Hot Topics: Race and Politics in the USA: Social Aspects

"Me and White Supremacy teaches readers how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too"

"In this book ... Dr. William T. Lewis talks with his White friends about perhaps one of the hardest conversation topics in America, racism. William and his friends discuss the human toll of racism, and the promise of a better tomorrow. They discuss the hope for the future, by sharing a commitment to move through the ally continuum, from ally to accomplice to conspirator"

On Course Reserves Fall 2020 semester, ask at the circ desk
"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."

"This book examines race, religion, and politics in the United States, illuminating their intersections and what they reveal about power and privilege. Drawing on both historic and recent examples, Stephanie Mitchem introduces readers to the ways race has been constructed in the United States, discusses how race and religion influence each other, and assesses how they shape political influence. Mitchem concludes with a chapter looking toward possibilities for increased rights and justice for all"

"Vital, eye-opening, and powerful, this unique anthology expertly presents the significance and complexity of whiteness today and illuminates the nature of privilege and power in our society. White Privilege leads students through the ubiquity and corresponding invisibility of whiteness; the historical development of whiteness and its role in race relations over time; the real everyday effects of privilege and its opposite, oppression; and finally, how our system of privilege can be changed"

Michael Eric Dyson delivers a provocative exploration of the politics of race and the Obama presidency. Barack Obama's presidency unfolded against the national traumas of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, and Walter Scott. The nation's first African American president was careful to give few major race speeches, yet he faced criticism from all sides, including from African Americans. How has Obama's race affected his presidency and the nation's identity? Dyson explores whether Obama's use of his own biracialism as a symbol has been driven by the president's desire to avoid a painful moral reckoning on race. And he sheds light on identity issues within the black power structure, telling how Obama has spurned traditional black power brokers, significantly reducing their leverage. Perhaps most movingly, Dyson illuminates the transformative moments, especially in his second term, when Obama has publicly embraced his blackness and used it as a powerful lens onto America, black and white. President Obama's own voice--from an Oval Office interview granted to Dyson for the book--along with that of Eric Holder, Al Sharpton, and Andrew Young, among others, adds depth to this tour of the nation's first black presidency.--Adapted from book jacket.

"Racism is not about feelings or friendship -- Racism is not a stand-alone issue -- The unbearable whiteness of being -- Reconciliation begins with a curse -- Our spiritual strivings."

"Stephen Tuck traces the Black freedom struggle in all its diversity, from the first years of freedom during the Civil War to President Obama's inauguration. As it moves from popular culture to high politics, from the Deep South to New England, the West Coast, and abroad, Tuck weaves gripping stories of ordinary black people - as well as celebrated figures - into the sweep of racial protest and social change. We Ain't What We Ought To Be rejects the traditional narrative that identifies the Southern non violent civil rights movement as the focal point of the Black freedom struggle. Instead, it explores the dynamic relationships between those seeking new freedoms and those looking to preserve racial hierarchies, and between grassroots activists and national leaders."

"Description: Nativists and immigration law to 1924 -- Mexican restriction debates, 1924-30 -- Good neighbors and new dealers -- Mexicans, Mexican Americans and civil rights -- The Andrade Decision -- Efforts to thwart the Andrade Decision using the traditional approach -- Applying administrative law to the Andrade Decision -- The racial classification policy : problems and successes -- Consequences, unintended consequences and failures. "

Find some good historical context here.

"Description: Introduction. White supremacy in the digital era -- Theorizing white supremacy online -- White supremacy in a global c context. Individual acts of white supremacy online -- White supremacist social movements online and in global context -- White supremacy online. Gender, white supremacy, and the Internet -- White supremacist discourse : in print and online -- Cyber lies : cloaked websites -- Searching for civil rights, finding white supremacy : adolescents making sense of cloaked websites -- Fighting white supremacy in the digital era. Combating global white supremacy in the digital era -- Conclusion: Racial justice and civic engagement in the digital era -- Methodology appendix: On the craft of sociology in the digital era."

"A look at the neo-Nazi movement in America offers a disturbing portrayal of skinheads in the United States, the twisted lives they lead, and the danger they pose to American freedom. "

Recommended highly by SAU Professor L. Skillin.
It gives a good grounding in the arc of history.

"Description: Introduction: The fabrication of race -- The political history of whiteness. "Free white persons" in the republic, 1790-1840 -- Anglo- Saxons and others, 1840-1924 -- Becoming Caucasian, 1924-1965 -- History, race, and perception. 1877 : the instability of race -- Looking Jewish, seeing Jews -- The manufacture of Caucasians. The crucible of empire -- Naturalization and the courts -- The dawning Civil Rights era -- Epilogue: Ethnic revival and the denial of white privilege."

"A vibrant and empowering history that emphasizes the perspectives and stories of African American women to show how they are--and have always been--instrumental in shaping our country. In centering Black women's stories, two award-winning historians seek both to empower African American women and to show their allies that Black women's unique ability to make their own communities while combatting centuries of oppression is an essential component in our continued resistance to systemic racism and sexism. Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross offer an examination and celebration of Black womanhood, beginning with the first African women who arrived in what became the United States to African American women of today. A Black Women's History of the United States reaches far beyond a single narrative to showcase Black women's lives in all their fraught complexities. Berry and Gross prioritize many voices: enslaved women, freedwomen, religious leaders, artists, queer women, activists, and women who lived outside the law. The result is a starting point for exploring Black women's history and a testament to the beauty, richness, rhythm, tragedy, heartbreak, rage, and enduring love that abounds in the spirit of Black women in communities throughout the nation."--Publisher's website.