Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America

Rating:
Summary: The Victimologist Argument
Review: In the afterword of Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America, author John McWhorter claims that this book is not anecdotal (Page 265). However, Losing the Race is best described with the same terminology that McWhorter used to describe a thesis paper by one of his students; as "based more on impressionistic reflection at [his] desk than research" (Page 90). It is possible that his intentions were to elevate African Americans by opening their eyes to supposed self-sabotage, yet his sarcasm, anecdotes, and strongly opinionated assumptions drawn from questionable data make Losing the Race anti-intellectual in itself.
In Losing the Race, McWhorter addresses current race-related issues such as Ebonics, Affirmative Action, profiling and inequalities in public education. McWhorter addresses all of these issues in attempting to report on how African Americans are using these issues to promote a "cult of victimology and anti-intellectualism." McWhorter describes victimology as when African Americans call attention to their victimhood but in a non-constructive and exaggerated way instead of attempting to solve the problems that have made them victims. While many African Americans may be guilty of doing this, there are many others who have called attention to their "victimhood" and done something positive about it. ...
The majority of the "evidence" used in Losing the Race is personal experience. McWhorter is guilty of the same crime of which he accuses Beverly Tatum, "gather[ing] isolated anecdotes from various campuses over decades' time into one picture frame and presented it as representative of a black student's daily life..." (Page 113). But unlike Tatum, McWhorter focuses only on one campus, UC Berkeley. Whereas many social scientists conduct studies to write their books by collecting data and then drawing conclusions, McWhorter does just the opposite. In fact, it seems that McWhorter created the concepts of the victimologist, anti-intellectualist, and separatist cults then afterwards, collected data that would support these ideas. ... ...
John McWhorter has laid a foundation for the "cult of victimology," assumptions about black life in America that he claims most African Americans believe. McWhorter refers to these assumptions as Articles of Faith. ... For example, McWhorter is never able to fully discount Article of Faith Number Two, that black people get paid less than whites for the same job. Although this might be a false assumption, this is not proven in Losing the Race. McWhorter compares median incomes and the range of wages depending upon location, but he does not address the issue of a black person getting paid less for doing the same job, maybe at the same company. There are no specific examples of black Americans and white Americans getting equal pay for the same job, not even an anecdote. ... ... McWhorter seems to be unaware of convictions that are being overturned in a rising number, especially with new DNA technology that has exonerated inmates. Clearly, support for the major claims in McWhorter's book is lacking.
If Losing the Race was less critical and more objective, the audience could be assumed to be John McWhorter's peers, other black conservatives and intellectuals such as professors. However, the underlying bitterness and sarcasm throughout this book makes it a venue McWhorter uses to make an ant-intellectual attack on more liberal African Americans. McWhorter claims that the majority of the feedback about his book has been positive; possibly because the majority of the people reading his book are those who agree with his views. People who disagree with the basic ideas of a book are less likely to read it.
John McWhorter weakens his own arguments with vague references to "many blacks," and conclusions drawn from isolated incidents or made through his own inflections of what a person says or does. Losing the Race might have been more successful in reaching people from different political views if it were more academic and objective in tone.

Rating:
Summary: Fixing The Race
Review: Kevin Wilson
Cultural Anthropology 175
4/9/03
John McWhorter

