Product Description

Berkeley linguistics professor John McWhorter, born at the dawn of the post-Civil Rights era, spent years trying to make sense of this question. Now he dares to say the unsayable: racism's ugliest legacy is the disease of defeatism that has infected black America. Losing the Race explores the three main components of this cultural virus: the cults of victimology, separatism, and antiintellectualism that are making blacks their own worst enemies in the struggle for success.

More angry than Stephen Carter, more pragmatic and compassionate than Shelby Steele, more forward-looking than Stanley Crouch, McWhorter represents an original and provocative point of view. With Losing the Race, a bold new voice rises among black intellectuals.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101710 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-01
• Released on: 2001-07-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060935931
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
For the past two decades, an academic cottage industry has developed to analyze--and some would say overemphasize--the social and educational problems of African Americans. Such writers as Dinesh D'Souza, Shelby Steele, Armstrong Williams, and Ken Hamblin have all contributed in this area; now add to that list John McWhorter, a Berkeley linguistics professor and the author of Word on the Street, an examination of Ebonics and Black English. The basic idea he presents in this occasionally insightful if flawed book is that African Americans are not advancing socially as a result of victimology, separatism, and anti-intellectualism.

According to the author, victimology "has become a keystone of cultural blackness to treat victimhood not as a problem to be solved but as an identity to be nurtured," while "separatism encourages black Americans to conceive of black people as an unofficial sovereign entity, within which the rules other Americans are expected to follow are suspended out of a belief that our victimhood renders us morally exempt from them." Anti-intellectualism is a belief that "school is a 'white' endeavor." McWhorter suggests that only blacks embrace such opinions, placing most of the blame on them while underemphasizing the institutional racism that facilitates such views. Needless to say, McWhorter has no love for the likes of Al Sharpton, Hazel Carby, June Jordan, or Patricia Williams and their ilk. His chapter on Ebonics, his specialty, is the most nuanced, though certainly not the final word on the matter. And though some readers will be turned off by his use of tired anti-affirmative-action, right-wing clichés, anyone interested in the education of African Americans in the post civil rights era will find Losing the Race a worthy read. --Eugene Holley Jr.

From Publishers Weekly
Are African-Americans using past racial injustices as an excuse for not working to take advantage of contemporary opportunities? McWhorter, a linguistics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, thinks he has the answers to this question and othersAand he points the finger directly at the black community. Starting with the premise that white racism is no longer the threat it once was, McWhorter singles out "the cult of victimology" and the glorification of white racism as a major cause for several social crises afflicting African-Americans. Offering little that has not been said previously by conservatives like Pat Buchanan and Shelby Steele, McWhorter uses a cookie-cutter approach to explain away recent race pressure points such as the arson directed against black churches, the high proportion of black inmates in America's prisons, the practice of racial profiling and police brutality. In each case, he finds fault with the African-American community's interpretation of these situations, accusing African-Americans of hypersensitivity to racial bias and a reluctance to relinquish the past. Victimology, as well as separatism, in his words, "gives failure, lack of effort and criminality a tacit stamp of approval." Most disturbing, his suggestion that a cultural trait drives the low scholastic performance of black youth borders on the views of those who consider heredity the cause of blacks' poor performance on standardized tests. Like many of the new black conservatives, McWhorter spends much time going after liberal columnists and social critics, attacking both their intent and message. Even his closing segmentA"How Can We Save the African-American Race?"Asounds more like a well-worn campaign speech than a call to initiate a dialogue on race in the African-American community and the nation. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
McWhorter makes compelling arguments for the failure of African Americans to achieve academic success. He posits three causes of this failure, which he characterizes as victimology, separatism, and anti-intellectualism. McWhorter's "cult of victimology" is the "transformation of victimhood from a problem to be solved into an identity in itself." Such action keeps the victims and others from acknowledging that progress has been made. The "cult of separatism" is the attempt to self-protect by only engaging in activities that are for blacks. The "cult of anti-intellectualism" is the attitude that any authentic black person would not desire intellectual pursuits but rather consider such efforts alien and suspicious. McWhorter stresses that his position about the challenges faced by African American students is based on cultural issues within the black community and not on economic factors. This book will surely enrage and shock many. A cogently written academic look at a very emotional and debatable topic. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Sometimes the truth hurts!
As an African-American high school teacher, I can wholeheartedly agree with much of what McWhorter says. It has puzzled me for quite some time why, despite having educated parents, equal access to resources an intricate knowledge of the educational system, and extra attention from me as well as the other black teachers, my African-American students were routinely the worst in any of the classes I taught. They put forth less effort, are less ambitious, and seem permanently indignant at being challenged and expected to work hard. By contrast, the Nigerian, Senegalese, and West Indian students I taught turned in work of the same caliber as my White and Asian students. Like McWhorter, I also grew weary of trying to make excuses for students who really had no barriers to achieving success, especially when being educated side-by-side with students who looked just like they did.

