How to Be Less Stupid About Race
On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide
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4.4 • 18 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A unique and irreverent take on everything that's wrong with our “national conversation about race”—and what to do about it
How to Be Less Stupid About Race is your essential guide to breaking through the half-truths and ridiculous misconceptions that have thoroughly corrupted the way race is represented in the classroom, pop culture, media, and politics. Centuries after our nation was founded on genocide, settler colonialism, and slavery, many Americans are kinda-sorta-maybe waking up to the reality that our racial politics are (still) garbage. But in the midst of this reckoning, widespread denial and misunderstandings about race persist, even as white supremacy and racial injustice are more visible than ever before.
Combining no-holds-barred social critique, humorous personal anecdotes, and analysis of the latest interdisciplinary scholarship on systemic racism, sociologist Crystal M. Fleming provides a fresh, accessible, and irreverent take on everything that’s wrong with our “national conversation about race.” Drawing upon critical race theory, as well as her own experiences as a queer black millennial college professor and researcher, Fleming unveils how systemic racism exposes us all to racial ignorance—and provides a road map for transforming our knowledge into concrete social change.
Searing, sobering, and urgently needed, How to Be Less Stupid About Race is a truth bomb for your racist relative, friend, or boss, and a call to action for everyone who wants to challenge white supremacy and intersectional oppression. If you like Issa Rae, Justin Simien, Angela Davis, and Morgan Jerkins, then this deeply relevant, bold, and incisive book is for you.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this insightful and irreverent text, Fleming, a sociologist and self-described "black bi girl from Tennessee," attempts to simplify critical race theory for the masses. Drawing on her scholarly expertise and her own past ignorance of structural inequality, Fleming seeks to "confront how racial stupidity functions to keep large majorities of the population ignorant about the social, political, historical, and economic realities of racial oppression" (or, as she puts it later, "wig-snatch the hell out of white supremacy"). She begins with the basics, combining descriptions of contemporary sociopolitical phenomena and personal testimony with quintessential texts from critical race scholars. From there, she delves into the systematic silencing of black women; her time as a gung-ho member of what she jokingly calls "the International Church of Obama" and her disillusionment at Obama's calculated failure to meaningfully address race during his presidency; Trump and the wages of whiteness; racist depictions of black people in the media; and the complexities of interracial relationships. Fleming covers a lot of ground in a small amount of time, and her work is truly accessible; she breaks down complex concepts and constructs arguments effectively in jocular, witty prose. This analysis of today's complex sociopolitical climate would be a great starting point for anyone looking to question preconceived mainstream notions about race.)
