Race Matters

Having been assigned to research Dr. West's philosophical views, I was only required to learn a cross-section of his thougts. However, once I started skimming through "Race Matters", I was very intrigued with what the author had to say.

Dr. West addresses what he calls black nihilism, Nihilism is based in the influences of the capitalist market economy and lack of solid leadership in the African-American Community. The economy has left many with an inability to love themselves and each other. Material possessions take the place of others. The lack of quality leaders has led to a moral crisis among African-American youth. As a result, the youth do not value education, their families, or life in general. Dr. West's statement about leadership is dreadfully true, as their are no leaders comparable to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X. Instead, this generation's best leader is Jesse Jackson.

Dr. West further points out the problems of black leadership, ethnic pride, affirmative action, black-jewish relations, and the most interesting entry is black sexuality.

The one regret I have about this book is that it is not well known, especially among African-American youth. With the strong thoughts of Dr. West, I am convinced that he is an excellent leader in the black community through his writings.

In this book Dr. West provides an incisive survey of the problems of the African American community and suggests strategies for solving them. It was published in 1994.

One problem is economic. Real wages have declined significantly for the majority in this country since the early 70's. Industrial and manufacturing jobs which once helped the black community have disappeared exacerbating unemployment and underemployment. Declining tax bases and cutbacks in federal services have seen the infrastructure of cities crumble. This has contributed to the breakdown of the black family. It leads to a loss of hope of leading a constructive life and many people adopt a crude form of our country's crude laizze faire ideology. That is to say, they try to get ahead in life by any means possible, maximizing their short term profit and pleasure, no matter what the consequences, no matter what other people get hurt. Dr. West is not a fan of the free market as manifested in the mass media which encourages massive conspicuous consumption and overwhelms one with images of sex and violence, having a negative effect on vulnerable people.

Dr. West argues that a revival of political participation and what others have termed social capital is necessary to create hope in disadvantaged people. Grassroots organizations should be led by democratic, accountable, leaders and educate people on the issues and make them feel that they are capable of changing their lives significantly for the better .

He critiques Malcolm X's version of W.E.B. Dubois's "double consciousness." It was Malcolm, says Dr. West, who was most successful in advancing ideas of black self-worth and self-pride and cracking the dependence of blacks trying to live up to the dominant white perceptions of intelligence, beauty, behavior, etc. and usually failing in their own eyes.

But West is concerned about these negative self-attitudes still persisting. One example he gives is of the Clarence Thomas episode in 91'. Thomas had a dreadfully mediocre career prior to this and supported policies greatly harmful to black people and was obviously chosen by George Bush Sr., despite cynical rhetoric to the contrary, because he was black. Many blacks avoided the grounds on which the congressional black caucus objected to Thomas which was his supreme lack of qualifications. Instead the debate centered on how "black" Thomas might be, helped along by Thomas's own bellowing about his racial authenticity. The Nation of Islam, despite viewing the Republican party as very racist, endorsed Thomas. Anita Hill, a right wing Republican like Thomas, and her dignity were thrown in the garbage. West writes that many blacks seemed not to want to object to a black person for an important position, no matter who, because if they did object on the grounds of his mediocrity, they feared it would reinforce white supremacist beliefs about blacks lacking intelligence.

Another example of blacks reacting not very well to white supremacist beliefs relates to sexuality. A disproportionate number of disadvantaged young black men lacking hope of leading a constructive life, adopt a machismo of sexual prowess and willingness to use violence. Since the myths of black men being inherent sexual studs is so wide-spread, young black men can feel superior to the white race in just this one way by flaunting their sexuality. or so Dr.West seems to say. Black females fall into different but still negative stereotypes.

West argues that only multi-racial, multi-gender and multi-sexual preference organization can lead to substantive black progress. Black nationalism he says can sometimes be very counter-productive. He laments Malcolm X's failure to embrace the hybridization of mass movements. He argues that though black nationalists do a good job in awakening self-pride and racial consciousness in blacks, such things should not always lead to exclusivist nationalism.

He devotes a chapter to analyzing black-Jewish relations and black anti-semitism. He gives factors contributing to the latter inclduing rightward direction of politically active Jews since the late 60's and Black sympathy for Palestinians and strong Jewish suppport of Israel. He notes that some black professionals are upset by the increasing Jewish opposition to affirmative action. Many black professionals in the private sector, he says, would not have been hired had the government not been monitoring company hiring practices. There is no evidence, he says, that whites would not prefer to hire qualified whites over qualified blacks. And support for cutbacks in social services upsets blacks who with few chances to make a decent living in the job market, might sink completely without government support.

Overall, he argues black anti-semitism is a a very irrational reaction to class differences and a rapid climb up on the social ladder for an ethnic group that is now very much part of the white elite, which used to be a "comrade" in the struggles of black Americans. He argues that anti-semtism or homophobia or any other form of bigotry is absolutely unacceptable if Blacks want to get any progress. Espcially bad is when these black ultra-militants sit up and talk about Jewish conspiracies while ignoring economic and other issues that have very serious importance for their audiences. And, of course, he reminds us that anti-semites are far from being only black and many blacks speak out against anti-semitism whatever the media perception to the contrary.

