D. L. Hughley

Even though this book is ostensibly directed to black people, white people really, really need to read this book. It really cuts through a lot of the bullshit excuses that (some) white people make when innocent black people are killed by police. While it has some humor, for the most part it just lays bare how dangerous it is to be an ordinary black person in the US. There are a lot of thought-provoking ideas presented here, and it would do us all well to spend some time considering them, and what we all can do to improve race relations. (For example, I had no idea about the third verse of the national anthem. Look it up. I'll never view the anthem in the same light again.)

My only disagreement with Hughley is when he re-defines racism as requiring power. I respectfully disagree. It's simple, racism is prejudice against anyone due to their race. Power is not involved. However, we really need to acknowledge that racism without power is like "They hurt my feelings..." while racism with power can destroy (or end) lives. There is a huge difference. Maybe we need a new word for racism with power... Also, power is not binary, but a continuum; the greater the power, the greater the danger. Unfortunately, right now, there is a lot of institutionalized racism with great power in the US. Sometimes it's disguised as patriotism, but upon closer inspection (such as Hughley provides) its core is revealed, and it's up to all of us to root out this nonsense. Unfortunately, I think this is going to be a never-ending battle...… (més)