Fixing The Race

There are many plausible reasons to explain why African Americans as a people have not achieved a high level of prestige in terms of socioeconomic status. The authors who illustrate these reasons such as John L. Jackson and Mary Patillo McCoy, support their claims with evidence authentic enough to be deemed trustworthy. Their evidence is proven to be authentic because they attach a designated culture to a problem.They do so after observing the assumed location in which that problem is believed to be rooted. John McWhorter, however, neglects to utilize the same type of evidence. McWhorter's encounters with people who do not necessarily play into the [traditional role] foster a sense of distrust from the reader.
McWhorter feels as though African Americans have adopted a sense of "victimhood" and that African Americans use this idea of "victimhood" to earn themselves pity in numerous situations that he believes was brought on by themselves. " [To] foster and nurture an unfocused brand of resentment and sense of alienation from the mainstream. This is Victimology" (McWhorter, 2). McWhorter then goes on to give examples of how his idea of "Victimology" applies to certain situations. He talks about how a reporter for the Washington Times was subject to "pushing, smacking, and kicking" out from an "Afrocentric Marcus Garvey school" in 1996, after refusing to show the notes she took when requested by the school's principal. McWhorter sees it as the principal "[doing] nothing to enhance the upward mobility of her students" (McWhorter, 3). When in actuality, the principal was only doing her job. Though he mentions that the principal was denied her request for the notes taken on the school,One must remember that principal was responsible for the well-being of her school. McWhorter also neglects to mention that any story, inquiry, or record taken in relation to the activity within her school must be overlooked by her to insure the publication of valid information.Who is to know if the reporter was attempting to publish misconceptions about either the her or her school.
Within McWhorter's presentation of "The foundation of Victimology: The Articles of Faith," writings that were "much broader and less fantastical indictments of white America..[ that also served as] outright myths or vast exaggerations and distortions, born via filtering of a subtle and always improving reality through the prism of Victimology" (McWhorter, 9), McWhorter blatantly places the blame on African Americans for events in which they were clearly the victim. One example came in Article of Faith Number Five. In this Article, McWhorter makes the counterargument that even though a numerous amount of African American churches in the South were being burned, twice as many white churches were afforded the same injustice "From 1990 to 1996, about eighty black churches were burned. During the same time period, however, over seven times as many white churches were burned every year" (McWhorter, 11)
In novels such as "Harlem World" by John Jackson and "Black Picket Fences" by Mary Patillo-McCoy, one recognizes plausible explanations for the slow accent of African American culture as a whole. In Losing The Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America , the information presented to support McWhorter's ideologies are anecdotal. He gives his own personal accounts of how African American students for whom he has taught showed lackluster initiative to learn and to succeed due to "The cult of anti-intellectualism"."As the common cold is caused by the rhinovirus, black students do so poorly in school decade after decade not because of racism, funding, class, parental education, etc., but because of a virus of Anti-intellectualism that infects the black community" (McWhorter, 83). When applying his theory of "anti-intellectualism" to the test score variation between white students and African American students, the data McWhorter uses to support his theory is weak being that money is never a huge factor the test scoring of a test like that of the SAT.
In catering to the likes of "white America," while talking to the parents of today's African American youth, John McWhorter supports an opinion that displays a "Uncle Tom-like" ethos. It is striking how Capitalism and Democracy don't support McWhorter's reasons for why African Americans follow this doctrine of "Victimology" but do influence the pitfalls that African American youth face everyday. McWhorter's views are vindictive and ironically, one of the true reasons explaining why African American's as a whole remain at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. He belongs to the few educated African Americans who see it justifiable to fathom outlandish claims about the lower class section of the African American population. As long as the leaders of the African American community continue to blame the lower class for the injustices done to them, African Americans push for upward mobility will remain stagnant.

