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When George Yancy penned a New York Times op-ed entitled “Dear White America” asking white Americans to confront the ways that they benefit from racism, he knew his article would be controversial. But he was unprepared for the flood of vitriol in response.
The resulting blowback played out in the national media, with critics attacking Yancy in every form possible—including death threats—and supporters rallying to his side. Despite the rhetoric of a “post-race” America, Yancy quickly discovered that racism is still alive, crude, and vicious in its expression. In Backlash, Yancy expands upon the original article and chronicles the ensuing controversy as he seeks to understand what it was about the op-ed that created so much rage among so many white readers. He challenges white Americans to rise above the vitriol and to develop a new empathy for the African American experience.
Published | Apr 15 2018 |
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Format | Hardback |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 168 |
ISBN | 9781538104057 |
Imprint | Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |
Dimensions | 9 x 6 inches |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
“Direct and honest, Yancy’s delineations of white violence, white indifference, and white naïveté are both thoughtful and discomforting.”
Publishers Weekly
This is a timely account of how raising the issue of racism to a white public can bring out the worst of humanity: hate. . . . It is not an easy book to read, no matter what your cultural and racial heritage, because it is unutterably sad that we need such a book in 2018. But we do require such an analysis of racism, and its concomitant ally whiteness. It is ubiquitous and rather insidious in all forms of social life, from the White House to the trailer park. Yancy gives heartfelt, yet courageous, insight into how the vitriol from whites stirred his humanity to be proactive, and seek further ways to reach the unreachable.
Choice Reviews
For all readers with the courage and care to act for racial and social justice.
Library Journal
One of Backlash’s greatest attributes is that it reads as the work of a philosopher operating at the intersection of higher education and public intellectualism. . . . Backlash documents what happened when Yancy wrote honestly about white racism in America; more than that, it reclaims the discursive ground away from racist reactionaries and provides a way of moving the conversation forward.
The Black Scholar
Searing, honest, and Unflagging in its pursuit of understanding.
Foreword Reviews
Rather than just acknowledging modern-day American racism, Yancy implores white readers to face the truth of their own bigotry, the privilege of their whiteness, and the ways that this whiteness inherently dehumanizes and endangers black people. . . . Yancy asks white readers to fundamentally question their sense of self, to accept the ugliness of the whiteness inherent in them. This is a monumental, incredibly difficult intellectual task. . . . Backlash is an honest, smart, and thoughtful book. . .
Los Angeles Review of Books
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