White Rage

This book gives the reader a thoroughly researched history of racism toward African Americans, with brutal honesty and conviction. When I say “thoroughly researched,” I mean that the references and notes at the back of the book take up at least one third of the entire book’s pages. Carol Anderson has used facts, statistics, direct quotes and stories to uncover the startlingly deplorable truth of this nation’s past. This is information that should be taught in schools to combat racism and systems of oppression in American society. Chapter one address how the Emancipation Declaration did little to actually free slaves. President Lincoln wanted to send the black population to live in Panama to avoid civil war. Nonetheless war ensued and African Americans were supposed to be given citizenship and black men the right to vote, but this was fought tooth and nail, particularly in Confederate states. Chapter two is about the great migration from below the mason Dixon line to the northern states. Even though African Americans were paid higher wages in the north, they were pushed into segregated areas, in overcrowded houses, some without indoor plumbing or heating. When they tried to move into white neighborhoods, they were often violently pushed out. Carol Anderson addresses the education system throughout this book. During segregation white schools were favored for government funding while black schools had very limited funding and there were often as many as 85 students to a teacher. “African Americans had to contend with “overcrowded classrooms, decrepit school buildings, inadequate numbers of textbooks, schools lacking libraries, cafeterias, gymnasiums.” ” Nonetheless black people longed for education after being forced to remain illiterate during slavery. “In the antebellum South, the enslaved were actively forbidden from learning to read and write.” Education grants them access to better jobs and healthcare etc. All Americans should have the right and access to a decent education in the United States. Chapter Three is about voting rights and education. The right to vote, doesn’t mean that any adult can vote. Systems have been put into place to prohibit the illiterate, under-educated and people without government issued identification from voting—a system that blatantly discriminates against African Americans who could barely access more than a 5th grade education in the 1940s! Chapter four is about the Civil Rights movement and how the government, media and schools have downplayed past racism and current conditions as well. White people are taught to believe that the treatment of black slaves wasn’t as harsh as it really and truly was. White people are taught to bitch about affirmative action as though it is reverse racism (discrimination against white people), to criticize poorer people’s access to Medicaid and other forms of social welfare support that might benefit the black community in particular, and to relegate racism to the Ku Klux Klan, despite the fact that America’s wealth in the 19th century was due predominantly to slavery. “In 1860 80% of the nation’s gross national product was tied to slavery. Yet in return for 250 years of toil, African Americans had received nothing but rape, whippings, murder, the dismemberment of families, and forced subjugation, illiteracy, and abject poverty.” Carol also discusses the war on drugs and how the media used words like “urban” to refer to African American communities and blame drug addiction and distribution on black people. Chapter five is about Barack Obama’s presidency. He was singled out for condemnation by the Republican party after the election and one of the responses was to make it more difficult for black people to vote, which, of course, results in the office of Donald Trump immediately after the first black president. Night and day different! Obama received the most death threats of all presidents—400 times more than President George W. Bush. He was badmouthed as irrational, and blamed for a Congress shutdown that cost the country $24 billion because they claimed that the government couldn’t function under his presidency. “Somehow many have convinced themselves that the man who pulled the United States back into some semblance of financial health, reduced unemployment to its lowest level in decades, secured health insurance for millions of citizens, ended one of our recent all-too-intractable wars in the Middle East, reduced the staggering deficit he inherited from George W. Bush, and masterminded the takedown of Osama Bin Laden actually hates America.” The Afterword of this book is like an additional chapter about the presidency of Donald Trump and his affiliation with Putin. North Carolina—where I happen to live—is one of the most gerrymandered states in America and Trump had the gall to thank the African American community for not voting in the 2016 election. Brilliant book. Every white person needs to read this book. Every American needs to read this book. Thank you, Carol Anderson, for educating me so that I can be part of the change and not part of the problem that is racism.

