Dismantling Racism: The Continuing Challenge to White America

Rating:
Summary: Difficult Conversations
Review: I'm reading this book for a class on Difficult Conversations and highly recommend it. However, I feel a need to respond to another review.

I appreciate jmk444 taking the time to read Brandt's book and responding in a manner that honestly expresses jnmk444's feelings, however, the reviewer misrepresents what Barndt says concerning racism. The reviewer writes, "The fact is that "racism" is defined as believing your own race to be superior to others." This may be the way the reviewer defines racism, but Barndt is quite clear how he defines it: "Racism goes beyond prejudice. It is backed up by power. Racism is the power to enforce one's prejudices" (page 28) (Barndt's use of prejudice is, I believe, similar to the reviewer's use of bigotry). Barndt goes on to assert that the dominate power operating in the United States is that of white people, hence only white people can be racist. African-Americans, Latino, and others can be prejudiced as well as whites, but because they do not hold the power, they cannot be racist.

As a white person, it is hard to consider myself a racist, and I have tried hard to wiggle out of it, using much of the emotional and reason-filled thinking exhibited by this reviewer. I'm not there yet, but Barndt's book makes a compelling argument that can only be immediately dismissed by those who wish to be blind to the power differential in this country. If you doubt that as a white person you have certain privileges because of your skin color, I would suggest looking up Peggy McIntosh's article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read on whiteness and racism
Review: Joesph Barndt addresses the issues facing white Americans as we try to address our significant role in dismanteling and deconstructing racist privelage very well. Elucidating a number of important issues, from personal to institutional to cultural racism, he also addresses racism in the church; a task that few folks of the cloth will address adequately. One of the areas that I found facinating was his discussion on cultural borrowing (p 106), or rather cultural theft, as one of the worst forms of racism. He states that, "Immitation, it is often said, is the highest form of flattery. But when the immitation is done with neither the permission or acknowledgement, and when it is accompanied by assertations that the culture from which it is taken is inferior, then immitation becomes the lowest form of racist theft" (106). This is an excellent text and I reccomend it to anyone working in the field of social justice adn social diversity as well as folks trying to get a handle and understanding on what the issues and roles of white folks are around race and racism. It is non-threatening, does not attack or try to promote guilt, but it does call for some critical thinking and evaluation.

Rating:
Summary: Terribly misguided and incredibly simplistic...
Review: The Reverend Joseph Brandt has created a cottage industry of providing "diversity seminars" on College campuses across the nation. Most of his teachings are encapsulated in this book.

What's wrong with Brandt's track? Well, it's a screed, more than it is a book. A screed that blames whites for all the evils of the world and sees "racism" solely from the view of "white against other." This ignores the reality that (1) bigotry NOT "racism" is the problem and (2) every ethnic group, in every culture harbors some petty bigotries.

This makes Brandt's ideas not merely misguided and wrong-headed but dangerous. Brandt's views feed the anti-white bigotry that is endemic in much of the African-American community. How can an ideology that promotes bigotry help end it? In short, it can't.

Worse yet, Brandt can't back up his viewpoints with facts so instead he quotes Old Testament scripture, often unrelated to his assertions. People like Brandt make a living off "racism," both real and perceived, so they have no vested interest in finding any legitimate solutions to dealing with bigotry. In fact, his teaching promote bigotry as a path to dealing with "racism."

Confused? You're not alone.

The fact is that "racism" is defined as believing your own race to be superior to others. In that regard anyone who exhibits any kind of racial pride - white pride, black pride or any other, is, by definition, "racist." The more insecure and less educated a person is, the more likely they are to take pride in things like race that they've no control over. Pride should be reserved for achievements. None of us "achieved" being born black or Asian or white.

Bigotry is something else altogether. Bigotry is the hating of others for what they are. That's why bigotry is a lot more dangerous than "racism" is and it's also why so many people use the term "racism" when they really mean bigotry. The inane definition that "racism is the use of power by one group over another" is specious. Ethnic majorities and minorities have peacefully coexisted all over the globe despite the majority (regardless of race) having voting and purchasing power over the minorities.

That's why this book is so destructive, it claims to seek an end to "racism" through the promotion of anti-white bigotry. I wish I could find something nice to say about this tract, but it is demonstrably wrong in its approach, misguided in the viewpoint it proffers and dangerous in that it actually promotes a virulent anti-white bigotry.

I've never given a book a single star before but this one gets just that.