Prejudice, Racism, and Tribalism

This is a thoughtful, frank, and compassionate foray into understanding race and racism in America today. Dr D’Agostino approaches these topics with honesty and wit using research and his own experiences as foundation. Racism, he points out, is profitable. So is fear. Part memoir, part historical survey, he walks the reader through how racism, bias, and tribalism are part of the human experience.

The book is for White Americans seeking to understand today’s political and racial divides. His grasp of global history and the actions of all human civilizations from antiquity onward is impressive. He begins with the complexities of finding workable definitions, then explores the historical underpinnings of slavery, colonialism, and xenophobia globally and in the US. Within each chapter he addresses the current moment, particularly how the ideals of liberty and freedom have been perverted to manipulate the fears of White Americans.

This book is not an academic study. And there is plenty that the hypersensitive, politically-correct reader will take issue with. If so, that is to their detriment, because this book is a primer for how to do the hard work of examining what it means to be a White American. Not for the sake of feeling guilt or shame over the past, but it’s important to understand how we got to the present so we can avoid being complicit. He invites the reader in by continually asking questions, not in a finger-wagging, preachy way, but as a model for introspection. Throughout the book, he asks himself: What would I have done differently? Many of us like to think we’d have been ardent abolitionists, or righteously denied our privilege, but would we?