"White Rage" is a persuasive and devastating indictment of the United States, especially white America, about its treatment of African-Americans (and other ethnic minorities). Dr. Anderson's primary thesis is that white America, especially in the Southern states, has sought to thwart black advancement in education and employment for 350 years by all means necessary, legal or not. This historical account covers five major topics/periods: 1. The impact of Reconstruction policies 2. The Great Migration from the South to the North 3. The consequences of the Brown decision 4. The Nixon and Reagan administrations' Southern strategies 5. State voter ID laws as well as the Obama election This book is likely to provoke discomfort among whites, not unlike the raw emotion that transpired when Alex Haley's "Roots" was released, but "White Rage" is an important book that must be read by all Americans collectively. Arguably, some white readers will reject the book and its premise as black propaganda for affirmative action, claims of victimization, or old news. But "White Rage" is not a work of fiction; it systematically documents the factual reality of the African-American experience in the United States that whites including myself cannot fathom because they are not black. The book is well written and well documented with 63 pages of references. Readers with a serious and strong interest in American history will be able to validate the accuracy of each chapter from other historical works, experiential observations, and news. But it is valuable to have all this chronological information reported and analyzed in a single book. The chapter on the Great Migration was particularly interesting to me because this topic is not often covered in depth in standard U.S. history texts. Dr. Anderson ends her book with a call to look toward the future and with some broad social prescriptions, such as offering quality education to all students and reforming a justice system that is often racially biased. Unfortunately, it is unclear whether policymakers have the fortitude to address these critical issues for the future of the country and work on bipartisan solutions to reduce social inequalities.

I saw a man reading this book in Starbucks in January and asked him if it was a good book. He responded with, “Define good”... He was very intense and I felt that I stepped into something I didn’t really mean to get into. I responded with, “Is it engaging? Should I read it? Can I recommend it to high school students?” He responded with, “It is a heavy topic, but an important work.” I ordered the book because if I am going to pester Starbucks patrons on their reading materials, I should probably back it up. I agree with Mr. Starbucks Man. This was a dense and informative read- an important read. I am a slow reader and I took notes, so it took me all summer. It is set up in such a way that each chapter highlights a major event in the progress of civil rights in this county- Reconstruction, Great Migrations, Brown vs Board, 60s Civil Rights, Obama. It describes the legal and political moves that occurred AFTER each one that basically undid each movement. This book is well cited as it includes 80 pages of end notes. Carol Anderson’s research game is on point. She is a university prof, so it makes sense. This is far more fact that opinion but there is enough commentary that if provides context and implications. We are a country taking two steps forward and one step back. The title refers to the back steps in the system- White Rage is the undoing of the progress of racial equality. It is the story of how we continue to fail in our attempts to reach this country’s established ideals. If it feels like we are fighting the same equality fight over and over again, it is because we are. This book helped me understand the word “systemic” that we hear so much in the term “systemic racism.” It helped me understand things like how mass incarceration happens, why things aren’t equal and how MLK didn’t fix it all. I understand it better now, but I would struggle to cite the facts to you unless I could have my book in hand. Two of my take aways are that systemic racism is harder to see than I thought (as a white person) and while I may have seen the news of the events that are discussed but I didn’t understand the context or implications of said events. If you are looking for a feel-good book, this isn’t it. It does end on a hopeful note, though. I would recommend this for people who want to dig into the historical aspect or need the research before you accept ideas that you probably didn’t learn in school- unless you majored in history. There are discussion questions in the back. I have audiobooked Stamped (Jason Reynolds) and I think Stamped covers similar ideas but in a more palatable delivery for teens.

