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White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide Kindle Edition

4.7 out of 5 stars 5,839

Popular Highlights in this book

From the Publisher

race issues, protests, george floyd, political uprising, police brutality, carol anderson, blm

race issues, protests, george floyd, political uprising, police brutality, carol anderson, blm

race issues, protests, george floyd, political uprising, police brutality, carol anderson, blm

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] slim but persuasive volume . . . A sobering primer on the myriad ways African American resilience and triumph over enslavement, Jim Crow and intolerance have been relentlessly defied by the very institutions entrusted to uphold our democracy." - Washington Post

"White Rage is a riveting and disturbing history that begins with Reconstruction and lays bare the efforts of whites in the South and North alike to prevent emancipated black people from achieving economic independence, civil and political rights, personal safety, and economic opportunity." - The Nation

"[White Rage] is an extraordinarily timely and urgent call to confront the legacy of structural racism bequeathed by white anger and resentment, and to show its continuing threat to the promise of American democracy." - Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review

"I’ve read a fair bit of African-American history, but
White Rage, by Carol Anderson, which is beautifully written and exhaustively researched, illuminated for me just how deliberately education policy in the United States disenfranchised African-Americans." - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, bestselling author of AMERICANAH and HALF OF A YELLOW SUN

"An unflinching look at America's long history of structural and institutionalized racism,
White Rage is a timely and necessary examination of white anger and aggression towards black America . . . A compelling look at American history, White Rage has never seemed more relevant than it does today." - Bustle, “17 Books On Race Every White Person Needs To Read”

"White Rage belongs in a place of honor on the shelf next to other seminal books about the African-American experience such as James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time, Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns, and Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow." - Santa Barbara Independent

"A really insightful book about the effects and backlash that have followed the passage of landmark civil rights legislation throughout our nation’s history. It serves as both a description and predictor of the political movements that are likely to happen the next time our nation passes such major legislation." -
Tammy Duckworth, New York Times Book Review “By The Book”

"[A] powerful survey of American history as seen in the violent white reactions to black progress, from Reconstruction to the great migration to the current political landscape." -
Boston Globe

"Anderson has shown, with her well-sourced (she has several hundred detailed footnotes) and readable book, why the fights over race and access to the perquisites of American citizenship grind on . . .
White Rage lends perspective and insight for those of us who are willing to confront, study and learn from the present situation in this country." - St. Louis Dispatch

"Two steps forward, one step back: White Rage deftly crafts the pattern of how White backlash has always countered African American progress." - ZORA, The 100 greatest books ever written by African American women

"White Rage is a harrowing account of our national history during the century and a half since the Civil War--even more troubling for what it exposes about our present, our deep and abiding racial divide. This is necessary reading for anyone interested in understanding--and perfecting--our union." - Natasha Trethewey, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for NATIVE GUARD and Two-term Poet Laureate of the United States

"Anderson’s keen analysis presents a powerful portrait of white rage and entitlement--two shameful forces that continue to characterize our national conversation about race." -
Esquire, “If You Want to Learn About Anti-Racism, These 10 Books Are a Start”

"Riveting" -
Michael Eric Dyson, author of TEARS WE CANNOT STOP, for the New York Times “By the Book”

"Brilliant" -
Robin DiAngelo, author of WHITE FRAGILITY, for the Amazon Book Review

"Anderson lays out a troubling yet persistent pattern in American history that started during Reconstruction. For every advancement achieved by African Americans, there is an unequal and ferociously opposite reaction. . . . Anderson’s book lays out the horrific story." -
Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post

"One (of many) essential history books that helps unearth some of the truths about racism in this country and how all white people have benefited from it. It inspires the reader to continue to educate themselves on how to be a better and more informed ally." -
Theo Germaine, Chicago Review of Books

"In every episode of
White Rage Anderson amplifies and elongates this initial claim [white America’s seething resistance to African Americans’ sociopolitical advancements] into a striking argument about the nation’s failure to recognize African Americans as full members the citizenry. Though stretching a stand-alone essay into an extended study doesn’t work very often, White Rage operates efficiently and elegantly, offering readers new intelligence about American experience. Following Anderson, one gains insight by accrual." - Lit Hub

"Professor Carol Anderson’s recent book
White Rage is a tragic, yet invaluable contribution to our understanding of race relations throughout American history." - Medium, “We Need to Talk About Systemic Racism"

"It's shocking, beautifully written, and, with white supremacy knocking on the White House door, more important than ever. Some books are great, some books are essential.
White Rage is the latter." - Ed Yong, The Millions

"Truly, I couldn't put it down. [
White Rage] draws a razor-sharp line from the Civil War to Trayvon Martin with all the stops in between. If you want context for . . . the life we're living in this country right this minute, I urge you to pick up a copy. [Its] 160 pages have the power to change your life." - Ann Patchett, Parnassus Musing

"Powerful . . . Like a meticulous prosecutor assembling her case, Anderson lays out a profoundly upsetting vision of an America driven to waves of reactionary white anger whenever it’s confronted with black achievement." -
Bookforum

