Official Review: Black America: A Broken Social Contract
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- LinaMueller
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Official Review: Black America: A Broken Social Contract
Black America: A Broken Social Contract by Jeffery Jones is a social science book. It discusses the issue of race in contemporary America. The author uses a historical approach viewed from a sociological perspective. Jones' goal, as he makes clear in the introduction, is to facilitate a dialogue between different races in the United States. According to him, the wealthier classes use the fears of the lower social strata to stay in power. The different races in the United States are fighting when, in fact, they should unite against a privileged elite that harms everyone.
As an African American, the author painstakingly describes the history of racial prejudice in the United States. Black America: A Broken Social Contract shows what happened before to explain how the past affects current race relations. Various subjects are discussed in this book: the Willie Lynch Letters, the history of the Ku Klux Klan, examples of the Jim Crow laws in the South, and so forth.
What I liked most about the book was the fact that the author seems to be someone very knowledgeable. He mentions several renowned social scientists like Max Weber, Thomas Hobbes, and Karl Marx in addition to notorious civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Robert Spike.
I had no clue that the FBI had played an important role in attacking the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. The FBI created COINTELPRO to infiltrate, illegally spy, discredit, disrupt and fabricate evidence of crimes that had not been committed. Understanding how it all happened was incredible. Not being an American, I had no idea of the "dark side" of Edgar Hoover's life.
One of the negative aspects of the book was the mention of an alleged speech by William Lynch. This document is probably fake, but many slaveholders likely had a similar mindset. The alleged author, William Lynch, speaks of the reproduction of blacks and compares it with the breeding of animals. He uses N-Word many times in the text and it is a disgusting document. I wholeheartedly believe that Jeffery Jones should not mention this text in the book. An authentic material would be much better and would achieve the same goal. There is no need to use a fake and disgusting document like this one to prove your point.
On the whole, Black America: A Broken Social Contract deserves four out of four stars. It's captivating, inspirational, and thought-provoking. The book's only flaw, in my view, is not a strong enough reason to make me take one star away. I found only three grammatical errors, and that's the main reason why nobody can say that this book is not professionally edited. There are some racial slurs and offensive language. Overall, I would recommend Black America: A Broken Social Contract to anybody who loves social science books and want to understand race relations in America.
******
Black America: A Broken Social Contract
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
You an I, tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave,
I will forget the light.
When you have done, pray tell me
That I my thoughts may dim;
Haste! lest while you're lagging.
I may remember him!
Emily Dickinson
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Thanks for the review!
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Thank you for the review!
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I agree! People's lived experience shouldn't be considered too political or controversial to discuss when it's just a fact of everyday life. Love that you addressed this and I love this review! These topics should definitely be discussed more by everyoneincendiotorus wrote: ↑06 Apr 2020, 08:10 Thanks for the great review! I think it's really important for every person to read, incorporate, and discuss books that focus and highlight different cultures and histories. Talking about race and ethnicity shouldn't have to be considered controversial or sensitive. It's an everyday lived experience for everyone and doesn't need to be a hush-hush topic. The more we shy away from or silence it, the less progress can be made.
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LinaMueller wrote: ↑04 Apr 2020, 07:24 [Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Black America: A Broken Social Contract" by Jeffery Jones.]
Black America: A Broken Social Contract by Jeffery Jones is a social science book. It discusses the issue of race in contemporary America. The author uses a historical approach viewed from a sociological perspective. Jones' goal, as he makes clear in the introduction, is to facilitate a dialogue between different races in the United States. According to him, the wealthier classes use the fears of the lower social strata to stay in power. The different races in the United States are fighting when, in fact, they should unite against a privileged elite that harms everyone.
As an African American, the author painstakingly describes the history of racial prejudice in the United States. Black America: A Broken Social Contract shows what happened before to explain how the past affects current race relations. Various subjects are discussed in this book: the Willie Lynch Letters, the history of the Ku Klux Klan, examples of the Jim Crow laws in the South, and so forth.
What I liked most about the book was the fact that the author seems to be someone very knowledgeable. He mentions several renowned social scientists like Max Weber, Thomas Hobbes, and Karl Marx in addition to notorious civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Robert Spike.
I had no clue that the FBI had played an important role in attacking the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. The FBI created COINTELPRO to infiltrate, illegally spy, discredit, disrupt and fabricate evidence of crimes that had not been committed. Understanding how it all happened was incredible. Not being an American, I had no idea of the "dark side" of Edgar Hoover's life.
One of the negative aspects of the book was the mention of an alleged speech by William Lynch. This document is probably fake, but many slaveholders likely had a similar mindset. The alleged author, William Lynch, speaks of the reproduction of blacks and compares it with the breeding of animals. He uses N-Word many times in the text and it is a disgusting document. I wholeheartedly believe that Jeffery Jones should not mention this text in the book. An authentic material would be much better and would achieve the same goal. There is no need to use a fake and disgusting document like this one to prove your point.
On the whole, Black America: A Broken Social Contract deserves four out of four stars. It's captivating, inspirational, and thought-provoking. The book's only flaw, in my view, is not a strong enough reason to make me take one star away. I found only three grammatical errors, and that's the main reason why nobody can say that this book is not professionally edited. There are some racial slurs and offensive language. Overall, I would recommend Black America: A Broken Social Contract to anybody who loves social science books and want to understand race relations in America.
******
Black America: A Broken Social Contract
View: on Bookshelves | on AmazonHistory can make you sad and reflective. It can open your eyes to the atrocities of the past. Black America: A Broken Social Contract is supposed to raise awareness of what took place and to spur us on to better ourselves. It is a broken contract because there was no unity among the races and the perceived lesser race was treated with the utmost disrespect. This was a good review and I am happy that you enjoyed your reading.