This is a dense book with a deeply disturbing message about the pervasiveness and effectiveness of institutional racism. It is heavily footnoted, but not in the way a scholar would use footnotes. Many of the sources are secondary. Nevertheless, I found the book very convincing, and very depressing. I don't think of this book alone, but put it together with 1. Michele Alexander, The New Jim Crow - heartbreaking account of a legal system that criminalizes blackness, making blacks more likely to be arrested, more likely to be charged, more likely to be convicted, and subject to longer sentences. Alexander tells how she first reacted to the phrase "The new Jim Crow" as an unhelpful distortion, but ultimately concluded that the discrimination in our legal system is deliberate. 2. James Loewen, Sundown Towns - how thousands of northern towns, from early in the 20th century lasting well into the 1970s, instituted whites-only habitation (no blacks after sundown). Loewen relates a story that I knew from family history, about Marian Anderson (internationally lauded classical vocalist) being invited to Goshen College in 1958 and not being able to stay in Goshen, Indiana. 3. Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law - how segregation was not de facto but de jure, not merely a consequence of voluntary social sorting of races, but enforced by explicit government policies at the local, state and federal levels, with ongoing consequences. Today white families have over 10 times the net worth of black families, and a major reason is that white families in the post-war era were able to accumulate wealth by leveraging a system that subsidized low-cost loans for housing that appreciated heavily in value. Another reviewer said that "white fear" was a better term than "white rage." I tend to agree with "white fear" or the technical term of today "racial resentment." Whatever you call it, the important lesson here is that it was systematic, relentless, and institutionalized. After slavery ended, there was a systematic effort to keep blacks from leaving the south for better jobs in the north, including stopping the trains and outlawing northern job recruiters. There was a systematic, relentless, and institutionalized effort to subvert voting rights and equal justice, e.g., the NAACP was outlawed in the south. There was a systematic, relentless, and institutionalized effort to prevent integration even after Brown v. Board of Education. The story of segregationist racist resistance to school integration is stunning. The states of the former confederacy were so committed to segregation, to not allowing blacks to be educated, they actually argued that the state had no obligation to fund public schools. Hundreds of federal politicians literally signed a manifesto saying that the supreme court could not tell the states what to do in these matters. Meanwhile, they refused, often for decades, to integrate their schools. They turned to supporting white students with vouchers. They implemented a whack-a-mole strategy with respect to voting: pass unconstitutional discriminatory laws that remain in effect for a year or two until overturned by the federal courts, then pass new discriminatory laws. The federal court system was too slow to keep up with the racist legislatures. This is why the 1965 voting rights act mandated that certain states could not change their voting laws without prior judicial review. What makes this even worse is the dreadful realization that we are still in the midst of this. We haven't evolved out of it yet. Actually we are going backward. Anderson argues that the peak of emancipation for blacks was in the 1970s. Then Nixon packed the supreme court with conservatives whose rulings ensured that federal laws would not be used to remedy past wrongs. Reagan systematically cut funding for programs that disproportionately affected poor blacks and cities. The Supreme Court recently reversed some mandatory review provisions of the voting rights act. Whether or not one calls it racism today, the Republican party has wholeheartedly adopted the tactics of the southern racist resistance to civil rights, insisting on restrictive voting laws that disadvantage black voters, criminalization of blackness (justified by "law and order" rhetoric), painting the federal government as the enemy, advocating "local control" funding policies that keep poor schools and neighborhoods economically poor, and poorly served by the voting system. I wish I could explain this to my Republican friends in a way they would accept. Ronald Reagan opened his 1980 presidential campaign in Neshoba, Mississippi, saying to the audience that he supported "states rights." Neshoba is nowhere special— unless you know that Neshoba is where 3 civil rights activists were murdered by law enforcement 14 years earlier, in 1966, and the state of Mississippi never filed charges-- the feds had to step in. So "states rights" in Neshoba has a very specific historical meaning: the state of Mississippi's right to kill integrationists and get away with it. I don't believe that Ronny was a racist who believed in killing black folks. He just had the usual ruthless amoral political advisors who decided that they needed the white resentment vote, the George Wallace vote, and the way to get the Wallace vote was to go to Neshoba and say the words "states rights." So Reagan went to Neshoba and said "states rights" because he did not know any better, he did not have enough friends from the civil rights struggle to explain it to him. The Republican party is still in the same place. It is all about tactics. They use dog-whistle appeals to racism, not because they endorse racism, but because it gets them more votes and helps them to maintain an enthusiastic base. But now the party is paying the price for over 4 decades of dalliance with racism and white nationalism. Or, as the white supremacists might put it, the Republican party is now reaping the benefits of 4 decades of dalliance with racism and white nationalism.

