<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Not so good
Review: I read this book as an undergraduate for a "Race and Gender" course I took as an elective. Hacker arms himself with an array of statistics documenting the social and economic inequalities that still persist among blacks and whites in America. He presents them in very readable fashion and draws what would appear to be very natural racism and discrimination by a white-dominated culture which has never truly been able to see beyond race. Hacker takes on a rather analytical and unemotional approach in the book (which is rare when it comes to issues of race these days) - and which also makes it easier to follow his argument if you do not happen to agree with his conclusions. Still, Hacker fails at being able to do little more than present the inequalities and blame their existence on an unenlightened white culture. Often he attempts to "control" for certain variables by disaggregation - in an attempt to be judicious to those who would claim that racism is not the reason - but in the end, the statistical disparities remain. Hacker has an white America which has made being black so disconcolate an estate." He makes no attempt to respond to the long-standing position articulated by the likes of Thomas Sowell or Dinesh D'Souza regarding cultural factors - nor does he seem to take seriously similar positions notably articulated by Charles Murray in his controversial book, "The Bell Curve." It almost seemed as if Hacker was writing in a vacuum - with nothing but his own worldview and a pile of statistics which tell the uncontroverted story of social inequality between blacks and whites.
Rating: 
Summary: Well balanced study of race
Review: I'm amazed at some of my fellow reviewers. Hacker pickes on whites? Sucks up to blacks? Hardly.
I read the book some years ago and was very impressed. Hacker's use of statistics cuts through a lot of the rhetoric that surround the issue of race in America. I don't agree with all his conclusions--on the topic of race, none of us agree on every point--but he makes some very good points. My only complaint, actually, is the analysis is a bit light. I would have liked to see him draw some more conclusions. Still, if you want a statistical overview of race, linked with some good commentary, here's a place to start.
Oh, and I suppose I should mention I'm a white guy. Not a self-hating white guy, just a white guy. And I didn't and don't feel picked on by Hacker's book.
Rating:
Summary: well written and coherent, but flawed nonetheless
Review: In Two Nations, Hacker does and excellent job in documenting the statistical inequalities between blacks and whites. Such a good job, in fact, that Hacker considers his impressive array of numbers to be, in and of themselves, evidence of injustice. Only peripherally does Hacker contemplate the effects that various cultures and subcultures may have on, among other things, black earning potential. He usually discredits such considerations by attempting to "hold various factors contstant" and then to arbitrarily attribute the residual difference to racism. Since racism is much less apparent today than in, say, 1950, much reference is made to the concept of "institutional racism" - a nonsense term that divorces racism from deliberate intent and instead alledges the subtle workings of unfriendly ghosts. Yet again, Hacker does little to reconcile his argument with the various evolved cultures and sub-cultures within the black community. It becomes, ultimately, a polemic designed to cast black Americans as victims of a hidden racism that acts through the institutions of society to thwart their aspirations. Whether its culturally biased exams, white middle-class norms, racist police officers, racist "vigilantes" such a Bernhard Goetz, racist corporate America, racist cab-drivers, racist store owners, or racist schools, his inability to hold black Americans in any way responsible for their circumstances serves the function of corrective epicycles to preserve his edifice of cultural relativism and to retain his faith in black capacity. This can be exemplified most clearly at the end of the book: In raising the question as to "why so many black Americans are enguaged in what seems to be a self-inflicted genocide?", he provides a very predictable answer: "It is white America that has made black such a disconsolate estate."
Rating:
Summary: This book was sometimes interesting but
Review: the plethora of percentages and numbers weigh it down. The views of the author were one sided and sometimes a little biased agaisnt the majority. This is a small quibble and does not really take away from the main message the author is trying to convey. This book is, however, quite an eye opener especially for those who believe that in this country all men are created equal. This book proves that it simply isn't so.
Rating: 
Summary: a great book
Review: this book is a must have for all to read&see.despite some progress in Society we still have a long ways to go as far as Equality is concerned.Money is the Law of the Land.you will never have Justice in a Land when people have been used and treated as Slaves.one dominate group of people Govern the rules®ulations on another.everything that was done to one group is now general Law.Andrew Hacker does a Brillant job of pointing out things.people are accountable for what they do but by the same Token your skin is still your calling card out here.
Rating:
Summary: Should be in The Home of Every American
Review: What can be said about one of the most noteworthy works of the late twentieth century! Hacker's "revelations", although surprising to some, are familiar to the millions of minority Americans who have felt the stares, the unwanted job placements, the overt and covert acts of discrimination, and the other biases inflicted upon them since the first slave ship landed or the first white man entered "Injun territory." Mr. Hacker's writing style makes the facts contained within the pages easy to grasp and ponder. By including a segment on the differing racial reactions to the O.J. Simpson trial, Hacker has tapped into a serious flaw in America's mettle: how the justice system is definitely NOT colorbind! The book should be mandatory for high schools, colleges, workplaces, police departments, and even future and present residents of the White House!
Rating:
Summary: Hacker uses brilliant prose to animate statistics.
Review: While Hacker uses statistics to illustrate the divide between black and white America, his book is anything but dry. Furthermore, while Hacker is an academic, he avoids the text book type of writing that many academics are known for. Two Nations is interesting, provocative and should be required reading in any class that attempts to address the problems of race in America. Although Hacker's book doesn't provide any solutions, he doesn't proport to. He is truly the foremost writer on race in America. Read Two Nations and find out why.
Rating: 
Summary: Check this book out of your public library
Review: White author Andrew Hacker mercilessly flays Whites and shamelessly sucks up to Blacks. 'Two Nations' is for Whites who want to feel guilty about being White, and Blacks who want to blame their troubles on Whites. For people truly interested in race and culture, I recommend buying Thomas Sowell's 'Race and Culture' . . . and returning this book to your public library.
<< 1 >>
|