Rating:
Summary: do on to others...
Review: As the nation awaits the Supreme Court ruling on the University of Michigan's Affirmative Action program, the writings of Berkley professor John H. McWhorter take on added significance. Though his academic work is in linguistics and he has a number of publications in that area, he emerged onto the public scene for his 2000 critique of African American culture in Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America. In this book, he argues that the current position of African Americans is harmed more by a pervasive "culture of victimology" and rampant anti-intellectualism, than any outside force. He condemns pathologies within African American Culture for being the primary obstacle to modern black success. The belief that discrepancies in achievement between whites and blacks are due to "bad customs and behaviors" has appeared repeatedly in theories regarding race relations over the past hundred years. As a black man, McWhorter is unique in his public refusal to accept common rhetoric that the failure of blacks to succeed is due to their status as victims of racism, unequal economic resources, and years of oppression. He acknowledges that slavery was a great evil and that racism has not been entirely eradicated but maintains that the "cult of victimology" is a disease that hinders rather than advances his race.
Losing the Race is an exposition of McWhorter's sociopolitical beliefs, rather than a reflection of his academic expertise. The only section in which he makes use of his professional training to inform his audience with something other than anecdotal references to personal experiences, is his discussion of the role of language in the lives of African Americans. As a legitimate authority on linguistics, his investigation of Ebonics employs his knowledge of how sentence structure and verb usage differ between Standard English, African languages and Caribbean languages. He claims that Ebonics is a dialect, of which each language has hundreds. Therefore, since Ebonics is not a language in its own right, there is no need for inner city students to be formally trained in translation of their home language through readers and workbooks. Rather, blacks should be able to master this code switching on their own.
He asserts that, though not an independent language, as a dialect Black English should be taken on equal footing with any other language dialect. As a linguist, he cites the history of language development as a fluid process, and explains that the existence of a "standard" or "proper" form of any language is a result of power consolidation and not a meaningful evaluation of any specific dialect's merit. However, he is very critical of other researchers such as Molefi K. Asante, who apply similar arguments of cultural specificity to other aspects of African American culture. McWhorter's repeated attacks on black society seem to imply some fundamental inferiority in African American people. This is ironic for an author who believes programs such as Affirmative Action hurt their beneficiaries by inferring that blacks are unable to compete on their own.
Throughout the book, McWhorter expresses great concern about the anti-intellectual spirit common among contemporary blacks. He goes to great lengths to condemn African American intellectuals for failing to back their theories with sufficient research. Yet, similar flaws plague his own book. He dismisses folklore and myths such as "Article of Faith Number One: Most Black People Are Poor," (9) which are used to support the "Cult of Victimology." He also demonstrates how statistics are used to exaggerate popular perception regarding the sufferings of black Americans. However, when defending his own arguments, he routinely offers nothing more than anecdotal references to personal experiences and popular television sitcoms. Clearly he does not view his own work with the same critical eye he uses to evaluate others. This is made more distressing considering that the conclusion of his book is a plea for more African Americans to publicly adopt his viewpoints, yet by his very own standards, his work is suspect.
McWhorter condemns Affirmative Action in Education for not forcing black students to compete at a higher level. But, as he acknowledges, white athletes, and wealthy children have been taking advantage of the system to gain acceptance to prestigious academic institutions for years. Precious few of them question their subsequent accomplishments, in the way he does his own. Perhaps if McWhorter is concerned about the ability of blacks to compete on an equal footing in America, he should encourage them to exploit policies designed for their benefit as other segments of the population do. Finally, if McWhorter truly views the "Cult of Victimology" as a disease, has he considered that racism is also a disease that has afflicted America for four centuries and is not easily cured.
100 years ago, W. E. B. DuBois made a call for action, when he declared that the question of race was the great issue of the 20th century. McWhorter seems to believe that the century has passed and with it so has the time of great suffering for African Americans. Therefore he argues they should step out from behind the protective shield of victimology and dare to compete in American society.
McWhorter's position resonates with many conservative Americans, who believe that African Americans are no longer owed any special treatment. He contends that African Americans are capable of competing on their own at the highest levels, but that they will only do so if condescending programs such as Affirmative Action in education are eliminated. The right wing is all too happy to have a black professor make their case. Still one in every three young black men is behind bars, over 40% African American children are poor, and African Americans make 61% of what whites do. McWhorter argues that these statistics are used inappropriately to overshadow progress that has been made over the past 40 years. However, even if that is true, clearly blacks have not achieved an equal footing in American society. Even if Affirmative Action is not the solution to reaching the day when people are judged not "by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" (King), dismissing the distance which we have left to travel will not move us there any faster.

Rating:
Summary: It isn't important to agree-but it is important to consider
Review: Nowadays, there are a few topics that are almost impossible to discuss across the political spectrum. Race and racism is certainly one of those highly charged divides. There is a lot of talk that is ostensibly aimed at the society at large, but is really positioned for consumption by one's political allies. Precious little actual reaching out, searching for understanding or common ground occurs in present day discourse about race and a few other highly charged topics.

I first heard about this book as it was being attacked by one side of the debate and praised by another. However, I only decided to read it after I heard the author interviewed. Dr. McWhorter is often given a short hand label as this or that, but I sensed someone with a generous heart, sense of fun, genuine caring, and a very fine mind developed by a fine education and careful study. In short, he is a very interesting person. After reading this book I am quite sure that my impression was correct.

