James - Percival Everett

 I have been seeing recommendations of this book for the last few months and purchased it in Victoria BC Canada at Munro's Bookstore while on vacation for the holidays as a Christmas gift to myself.  It did not disappoint.

This is the story of Jim, actually James, the pal of Huckleberry Finn, told from his perspective.  We meet James waiting for cornbread from Miss Watson at her back door while Huck and his friend Tom are trying to pull tricks on him. We're invited into his world, where slaves are not ignorant, caricatures but instead human beings attempting to survive a horrific reality.  

I'd asked the clerk if I needed to re-read Huckleberry Finn again before diving into this but she said it was not necessary and she was right, though I think it would have made it even more pointed in the contrast.

This story repeats a theme of several books I've read this year - that of providing a completely different perspective on the life I'm living and have lived to those around me that I've worked with and known.  Each person's existence is unique and we cannot assume similar experiences result in the same feelings and impact on their lives.  

Highly recommended and a good finish to 2024.

Published: 2024  Read: December 2024 Genre: Fiction

White Fragility - Robin Diangelo

Sub-title: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism

In the current political and social environment, this book was recommended to me by a relative who had read it for a diversity program.  This was a difficult read as it provided a viewpoint I don't think I'd been exposed to in the past and challenged my thinking on the topic of race.  

The author explains the evolution of white privilege in our society and its consequences and why it is so difficult to see ourselves as racist as a result of being born and raised in it.  I have a long way to go.

Quotes:

"The idea of racial inferiority was created to justify unequal treatment; belief in racial inferiority is not what triggered unequal treatment...first, we exploited people for their resources, not according to how they looked."

"Narratives of racial exceptionality [example of Jackie Robinson first African American in major league baseball] obscure the reality on ongoing institutional white control while reinforcing the ideologies of individualism and meritocracy." 

[Color blind - insists they don't see race, Color celebrate - sees and embraces diversity] "All the statements [made by these groups of people] ultimately function in a similar way; they all exempt the person from any responsibility for or participation in the problem." 

[Difference between race prejudice /discrimination and racism] While everyone of every race holds prejudice and can discriminate against someone of another race, in the US and other white/settler nations, only white people are in the position to oppress people of color collectively and throughout the whole of society."

"Conceptualizing myself on an active continuum changes the question from whether I am or am not racist to a much more constructive question: Am I actively seeking to interrupt racism in this context?  And perhaps even more importantly, how do I know?" 

"White fragility is also evidenced in the need for so many white progressives to 'build trust' before they can explore racism..[they are saying].I need to trust that you won't think I am racist before I can work on my racism." 

"To let go of the messenger and focus on the message is an advanced skill...Part of processing of that feedback [on our racist behavior and thoughts] will be to separate it from its delivery and ascertain the central point and its contribution to my growth." 

Published:  2018  Read: April 2021  Genre: Sociology, Politics 

Caste - Isabel Wilkerson

 Sub-title: The Origins of our Discontents

Eye-opening and challenging, this book makes me think differently and see the place I've lived differently.

Through keen observation and historical context, Wilkerson explains how the US was predicated on dividing people into separate and unequal groups, black and white.  It's a powerful story of the evolution of racism in America.  Tough to read.  This book provided me with a new perspective on race in America.  I hope to participate in a book group discussion.

Quotes:

Chap. 4 - "It's a measure of how long enslavement lasted in the United States that the year 2022 marks the first year that the United States will have been an independent nation for a long as slavery lasted on its soil.  No current-day adult will be alive in the year in which African-Americans as a group will have been free for as long as they had been enslaved.  That will not come until the year 2111."

Page 111 - The Supreme Court did not overturn these prohibitions [against intermarriage] until 1967...Alabama..did not throw out its law against intermarriage until the year 2000. Even then, 40 percent of the electorate in that referendum voted in favor of keeping the marriage ban on the books."

p. 183 - "Those in the dominant caste who found themselves lagging behind those seen as inherently inferior potentially faced an epic existential crisis.  To stand on the same rung as those perceived to be of a lower caste is seen as lowering one's status.:...  "The elevation of others amount to a demotion of oneself, thus equality feels like a demotion." [my emphasis]

p 387 - "Human beings across time and continents are more alike than they are different.  The central question about human behavior is not why do those people do this or act in that way, now or in ages past, but what is it that human beings do when faced with a given circumstance?" 

Published: 2020  Read: March 2021  Genre: History 

July's People - Nadine Gordimer

I'm catching up on my summer reading posts after having travelled a bit from May through July.

I picked this book up at Liard Hot Springs in Canada on our return trip from Alaska this year.
It's the story of a white family, mother, father, son and daughter, who are sheltered in the bush home of their former servant in South Africa.  It's a terrifying look at the stark differences in living and family relationships between the haves and have nots.  The central character, Maureen Smales, lived a life of middle class anywhere, with her husband a two children.  The uprisings in South Africa force them to flee to safety and they are taken in by July, their long time house servant.  Their life changes dramatically living in his village of mud huts without running water or the other accoutrements they've taken for granted.  The shift in authority between them reveals the assumptions and expectations burned into their interactions.  An interesting read.

Published: 1982   Read: July 2019  Genre: Fiction

Born a Crime - Trevor Noah

Subtitle: Stories from a South African Childhood

Read this on my Kindle Voyage I bought a couple of years ago and hadn't tried out.  With the upgraded software I liked the reading experience, though I need a better case.

The book was for one of my book clubs and I really enjoyed it.  It started sort of amateurish but got better a few chapters in.  I knew nothing of Trevor before reading his story and came away thoroughly impressed.  I watched his stand up comedy routine on Netflix.  Really thoughtful, intelligent and funny guy.

I bookmarked a bunch of quotes and Kindle is supposed to email them to me and I haven't figured that out so I'll add them when I do.

Published: 2018  Read: March 2019  Genre: Autobiography