"There is [a] book that I think we all need to read and read again: Carol Anderson’s
White Rage. It so plainly shows us that whenever African Americans started to make any strides (in education, voting, employment, home ownership), those gains were a threat to the status quo of inequality--those strides sparked incredibly intense and well-organized blowback--all of which leads me to appreciate just how insidious and persistent racial hatred is in the U.S. We have to get smarter, bystanders … we need your help, it is not enough to proclaim that you’re not racist, we need your help." - Michelle Williams, Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Angelopoulos Professor in Public Health and International Development

"Bracing . . . It might all seem very conspiratorial and cloak-and-dagger, were it not also true. Reading through all the frightfully inventive ways in which America makes racial inequality a matter of law (and order) has a dizzying effect: like watching a quick-cut montage of social injustice spanning nearly half a millennium." -
The Globe and Mail

"[F]or readers who want to understand the sense of grievance and pain that many African Americans feel today,
White Rage offers a clearly written and well-thought-out overview of an aspect of U.S. history with which the country is still struggling to come to terms." - Foreign Affairs

"Prescient . . . provides necessary perspective on the racial conflagrations in the U.S." -
Kirkus Reviews

"Anderson’s mosaic of white outrage deserves contemplation by anyone interested in understanding U.S. race relations, past and present." -
Library Journal

"[An] engaging, thought-provoking work . . . Anderson’s clear, ardent prose detailing the undermining of America’s stated ideals and democratic norms is required reading for anyone interested in the state of American social discourse." -
Booklist

"Few historians write with the grace, clarity, and intellectual verve Carol Anderson summons in this book. We are tethered to history, and with
White Rage, Anderson adeptly highlights both that past and the tenacious grip race holds on the present. There is a handful of writers whose work I consider indispensable. Professor Anderson is high up on that list." - William Jelani Cobb, author of THE SUBSTANCE OF HOPE

"To overcome our racial history, Americans must first learn our racial history--as it truly and painfully happened. This powerful book is the place to start." -
David Von Drehle, author of RISE TO GREATNESS: ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND AMERICA'S MOST PERILOUS YEAR

"Anderson's book compellingly recenters America's racial narrative on the propulsive power of white fury. The sentiments she traces, and the force they carry, don't just explain our political past; they also reveal our political present." -
The Week, Ezra Klein’s 6 Favorite Books

"A short, simple history about the racial divide in America--but really approachable." -
Tim Wise, “Good Morning America”

"I highly recommend reading . . . Carol Anderson’s
White Rage to help white people understand their place in the reproduction of racism and how to fight it." - The Bakersfield Californian

About the Author

Carol Anderson is the Charles Howard Candler Professor and Chair of African American Studies at Emory University. She is the author of many books and articles, including Bourgeois Radicals: The NAACP and the Struggle for Colonial Liberation, 1941-1960 and Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights: 1944-1955. She was named a Guggenheim Fellow for Constitutional Studies. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01D1RUOJU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury USA; 1st edition (May 31, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 31, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4026 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 248 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 5,839

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
5,839 global ratings
but ends with hope and a call to continue to resist white supremacy and racism and fight for the equality of all persons for a better America. Carol Anderson's book is a must read ...
5 Stars
but ends with hope and a call to continue to resist white supremacy and racism and fight for the equality of all persons for a better America. Carol Anderson's book is a must read ...
This book is yesterday, today and tomorrow. White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide is a sober reminder of the impact that white supremacy and racism has had on America. Using a historical timeline from Reconstruction through the election of the first African-American President Barack Obama, Carol Anderson details how white supremacy is ever present in the background and ever explosive in the foreground of impending black achievement. Freed from slavery with the expectation of full participatory rights as a citizen, blacks sought education, and land and jobs, and enfranchisement. As these new citizens made progress towards these rights, white rage said no via the "black codes" where black existence was considered vagrancy and resistance of any kind was lynch worthy. Though unsupported by the highest office of the land and the highest court, African-Americans continued fight and began the flight en-masse from the south. With out near-slave labor, to depend on white supremacist land owners sought to shut down communication, arrest transporters, threaten and of course kill black folks to maintain their way of life. Escaping the Klan, citizens counsels and Jim Crow would be short lived as African-Americans moved north, they encountered the same white rage. From Brown V Board, to the southern strategy, to the "taking back of country" the rage, lives on.The beauty of Anderson's work is it's truthfulness, its seamlessness and its parallels to current . Many times while reading examples from NOW came to mind, which further validates the consistency of white rage throughout history. What is clear is that racism doesn't just hurt the targeted group, it hurts all of America. Grim as all this is, the book doesn't end there, but ends with hope and a call to continue to resist white supremacy and racism and fight for the equality of all persons for a better America. Carol Anderson's book is a must read now and going forward.
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Dave Perryman
5.0 out of 5 stars Well Presented, Clear factually Re-enforced Narrative
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2021
One person found this helpful
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Renee
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding and heartbreaking.
Reviewed in Germany on September 4, 2020
Marnie Sluman Somers
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read telling of America's racist history.
Reviewed in Canada on April 3, 2017
9 people found this helpful
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Nambu
4.0 out of 5 stars Making white anger understandable
Reviewed in Japan on October 7, 2017
Murray Purdie
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening and we’ll written.
Reviewed in Canada on July 6, 2021
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