Most of all, this book is too often mischaracterized. This book is not a condemnation of African-Americans or of Black Culture. Nor is "blaming the victim". Rather, it is a celebration of the vitality and strength of the African-American people and their culture as the struggle to emerge from the awful history of slavery and racism. It is a plea for both blacks and whites to honestly consider what our current social and political paradigms have actually wrought and think about how best to really let this vibrant culture and people flourish. This people that has given so much life, energy, and beauty to world culture and it deserves so much more than the attitudes and politics of limitations and boundaries that exist today.

I find this book full of love and caring. Its exhortations are a plea to something stronger and better rather than a condemnation of people. It is a view to something beyond and encouragement to the next step rather than continuing a dependency that has a place in the past.

The last two chapters on Ebonics (Black English) and the road to equality are truly exceptional. I expect they will be a kind of expectations test for most people. I know I started the chapters expecting Dr. McWhorter to take a certain view and was delighted to be shown something I hadn't understood or considered as deeply before I read this wonderful book.

Rather than dismiss him out of hand, I think the author deserves the reader's sincere and introspective consideration of the points he makes. You don't have to agree with him to find a great many rewards in this book.

I am grateful to the Dr. McWhorter for his courage in writing it and for the opportunity I have had to read and learn from it.

Rating:
Summary: Probing success
Review: a highly insightful, shamelessly and wonderfully probing look into the intricacies of following a "collective consciousness" instead of your own path. Most of my friends who I know to be successful in their endeavors are trendsetters (like Willie Johnson of Trendsportation)- inevitably, those who are self-determined. They follow their own compass. They assess possibilities, gain the necessary skills and proudly follow their dreams. The individualist spirit shines through. They are genuine, tireless optimists who don't make excuses. Excuses give way to negative programming and negative programming kills.

In turn, the achievers prove to be remarkable people who inspire those from all races to be the very best they can possibly be. Only then does the collective consciousness stand to prosper for us all!

The first step on the road to achievement is asking some tough questions and being real. The author of this book does just that with authority!

Rating:
Summary: Negroes are Afraid of the Truth.
Review: Mr. McWhorter is correct in analizing the culture of anti-intellectualism within the Black community...especially among the youth. I am a high school teacher and 9 out of 10 students I see are fixated on sneakers, jewelry, and rims for their cars (if they have one). Most are deplete of a social conscience and view life as race to accumulate material goods.
Most of them are very intelligent, but lack the diligence needed to succeed in the world of credentials. Hopefully, they will wake up soon and see the light because in the near future Negroes will have to be near perfect to get into the leading universities.
If others are afraid too bad...I'm saying that Negroes need to turn off Rap City and start reading voraciously...they can start with "Losing the Race."
I'm not saying that racism doesn't exist but what are we going to do about it? Stop crying and start trying.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books on race I've read
Review: Losing the Race is excellent. The other reviewers said more about the book's content and such so I'll merely affirm what they say. While the book is of course conservative when compared to the majority of whining cowards who claim the title liberal, while I was reading it, I didn't think of it as much as conservative, but as MAKING SENSE. This book is logical, thorough, well-written, clear, and depressing when one thinks of the current situation. It's very similar to reading John Holt and John Taylor Gatto, the radical reformers of education.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent look into a troubling issue
Review: I first heard about John McWhorter from watching him on CSPAN. I was highly intrigued about his new book "Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America." After two book stores and searching for nearly 2 hours I was finally able to find amazing read. John McWhorter is a visionary for the black community. A leader to follow. His book takes a deep, honest look into the issue of affirmative action and its negative affects on the black community as we enter the 21st century. He bravely provides an articulate, well thought out expose on the effects of 40 years of affirmative action on the black community. While he clearly demonstrates that racism is still a problem to overcome, he steps back from the normal soap box arguement and takes a long hard look inward. His book brings forth the idea that the only way the black community is to succeed in the modern age is to finally, once and for all let go of programs such as affirmative action.

