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185 reviews for:
How to Be Less Stupid about Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide
Crystal M. Fleming
4.36 AVERAGE
185 reviews for:
How to Be Less Stupid about Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide
Crystal M. Fleming
4.36 AVERAGE
This book takes work. It is only a couple hundred pages, but it took me several weeks to work through it. It is very academic, with studies and statistics cited, yet very personal/personable in tone. (Fleming writes like she is calling out a friend on their cluelessness.) She broke my heart with a lot of information about how Barack Obama, whom I adore as a funny and charming intellectual, condoned the killing of civilians in the Middle East, stymied the free press, defended Wall Street, and declined to pursue prosecution of the people responsible for the economic meltdown of 2008. Basically he was a sellout to the interests of rich white people. But I'd rather be informed than deluded.
One thing that I am left with after reading this and White Fragility (Robin DiAngelo) is that we need to refine the terminology we use when we talk about the problems we're trying to address. White people are so quick to assure us that they are "not racist" because they are "nice" to everyone. Having mom and dad teach you to be kind to people is not going to change the world. The struggle is against systems and policies that enforce and perpetuate the disadvantaging of people of color.
One thing that I am left with after reading this and White Fragility (Robin DiAngelo) is that we need to refine the terminology we use when we talk about the problems we're trying to address. White people are so quick to assure us that they are "not racist" because they are "nice" to everyone. Having mom and dad teach you to be kind to people is not going to change the world. The struggle is against systems and policies that enforce and perpetuate the disadvantaging of people of color.
It’s a little unclear whom this book is for. One would think it’s for ‘racial idiots’ given the title of the book, but why then does Fleming wait until the last chapter to actually discuss ways of being less stupid about race? The previous chapters all seem to be written for folks already racially aware and spend much of their pages calling out people—with the exception of a lengthy passage where Fleming dons a hair shirt and atones for the cardinal sin of being an Obama supporter. That said, this is still a worthy read for anyone interested in being less of a racial idiot and, you know, bringing about the swift, violent death of white supremacy.
informative
DNF
Came for in-depth sociological look at the history of white supremacy in America not a tone deaf memoir.
Came for in-depth sociological look at the history of white supremacy in America not a tone deaf memoir.
Heavy topic, will go back to it eventually
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Fantastic. I've read a lot of anti-racist books and thought I was pretty open minded but this book forced so many new ideas into my head and has made me re-examine all my thoughts.
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
It's an incredibly good, very accessible book on the deep structures of racism and white supremacy, written by a queer femme BIPOC. Probably top of the list of the anti-racism books I've been reading so far.