. It didn't inspire me, however. It's quite a downer. I guess I empathize with the nostalgic aspects of how different life was during those 8 years. Life is different now, though. Perhaps I'll read these chapters 10, 20 years from now and hopefully feel different, more smug about things eventually turned out okay.
Reading this in Jan. 2018 just keeps me frustrated with current politics and angsty. I didn't agree with these perspectives as much as I did with Between the World and Me. I often felt that some nuance and further explanation was needed. I couldn't follow some arguments, so I got kind of bored.
For example, in chapter 7, he focuses on mass incarceration. I appreciated the history lessons but The New Jim Crow does it better. The most interesting parts of this chapter and the others were quotes taken from other books. So if anything, I got some good book recommendations.
This book is 3 stars because it is important to read during our ridiculous times. I acknowledge and appreciate that a perspective that's usually overlooked and ignored made it to the bestselling mainstream and is a worthwhile read. I just think it could be better.
This was a very deep book. There were times that I didn't feel smart enough to understand it...but that speaks more to the author's mastery of the subject matter and my own lack of knowledge. I didn't necessarily agree with everything he said, but I respect that we come from different backgrounds and different life experiences. I do think it is important to learn about different viewpoints than your own, and this book made me realize how little I really know about the history (and present) of race in our country. So overall this book made me think and made me understand that I have a lot more to learn.
Powerful essays, opening my eyes to the depth and pervasiveness of racism in America and how it continues to affect people to this very day. Naive as I am, I had not considered that there were federal-level programs that discriminated against Black people (and other visible minorities, I suppose) that persisted as long as they did (and probably still exist).
As a collection of essays, originally written about a year apart, the book does suffer by being repetitive. A passage that might have served as a reminder of a previous essay becomes a bit annoying when you read it 15 pages after the original.
Also, I found that the introductions, while giving context, were weaker than the actual essays, so I kept wanting to rush through them.
Still, very interesting. Recommended.
As a collection of essays, originally written about a year apart, the book does suffer by being repetitive. A passage that might have served as a reminder of a previous essay becomes a bit annoying when you read it 15 pages after the original.
Also, I found that the introductions, while giving context, were weaker than the actual essays, so I kept wanting to rush through them.
Still, very interesting. Recommended.
I really like his writing style. I did not pay attention to Obama (other than his negative Criticism) so I really enjoy learning perspectives of people who actually respected Obama. This was interesting and informative