My only complaint about McWhorter's book is that often times he can be a little redundant. He clearly want's to present his argument and I definately get the feeling he truly want's us to understand. But, dont let this stop you reading this wonderfully insiteful book. It is a true eye opener for whites, blacks and people of all races. And though it specifically deals with issues involving black, you can see how many of the problems associated with victomology can affect people of all races.

I would highly recommend this book. It is a true eye opener and hopefully one of many to come. McWhorter is definately the future!

Rating:
Summary: A fine addition to the national dialogue on race
Review: Author John Mcwhorter tackles a broad subject, why do blacks not do as well in school as other races? McWhorter speaks from experience, as a teacher at UC Berkeley. The book is heavy with anecdotes, but the author does not rely on them exclusively, buttressing personal stories with statistics and studies that back up his claims. McWhorter weaves the anecdotes together into a compelling case that it is a culture of victimology, separatism, and anti-intellectualism that is the main problem that blacks need to overcome.

Contrary to what other reviews have said, McWhorter does not lay the blame for this at the feet of African-Americans. He makes it clear that the centuries of slavery and decades of Jim Crow are at the root of this problem. He also does not claim that there is no racism, just that it is not the worst problem currently facing blacks. He relates several personal encounters with racists as well as discussing anecdotes presented by others. Also, McWhorter is not a conservative by any stretch of the imagination. He has voted for Ralph Nader and once remarked in an interview that he has to remind himself that "[conservatives] are human beings"! He also supports some Affirmative Action programs, just not Affirmative Action in education as he believes it exacerbates existing problems, even if it was extremely useful when it was first implemented. Affirmative Action in business and government contracting is defended as a way of breaking through structural barriers that would otherwise continue to harm minorities.

After building his case on the culture being the main culprit, the author goes on to discuss the Ebonics controversy and Affirmative Action in education. Since the author is a linguist, he is well qualified to discuss the Ebonics (or more correctly, Black English) controversy that occurred a few years ago. Indeed, it was during that controversy that McWhorter first came to prominence as a defender of the concept of Black English and also as a critic of specific policies regarding it. McWhorter correctly points out that Black English is no more a degenerate form of regular English than house cats are a degenerate form of lions.

Fortunately, this book isn't just a description of the problem, it also offers prescription as well. McWhorter's response consists of two parts. First, replace the myths that nurture victimology with mantras based on facts. Second, eliminate Affirmative Action in education. The latter is justified as removing the training wheels from a bike so that a rider can learn on his own, rather than nurture a dependency that will ultimately hold him back.

It's certainly no wonder that leftists went nuts when they read (or just heard about) this book. McWhorter doesn't hesitate to make some statements which are eye-popping even to crusty old anti-racial preference people like myself. Since this is the paperback edition, McWhorter has a chance to fire back at his critics. McWhorter defends himself ably, skewering the lefties who can't see beyond the old paradigm of "victimology forever".

Rating:
Summary: Just an excellent book
Review: I first learned of John McWhorter while talking to somebody on a break from a class I was taking. I went home, ordered his book, received it, started reading it, and couldn't put it down. It amazes me how much of the national press that we get as consumers is based on little more than personal agendas. Not only does this book provide a provacative look on racial issues in America, it also provides great examples of why they exist. I had read many of Ralph Wiley's books and found them informative and interesting, but I always felt that there was something missing in them, they were almost too personal. Not to say that they weren't valid, but I had a hard time relating to them. He touches on why this is the case, and I found myself nodding in agreement while I was reading. Being a white conservative male, it is hard for me to imagine how I came across both writers without even consciously doing so.

John McWhorter's book is absolutely couragous. He doesn't shy away from controversial issues such as the poor performance on even middle-class blacks in national schools, ebonics, and how he has been called a 'sell-out' by many. In order to write this book I am sure that he had to face many conflicting personal emotions. I am glad that he did. I learned much more about language than I even had before, which isn't saying too much as I have never had any formal linguistic learning. I found that by incorporating so much of this into his book, it gives him a credibility that is lacking in the views of many others. As the number of debates about issues such as those covered in his book continues to grow, it is invaluable to have an educated opinion, to prove or disprove your own views, instead of what you get listening to the radio or watching the news.