Apparently a few of the previous reviewers missed McWhorter's point, as he predicted they would. For example, one reviewer points out "gender equity" and the fact that the book does not address this. The title of the book is "Losing the Race," not "Losing the Boys," or "Losing the Girls." Discussing gender equity would have been an unneccessary detour in subject matter. The reason for the gender gap is easily explained anyway: lack of black male "academic" role models, boys focus more on athletics, and also have other options that females tend to approach less avidly, such as the military and technical fields which don't necessarily require degrees. Regardless of even this, Mr. McWhorter is addressing the LACK OF QUALITY of Afican-American students IN GENERAL, not just the NUMBERS.

This book is a must-read for black parents, teachers, and administrators in particular, but also for anyone who is looking for a fresh take on the race debate.

After reading both the book and the reviews....
it seems to me the people who disliked the book are usually the ones who saw themselves in the book but did not like what the saw.

As a Black Man I agree 100% with McWhorter. The black people who do not choose to be blind to the truth. They would prefer to blame others for their own failings. That is not new. It is a story as old as man. It is easier to blame "the man" than actually taking responsibility for your own actions.

In effect, it is great he gets negative reviews from people who admit to not reading the book. It proves his points more powerfully than he ever could.

Like they say, Buy the book, don't wait for the movie.

Bill

A Book That Answers Questions About Black Americans!
Why do African-Americans perennially score lowest on SAT tests? Why can't Blacks climb out of their ghettos, when Vietnamese did so in two generations (and they couldn't even speak English)? Why does every Black criminal, no matter how red-handed he is caught, yell, "Racism"? How could Blacks acquit O.J. Simpson in the face of incontrovertible DNA evidence, when even they now say, "Sure he did it, but . . ." Why did Blacks fight so hard for integration, and then hang out only at the Black Student Union in colleges all over this land? And why, with all the billions of dollars this country has poured into special education for minorities, is it only African-Americans whose scores on all forms of educational tests have not closed the gap between Whites and Asians?

Every five or ten years I read a book that changes my world view, in some important way. This book profoundly changed the way I view African-Americans. It gave me answers to questions like those posed above, and many more. It gave me principles which can be applied to future questions that will surely arise in race relations in this country.

Professor John McWhorter's logical presentation and defense of each of his three theses is, in my opinion, unassailable. And lest you think that Prof. McWhorter is some racist red-neck, know that he is an African-American professor of linguistics at the University of California, Berkley, one of the premier, liberal universities in this country.

He posits that Blacks are "Losing the Race" because they have a built within their community a "cult of victimology". This has fostered a strong "cult of separatism" and perhaps most damaging, a "cult of anti-intellectualism". He tells of students who excel in school being abused with taunts of "going White" and being an "oreo". He concludes that Black Americans have the mental powers to succeed (contrary to the thesis of The Bell Curve) because Africans and Caribbean Blacks who emigrate to this country excel in academia, they not being inflicted with the Black American anti-intellectualism to stifle their pursuit of educational excellence.

While Prof. McWhorter's logic is impeccable, his writing style leaves something to be desired, which was all the more distracting because he is, after all, a professor of linguistics; though perhaps I expected too much from such a language specialist. He needed a good editor to eliminate a number of glaring typos and incomplete sentences, which distract somewhat from the compelling ideas he presents.

In a word, this was one of the best, most mind-changing books I have ever read. If African-Americans worked as hard to excel in school as they do on the athletic field, the occasional incident of racism would pale in comparison to the achievements of Blacks rich and poor. Were it within my power, I would send a copy to every Black journalist and African-American leader who thinks racism is the only thing that keeps Blacks down and out in America and losing the race in every important arena except the sports stadium.