A Map Is Only One Story: Twenty Writers on Immigration, Family, and the Meaning of Home, ed. by Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary. “Twenty writers share provocative personal stories of existing between languages and cultures.”
Dispatches from the Race War by Tim Wise, one of the first white writers to discuss whiteness. (See especially his memoir White Like Me.) “A discussion of the bigoted undertones of the Tea Party's backlash, the killing of Trayvon Martin, current day anti-immigrant hysteria, the rise of openly avowed white nationalism, the violent policing of African Americans, and more. Wise devotes a substantial portion of the book to explore the racial ramifications of COVID-19 and the widespread protests which followed the police murder of George Floyd……asks allies to contend with—and take responsibility for—their own role in perpetuating racism against Blacks and people of color.”
Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine. “Claudia Rankine’s Citizen changed the conversation—Just Us urges all of us into it. As everyday white supremacy becomes increasingly vocalized with no clear answers at hand, how best might we approach one another? … Just Us is an invitation to discover what it takes to stay in the room together, even and especially in breaching the silence, guilt, and violence that follow direct addresses of whiteness.”
The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person by Frederick Joseph. “Calls up race-related anecdotes from the author’s past, weaving in his thoughts on why they were hurtful and how he might handle things differently now……Touching on everything from cultural appropriation to power dynamics, ‘reverse racism’ to white privilege, microaggressions to the tragic results of overt racism, this book serves as conversation starter, tool kit, and invaluable window into the life of a former ‘token Black kid’ who now presents himself as the friend many of us need. The back matter includes an encyclopedia of racism, providing details on relevant historical events, terminology, and more.”
Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho. “With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation, and ‘reverse racism.’ In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both.”
Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory by Claudio Saunr. “A National Book Award finalist, Saunt’s sweeping work candidly explores the horrors of Native American expulsion while illuminating the crucial role that Southern slaveholders — eyeing native lands to take over for themselves — played in shaping early 19th-century policy. This alone would make for an important study, but Saunt also manages to do something truly rare: destroy the illusion that history’s course is inevitable and recover the reality of the multiple possibilities that confronted contemporaries. Things could have been otherwise.”
I can’t fit everything onto this list, so please check the group’s “bookshelves” regularly!
Purpose and joy, Faith Reidenbach, moderator Gainesville, FL
A Map Is Only One Story: Twenty Writers on Immigration, Family, and the Meaning of Home, ed. by Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary. “Twenty writers share provocative personal stories of existing between languages and cultures.”
Dispatches from the Race War by Tim Wise, one of the first white writers to discuss whiteness. (See especially his memoir White Like Me.) “A discussion of the bigoted undertones of the Tea Party's backlash, the killing of Trayvon Martin, current day anti-immigrant hysteria, the rise of openly avowed white nationalism, the violent policing of African Americans, and more. Wise devotes a substantial portion of the book to explore the racial ramifications of COVID-19 and the widespread protests which followed the police murder of George Floyd……asks allies to contend with—and take responsibility for—their own role in perpetuating racism against Blacks and people of color.”
Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine. “Claudia Rankine’s Citizen changed the conversation—Just Us urges all of us into it. As everyday white supremacy becomes increasingly vocalized with no clear answers at hand, how best might we approach one another? … Just Us is an invitation to discover what it takes to stay in the room together, even and especially in breaching the silence, guilt, and violence that follow direct addresses of whiteness.”
The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person by Frederick Joseph. “Calls up race-related anecdotes from the author’s past, weaving in his thoughts on why they were hurtful and how he might handle things differently now……Touching on everything from cultural appropriation to power dynamics, ‘reverse racism’ to white privilege, microaggressions to the tragic results of overt racism, this book serves as conversation starter, tool kit, and invaluable window into the life of a former ‘token Black kid’ who now presents himself as the friend many of us need. The back matter includes an encyclopedia of racism, providing details on relevant historical events, terminology, and more.”
Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho. “With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation, and ‘reverse racism.’ In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both.”
Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory by Claudio Saunr. “A National Book Award finalist, Saunt’s sweeping work candidly explores the horrors of Native American expulsion while illuminating the crucial role that Southern slaveholders — eyeing native lands to take over for themselves — played in shaping early 19th-century policy. This alone would make for an important study, but Saunt also manages to do something truly rare: destroy the illusion that history’s course is inevitable and recover the reality of the multiple possibilities that confronted contemporaries. Things could have been otherwise.”
I can’t fit everything onto this list, so please check the group’s “bookshelves” regularly!
Purpose and joy,
Faith Reidenbach, moderator
Gainesville, FL