She had me in chapter one! This is a well written, well researched book. It is engaging and informative. It has changed the way I think about race, racism, and privilege. I love how she compared Nazism, the caste system in India, and American racism. It really gets you to focus beyond America and to experience a different perspective. That the Nazi's reviewed American law to get at segregation and elimination of unwanted peoples was truly eye-opening! It's not something you get in history books for sure.
I connected to my own experience where she talks on p. 22 about MLK in India and being introduced as an "untouchable." I identify as Franco-American (2nd generation) and when I visited LA years ago I was introduced as a "Yankee." The yankees were the farmers in Jefferson and Lancaster, not me! Then I got it!
I now get that awareness of race is an American concept: "You know there are no black people in Africa." (p.52) I did know that "Race is a social concept, not a scientific one." (p. 66) The section on "The R Word" (pp.68-72) is excellent and calls to action instead of just definition. I think coming from a state (NH) that is 94% white, and was probably more so as I grew up, I have been very naive and possibly sheltered.
I was totally floored by the 16 year-old girl's response to "What to do with Hitler after the war?" "Put him in a black skin and let him live the rest of his life in America." Wow! Just wow!
Wilkerson really nails why white voters went for 45 in the last election - 'dominant group status threat' and of course white privilege. (p. 180) I personally think there was also a subtle vote against having a WOMAN president going on there as well. Wilkerson also explains well how the press and statistics have contributed to misperceptions about racial poverty, education, etc. (see p. 234 for example) There is also the subtle stratification, "no one wants to be in last place" (p. 238) and why be different? (pp. 268-273) We like to make differences about ourselves as she mentions on p. 277 talking about "lace-curtain' vs. "shanty" Irish. My mother used to talk about her family being "pur laine" Québecois vs. my father's family who might have had Native American blood. (He didn't, I've done the DNA test, but that's perception.)
What was truly frightening was her statistics on the surge of hate groups in the US. I've said for three years now that the one really good thing the current presidency has done is to show us how truly divided we still are and how that hate has been under the surface all along: Black, Jewish, Catholic, Asian, Muslim, etc.
Everyone should read this book. I got so much from it and now I want to read her other book The Warmth of Other Suns. So many books, so little time!
And if you have a bit of time to spare, the interview with Isobel Wilkerson and Ken Burns is excellent and well worth watching. https://www.pbs.org/video/ken-burns-i...
I connected to my own experience where she talks on p. 22 about MLK in India and being introduced as an "untouchable." I identify as Franco-American (2nd generation) and when I visited LA years ago I was introduced as a "Yankee." The yankees were the farmers in Jefferson and Lancaster, not me! Then I got it!
I now get that awareness of race is an American concept: "You know there are no black people in Africa." (p.52) I did know that "Race is a social concept, not a scientific one." (p. 66) The section on "The R Word" (pp.68-72) is excellent and calls to action instead of just definition. I think coming from a state (NH) that is 94% white, and was probably more so as I grew up, I have been very naive and possibly sheltered.
I was totally floored by the 16 year-old girl's response to "What to do with Hitler after the war?" "Put him in a black skin and let him live the rest of his life in America." Wow! Just wow!
Wilkerson really nails why white voters went for 45 in the last election - 'dominant group status threat' and of course white privilege. (p. 180) I personally think there was also a subtle vote against having a WOMAN president going on there as well. Wilkerson also explains well how the press and statistics have contributed to misperceptions about racial poverty, education, etc. (see p. 234 for example) There is also the subtle stratification, "no one wants to be in last place" (p. 238) and why be different? (pp. 268-273) We like to make differences about ourselves as she mentions on p. 277 talking about "lace-curtain' vs. "shanty" Irish. My mother used to talk about her family being "pur laine" Québecois vs. my father's family who might have had Native American blood. (He didn't, I've done the DNA test, but that's perception.)
What was truly frightening was her statistics on the surge of hate groups in the US. I've said for three years now that the one really good thing the current presidency has done is to show us how truly divided we still are and how that hate has been under the surface all along: Black, Jewish, Catholic, Asian, Muslim, etc.
Everyone should read this book. I got so much from it and now I want to read her other book The Warmth of Other Suns. So many books, so little time!
And if you have a bit of time to spare, the interview with Isobel Wilkerson and Ken Burns is excellent and well worth watching. https://www.pbs.org/video/ken-burns-i...