A necessary book for both academics and non-academics alike, White Rage is well-organized, thoroughly researched, and accessible to a large range of readers. Rather than simply accepting the tired phrase "black rage," which reflects a nation's color-blind disregard for the etiology of our current racial divide, Dr. Anderson reveals the true motivation for much of the legal, cultural, and even physical (such as murder) behaviors which have been exhibited. Refusing to accept the scapegoating which underpins much of these decisions, she labels it exactly what it was and is: far-reaching, aggressive, and often virulent attempts to subordinate one group of people such that the other can maintain dominance. As she points out, this rage is in response to African American attempts to be equal, successful, and simply to have the same opportunities; sadly, the many egregious attempts to prevent this reflect continued attempts to simply maintain the status quo. Dr. Anderson's section on Neshoba and Ronald Reagan's speech--packed to the brim with dog whistle references--which even in its choice of venue reflects that administration's agenda, as well as the section on the war on drugs which follows are excellent: clearly written and successful in their exposition of the roots of this rage. Her sections on the multitude of efforts--especially at higher levels in the legal world/Supreme Court--to turn back hard-won Civil Rights and educational opportunities are both cogent and readily accessible to both academics and lay people. By showing the many ways in which attempts have been made to hold back African Americans, Dr. Anderson also underlines the importance of awareness, thereby dispelling the notion that a color-blind approach to racism--a "just get over it (slavery)" attitude--is acceptable. I also applaud her willingness to broach the topic of others who are disenfranchised, which include Native Americans, Latinos/Latinas, Asians, Iraqis, and Afghanis, as it opens the arena to discussion about other people of color in the US. As she imagines in the brief concluding chapter, what if all of this anger, rage, and ultimately many resources were devoted to something more positive than maintaining one group's dominance? Spot-on book, necessary reading for all. It's hard to imagine someone of any "race" or ethnicity who would not benefit from reading this one.

"White Rage" is not meant and doesn't pretend to be an history of race relations in America, there are plenty of other great books to read for that narrative. "White Rage" is a necessary read for all Americans, especially in this current polarized climate where the rise of visible and overt forms of racism permeate. It did not just begin with the recent Presidential campaign and into this current administration, but was immediately apparent with the election of Barack Obama, a Black American to the most powerful office in the world and leader of the free world. Anderson dissects the growing rise of white rage, making it clear that the rise of a Black American to the White House resulted in the predictable backlash, similar to other trigger points in American history where Black Americans pushed for and broke barriers so they could rightfully enjoy equal rights and protections. Anderson uses the conclusion of the Civil War and the emancipation of Black Americans to highlight these seminal moments of progress and backlash from white Americans -- the passage of the 14th and 15th amendments and the North occupying the South during Reconstruction. While no one can term that era peaceful, the departure of US troops led to the rise of violent white supremacist organizations, Jim Crow and systematic disenfranchisement of Black Americans as separate and unequal became a way of life. As the Great Migration took place through the Great Depression and World War II, systematic discrimination occurred to prevent the movement of Blacks north and policies in the north in the banking and real estate industries that segregated cities like Chicago. Detroit, Boston, etc. Once again, as the US Supreme Court overturned separate but equal, opening a way for integration of education, white backlash came to the forefront to "protect" a two-class system, white vs. everyone else. and the pattern continued during the Civil Rights era, through to the war on drugs and mass incarceration. Every significant advancement by Black Americans has the impact of emboldening the racist undercurrent that has been present from our country's founding, stoking anger, resentment and fear, particularly among the poorest, least educated and most threatened white citizens. While there has been progress made against some of the most pernicious forms of racism in our country, the reality that Carol Anderson shares is that our nation still hasn't adequately addressed come to grips with the systemic racism built into every element of our society. We haven't had the type of open and civil discourse, as evidence by the many Civil War "apologists" unable to state the obvious reason for the war itself and acknowledge the lingering impact of the stain of our country's original sin. This is a challenging read, particularly for white Americans like myself, that challenges our country to confront the persistent and lingering impact of slavery and racism in our country.