His idea for grassroots black movements that are free of patriarchy, exclusivism, homophobia, bigotry,classim is not completely impossible as it is not impossible for Americans as a whole. He is right that black social progress can best be made in concert with people different races and other backgrounds.

I read this book from a non-American prespective. As I don't live in America but in Israel, I can't help but read a book such as this while constantly comparing West's analysis to my own environment.
At the beginning of the book, the immediate comparison was to the oppression of the Palestinians. But as I progressed, there was a shift to the situation of the Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. I was amazed at how easily West's words can be applied to the situation of the Ethiopians in Israel. I quoted a few insights from the book to Ethiopian friends, and there was a common feeling as if West wrote the book about them - and not about the American race matters. Of course the difficult chapter dealing with black Antisemitism was interesting as an American phenomena, without direct implications to the Ethiopian situation (here I could go back to the Palestinian issue).
In the end, West's book proved to be a bold attack on racism and racist institutions, and did provide some interesting directions for change. I must disagree with those that were disappointed by West's "failure" to bring up coherent solutions. A book such as this should not be expected to provide a detailed solution layout, but instead give food for thought, and point at the directions which have not been taken yet.
This the book does. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the issue of race and politics.

It is somewhat disturbing to read past reviews of Dr. West's work and find no middle ground. The reviews range from exalting to damning, but the issues are out of focus. As a white American male (veteran AND Republican), I am on the receiving end of Dr. West's criticisms...or am I? This (the reader review section) is where one can see evidence of the racial conflict Dr. West writes about. Self-loathing and guilt manifested as hate and distrust in a zero-sum world...and this is the world most of us were brought up in.

If Dr. West is correct, and the subjugation of the African-American underclass is caused by Corporate White America, then what is to be done? Taxes and subsidies focused on social equality are out of fashion with a majority of White Americans because the question, "who benefits?" is rarely addressed in full. Unfortunately, for most, an acceptable answer is lacking in this particular analysis, but it should be obvious to anyone CHOOSING to read RACE MATTERS, that positive externalities exist on both sides of the racial divide.

As a white American, reading RACE MATTERS is like asking a stranger to identify all the perceived shortcomings and failures embodied in your character. However, walking away and assuming a defensive posture, without ever asking "What can I do to change you perceptions?", is tantamount to failure in itself.

Dr. West's book is an excellent answer to the question most white Americans want answered..."What did I do to you?"
And although I may not agree with every solution or angle of criticism proposed by Dr. West, it most certainly initiates the discourse. This is where the benefit of his book is realized...in the discourse...and in the development of a common social ground.

I first read Race Matters in 1995. I just re-read it in anticipation of hearing West speak in person. Out of curiosity, I checked out these Amazon reviews to see what others thought of West's book. Several of the reviews confirm much what West says in Race Matters. As I see it, this creates an even more compelling reason to buy and read this short book.

According to West, discussions about the plight of African Americans tend to be divided into two camps, the "liberal structuralists" and the "conservative behaviorists". West then adds: "Unfortunately, these two camps have nearly suffocated the debate that should be taking place about the prospects for black America." (p. 18.) Debate certainly seems to be gasping for air in some of the Amazon reviews of Race Matters.

In chapter 2, West outlines what he calls the pitfalls of "racial reasoning." This chapter alone is worth the price of the book because of its cogent treatment of the underlying racial reasoning on both sides of the Clarence Thomas debate. It is quite obvious that several of the reviews posted on Amazon have failed to heed West's call to "replace racial reasoning with moral reasoning." (p. 38.)

To my surprise, the ad hominem attacks against West in some of the reviews are reminiscent of the 50s and 60s-Communist, Marxist, get a haircut, rich guy, etc. Theses are the same emotionally based attacks that appear in the referenced Solon article by David Horowitz.

The strong feelings raised by West's discussion seem also to have caused certain reviewers to overlook some of what West actually says. For example, West does mention Hispanics (p. 12, 44), he does criticize both Louis Farrakhan and Malcolm X (p. 42, 60, 68, 109, 114, 146-148), and he makes no "gross error" when discussing the rate of increase in black youth suicides, versus the absolute rate. (p. 24.)

In my re-reading of Race Matters I was again struck by West's ability to address issues that are often difficult for some of us "liberals" to address without a considerable level of discomfort. But West makes a good case for the fact that these issues need to be addressed candidly and compassionately if we are to overcome the hopelessness and lovelessness that has befallen so many Americans. Reading Race Matters the first time helped me regain some hope at a time when I was particularly pessimistic about race relations in America. I thank West for that.

And after seeing him on TV, with the always entertaining Stanley Crouch, I'm looking forward to hearing him in person. And finally, I'm glad I read Race Matters again. As both the one star and five star reviews suggest, it is still very relevant. Unfortunately.