Sheri's Reviews > Race Matters

West provides a very rational discussion on the different ways that race is still significant in this country. He presents the arguments that it is not just structural discrimination, but cultural and behavioral choice that work together to create and reinforce the inner city ghetto: "The predominance of this way of life among those living in poverty-ridden conditions, with a limited capacity to ward off self-contempt and self-hatred, results in the possible triumph of the nihilistic threat in black America.” It links well with Joy DeGruy's theory of PTSS and Glenn Loury's work on addressing the moral failings of the ghetto.

He argues for real conversation that does not dehumanize or put any on a pedestal: "Our truncated public discussions of race suppress the best of who and what we are as a people because they fail to confront the complexity of the issue in a candid and critical manner,” but allows free exchange of information between races.

He also acknowledges the vast class differences between races and the tendency of black middle classes to abandon the fight once they achieve individual success. He also highlights the problem with consumerism and capitalist pursuit of pleasure above all other things, especially for a marginalized lower class: "market activity has contributed greatly to the disorientation and confusion of American youth, and those with less education and fewer opportunities bear the brunt of this cultural chaos.”

Overall it is a short, easy read collection of essays on the importance of race in America. He speaks from the point of view of empowering black Americans without the vitriolic voice heard in Coates' work.