I first heard of Carol Anderson through a YouTube video where she was discussing her book White Rage. Fascinating her understanding of why minorities in general and Black folks in particular, are so hated. She delivers a stinging commentary on how fragile the white population is. From the deconstruction of Reconstruction to the present day she paints a picture of the systematic attempt to re-create slavery (mass incarceration); inability to vote through closing polls and DMV offices. She points out what losing side of a battle gets to dictate the terms to be reclaimed into the United States? She paints an exhaustive and exhausting picture of how the courts, legislatures, and the executive branches of all governments have concerted to deprive Black folks of rights guaranteed by the United States constitution. Painstakingly, she tears apart arguments presented about Blacks being inferior asserting if they are inferior it’s because they haven’t been given the opportunities of white folks. Although the actual book is only 178 pages, her exhaustive notes take up another 80 pages. Spotlighting the miseducation of the American public, its intensity forces one to think, nod one’s head and go ahh, now I get it. While White Rage focuses on Black people, it makes a statement of how this country is divided. Poor White people have been told they are better than Black folks while suffering the same pain. Privilege graces poor white people's skin without its power. They have been more brainwashed than other minorities. The Washington Post said, [It] “is a sobering primer on the myriad of ways African American resilience and triumph over enslavement, Jim Crow and intolerance have been defied by the very institutions entrusted to uphold our democracy.” There are numerous other accolades afforded Ms. Anderson but even if there were none this book should be read by anyone who wants to understand the precipitous journey African Americans have and still are traveling. It is a hard read and must be digested slowly. The what-ifs at the end reading like an intriguing and disturbing mantra.

This book should be mandatory reading in all households especially Black families. The deep dive provided explains how Gen X, the first born truly free, and generations going forward have had their prosperity sabotaged by the courts and statehouses. After reading this book you will see how many of the new social policies proposed today are just repackaged tactics that were successfully implemented against Black Americans.

Anderson's fine volume should join Nancy Isenberg's "White Trash" and Arlie Russell Hochschild's "Strangers in Their Own Land" on the bookshelf of everyone who is dissatisfied with simply condemning white resistance to changes they see within American society. "White Rage" is a solid examination of the sources of that rage that has surfaced with unpleasant frequency in violence and racist rhetoric. Anderson helps us to see where it comes from, so that we might somehow deal with it.

Brilliant! Easy to read lucid composition evidenced by and confined within parameter of factual. The historical and contemporary thread of intentional anti black atrocities and invidiousness perpetrated by the same dominant racist villans never ceased and remains just as painful and maddening today. How can anyone not be indignant if not part of the problem? The overarching deceitfulness aligns aptly with the gut wrenching depths they instinctively sink to with such insouciance to justify their flagrant and incessant hatred of black people yet cannot do without them in a peculiar symbiosis. Typically, they see themselves as the victims of black people's mere existence.

Excellent and well researched book. If anyone is interested in the history of Black Americans this is a MUST READ. The book provides a superb political and historical historical context to the understanding of racial tensions between Blacks and Whites. What further enhances the book is the role of some Presidents, some justices of the Supreme Court of the U.S.A, the judiciaries of state governments in exacerbating racial tensions.

Great read

The book was very enlightening. I had thought that after the Voters' Registration Act was passed in '64 that discrimination would be a thing of the past. I was very wrong. There were so many machinations to keep people of colour out of voting I wasn't shocked just dismayed. As far as education is concerned, I recently saw a report on Return on Investments. It stated that for every dollar invested the return was something around $2.70. So if money was invested in education the economy would be stronger.People would be better educated.