Authentically Black

By John McWhorter

Book Overview

Picking up where the bestselling Losing the Raceleft off, this penetrating and profound collection of essays by the controversial thinker and passionate advocate for racial enlightenment and achievement explores what it means to be black in America today. According to the author, nearly forty years after the Civil Rights Act, African-Americans in this country still remain "a race apart." He feels that modern black Americans have internalized a tacit message: "authentically black" people stress initiative in private but cloak the race in victimhood in public in order to protect black people from an ever-looming white backlash. He terms this the "New Double Consciousness" in homage to W.E.B. DuBois' description of a different kind of double consciousness in blacks a century ago. Within this context McWhorter takes the reader on a guided tour through the race issues dominant in our moment: racial profiling, getting past race, the reparations movement, black stereotypes in film and television, hip-hop, diversity, affirmative action, the word nigger, and Cornel West's resignation from Harvard. With his fierce intelligence and fervent eloquence, McWhorter makes a powerful case for the advancement of true racial equality. A timely and important work about issues that must be addressed by blacks and whites alike, Authentically Blackis a book for Americans of every racial, social, political, and economic persuasion.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592400019
• ISBN13: 9781592400010
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Gotham Books
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Eye-Opening

McWhorter considers himself a moderate black man. He is an academian in linguistics, but his second career is in writing and speaking about black issues. He has written a series of essays about the current problems facing blacks in America, many of which have been previously published. In this book, he expands on these essays, giving us a profound overview of the victimization attitude which contributes to the resistance to deracialization of blacks here in the USA. I have a black friend who likes to play the race card at the drop of a hat. This leaves me with nothing to say, unless we both are willing to have a lengthy private conversation, which may or may not be productive. McWhorter has covered in this book topics I would like to discuss with my friend - has said it much better than I could - and has done it from a personal, studied, and comprehensive vantage point. Below are short excerpts from the chapters of this excellent book, mostly in his words. Chapter I - Many blacks are careful to portray a pessimistic public outlook in order to "keep whitey on the hook." Privately, their silent mainly middle class majority wish they could have just one generation that didn't absorb this complex cultural victimization attitude. One generation would do it. Chapter II - Racial profiling is a fact. Other than inconvenient examples of thoughtless inconsideration - which are just as easily overlooked - this remains the last bastion of overt racism. Yet a young black male usually did it, a problem that began with the war on drugs. A powerful and thoughtful analysis, advocating that a cultural bias (within the black community) against real achievement and education works against blacks. Chapter III - The reparations movement - re: Randall Robinson's book, "The Debt." With the advantages legislated in by Johnson, blacks have been given all the boost they can expect. "Most blacks about fifty or younger tend to tacitly process affirmative action...as a 'reparation,' although they would not put it just that way...The fact that Robinson and the reparation crowd cannot see the alternative views as even worthy of addressing indicates their true interest - assuaging the sense of inferiority to whites that gnaws at the black American soul." Chapter IV - Review of Bogle's "Primitive Blues," or playing the "can you find the stereotype" game. Bogle blames the TV industry since all shows are not like his preferential type (Cosby), criticizing all actors involved no matter how they perform their role. McWhorter gives the optimistic view, reflecting how the TV industry is well on its way toward an integrated and "deracialized" future. Chapter V - Diversity - "There comes a point where a people can only achieve at the same level as the ruling group if the safety net is withdrawn." Chapter VI - McWhorter analyses the "N" word from all vantage points: "Once we have done the right thing for ourselves - which is what interests me - the word will no long

Authentically Bold

As someone interested in learning more about race issues in America, I recently picked up John McWhorter's "Authentically Black" and was pleasantly surprised. Professor McWhorter's essays are well-constructed and to the point, and bound to create controversy, particularly among blacks. The concept of a "black silent majority" is new to me, which could have something to do with the fact that it is silent and I am white. If I have any concern, it's how to interpret other contemporary books I've read on race, particularly those written by Cornel West. McWhorter's reaction to West's resignation from Harvard last year seems a bit severe, in my opinion. On the other hand, I'm almost reluctant to admit that I agree with his opinions on Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Perhaps my greater concern is how to approach black people without knowing which side of the argument they're on. If the majority is indeed silent, how am I to know and what can I do to change it? Or is any attempt to change a silent majority into a more vocal one relevant to the discussion? "Authentically Black" packs a powerful punch and Professor McWhorter should be commended for raising some very difficult questions that affect Americans of every race.

Picks up where LOSING THE RACE leaves off.

John McWhorter's "Authentically Black" picks up where his best-selling tell-it-like-it-is "Losing the Race" leaves off. He is not afraid to turn the microscope on black America and force us to take a hard look our current ways of thinking and how they hinder us from fully realizing our potential as the powerful people that we are. In fact, the author does so with surgical precison in this book, which is why black "flaming leftist" critics like Ishmael Reed have basically resorted to such childish tactics as calling the man names (e.g. "a rent-a-black who only writes and says what conservative whites want to hear." Give me a break!) instead of trying to offer thoughtful rebuttals to his arguments. They can't refute him, quite frankly, because deep down people like Reed know that McWhorter is telling the truth. Period. One of the most important themes of this book is that the author wants black Americans to stop emphasizing black plight and misery and all the negative aspects of our history, while treating our successes as anecdotal "exceptions" (a constant theme in more liberal black American discourse these days). In other words, let's ACCENT THE POSITIVES: i.e., focus more on black American achievements of yesterday and today (two notable examples being that the current U.S. secretary of state and national security adviser are both black). As he states poignantly, a people cannot continue to stress how strong it is if it constantly focuses on the negative aspects of its history and current state of affairs. McWhorter blasts such an oxymoronic way of thinking, while reiterating a point he made in "LOSING THE RACE" that black American success stories nowadays are not longer "the exception" - they are THE NORM.John McWhorter represents the most refreshing and eye-opening contribution to the dialogue on American race relations since Shelby Steele and Thomas Sowell. This book along with "Losing the Race" should be required reading in every African-American studies and sociology college curriculum in the country.

Yes, professor

If I were the kind of person who got into bar fights I'd want Professor McWhorter to back me up because he's as scrappy as a welterweight boxer. In Authentically Black he's on the attack. McWhorter fearlessly in a series of essays says a number of things the "silent majority" regular black people think and say in private. Some of the essays are serious, others are quite funny. McWhorter pokes fun at poet Amiri Baraka, and Jesse Jackson. He demolishes Randall Robinson's arguments in The Debt and takes on pompous Donald Bogle and Cornell West with ease. McWhorter calls a fool a fool and challenges a number of racial assumptions. He slaughters every sacred cow I can think and does it with glee.