Rating: 
Summary: Jews and Blacks need to Work Together
Review: Losing the Race has really done its homework. Outside the politically correct filters that cloud discussions of ethnicity, McWhorter has taken an objective view of his own people and wants things to improve. Losing The Race is the perfect companion book to the recent release of The Jewish Phenomenon- the 7 Keys to the Enduring Wealth of a People. It is the flipside of the African-American story where centuries of discrimination and seclusion has yielded quite a different result, ranging far beyond success measured in dollars but also in contributions made in many fields and community development. With the selection of Senator Lieberman, Jews are pointing the way for African-Americans, if they choose to follow the 7 principles as outlined by the Jewish Phenomenon. Losing the Race tells it like it is and should not be dismissed, it should be studied. There is no genetic divide between the races, it is a matter of positive nurturing and development.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly Argued
Review: A work of pride but more important of clarity and real caring. The racial doublethink needs to fall away from racial politics so the facts can be seen and understood. This is not a text about quick fixes. It's a sociological study that deserves sober consideration by everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: a must read
Review: As a former peace corps volunteer in Kenya,East Africa,I found this book excellent.I taught African students in a remote village in Kenya.As high school students they were tested on the standard high school test administered by Cambridge in England.Their scores were outstanding! These students studied hard and never felt their race was a barrier to academic success.They studied and took they test in English which they had to learn.They could never understand why African-Americans did not achieve more academically.They demontrated that academic success is not a function of race but of mindset.Author McWhorter proves this insight in this book.It is a must read for the opened minded!
Rating: 
Summary: SAME ISSUES, ANOTHER PERPESCTIVE
Review: These issue have all been presented before, and I wish I hadn't spent my $15.00 bucks on it. Just read the books out there by Thomas Sowell and Shelby Steele to understand this authors' perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Recycled but worth a read
Review: Losing the Race, by John McWhorter, is a good book with a lot of beneficial insight. However, I have read a lot of Shelby Steele and found this book to not have any new ideas. I recommend Steele's books, and if you still want to read more on the subject check this out.
Rating:
Summary: What Bill Cosby Hollers About
Review: I wanted to know more and happened upon this fine man on C-SPAN and the Dennis Miller Show. I have read a few of his works, and find them excellent in explaining the current racial tensions without all the liberal cries of victimhood and the demand for prolonged dependence on outside help.
White and feeling guilty about it? Read any one of John McWhorter's books and get off the emotional blackmail tenterhooks; nobody owes anybody anything in today's world of race relations. We can all do better by doing more for ourselves first, then worrying about our fellow man...in TODAY'S terms, not the last century's.
Rating: 
Summary: Truth Isn't Always Popular
Review: Although I do not agree with all his conclusions, seldom have I read something so delightfully truthful! I'm not surprised at some of the negative reviews here. One person suggests that Dr. McWhorter isn't as aware of the African American community as he claims to be (i.e. making unsubstantiated assumptions about the African American community), and then proceeds in the next sentence of his review to assume that Dr. McWhorter is married to a white lady, and "obviously had it easy growing up". LOL! Another person repeats over and over the assumption that Dr. McWhorter is blaming the victim. This person uses the analogy that he was shot in the leg and now walks with a limp. I think a rational reader would see very clearly that Dr. McWhorter isn't "blaming the man for having a limp"; but rather, he is asking the man to stop picking off the scalp, thus preventing the leg from truly healing, in order to continue receiving sympathy from others! The focus of the book is to address some of the fallacies in the racial issue dialogue, not the injustice done (which Dr. McWhorter not once denied exists in our society) which the reader should already know as a prerequisite for reading this book. It's like taking a calculus class, and complaining that there's no discussion on basic algebra in the lectures! Again, LOL!
Rating:
Summary: Blaming the victim..........
Review: I doubt you will find anything new or overly interesting in my review of this excellent book but it deserves as many accolades as can be heaped on it. Dr. McWhorter is brilliantly incisive in every facet as a writer. While his premises are solid and on point, his conclusions are even more so. This man should be a part of every discussion on race to take place in this country.
Rating:
Summary: a compassionate, clear look at the situation
Review: According to author McWhorter, only about 25% of African-Americans live in poverty. We're decades beyond the gains made in the civil rights movement, yet African-American students still lag behind their white counterparts--even those of the middle-class, even those that attend good schools, and even those with black teachers. WHY? Black students are as intelligent and capable as any students, so why such poor results?LOSING THE RACE is McWhorter's attempt to explain what ails black students. McWhorter blames three demons: Anti-intellectualism (African-Americans shying away from intellectual pursuits), separatism (avoiding activities that are deemed "white"), and victimology. He doesn't say that ALL black students are dogged by these problems, but that many are. Some contend that poor performance in schools is due to racism, but McWhorter contends that racism has declined since the 1960s, and asks if the occasional inconveniences suffered by most blacks are equal to the strangling racism that African-Americans lived with prior to 1960. McWhorter agrees that the poorest schools need improvements. He suggests improving those schools by various means. Importantly, he also suggests ending race-based affirmative action in school admissions. Race-based affirmative action WAS very necessary, but has outlived its usefulness. Now it stifles the efforts of black students, and doesn't allow them full credit for their achievements. Does the African-American daughter of suburb-dwelling professionals really need affirmative action in order to gain admission to a good college? McWhorter would say no. McWhorter devotes a chapter to the "Ebonics" controversy, which is also very entertaining and informative. As an African-American linguist, he brings a special informed perspective to the debate. His arguments are smart and well-reasoned. Some have faulted LOSING THE RACE for being anecdotal. Sure, the author used scores of stories and anecdotes from his own life. Some of the anecdotes and analogies are ill-chosen or seem exaggerated. Others are inappropriate. Many leave the reader shaking his head in anger and dismay. Simultaneously these stories are the strongest and weakest suits of this book. Without them, we would have dry statistics. Who would read that? In the stories, we have an professor's humane perspective on a serious problem. McWhorter puts forth a powerful argument in LOSING THE RACE. It is a well-written addition to the literature on this topic. ken32
|
