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We Are Not Yet Equal
Carol Anderson's White Rage took the world by storm, landing on the New York Times best-seller list and best book of the year lists from New York Times , Washington Post , Boston Globe , and Chicago Review of Books . It launched her as an in-demand commentator on contemporary race issues for national print and television media and garnered her an invitation to speak to the Democratic Congressional Caucus. This compelling young adult adaptation brings her ideas to a new audience. When America achieves milestones of progress toward full and equal black participation in democracy, the systemic response is a consistent racist backlash that rolls back those wins. We Are Not Yet Equal examines five of these the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction was greeted with Jim Crow laws; the promise of new opportunities in the North during the Great Migration was limited when blacks were physically blocked from moving away from the South; the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision was met with the shutting down of public schools throughout the South; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 led to laws that disenfranchised millions of African American voters and a War on Drugs that disproportionally targeted blacks; and the election of President Obama led to an outburst of violence including the death of black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, as well as the election of Donald Trump. This YA adaptation is written in an approachable narrative style that provides teen listeners with additional context to these historic moments.
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First published September 11, 2018
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About the author
Carol Anderson
10 books846 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Carol Anderson is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. Professor Anderson’s research and teaching focus on public policy; particularly the ways that domestic and international policies intersect through the issues of race, justice and equality in the United States.
Carol Anderson is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. Professor Anderson’s research and teaching focus on public policy; particularly the ways that domestic and international policies intersect through the issues of race, justice and equality in the United States.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
June 28, 2018
THIS is what our students should be reading in history textbooks. I can't even fathom the amount of research required to put this together, but I highly applaud the persistence. This is quality nonfiction; facts that we either don't know, or do know and have previously ignored. Anderson put so much into this and I came out the other end of it feeling honestly educated and informed. Amazing.
September 11, 2018
Four reasons to read "We Are Not Yet Equal":
1. Holy timeline, folks! I always thought I was pretty well-versed in American history. My history book was worn, the pages delved into with care. So, I honestly really didn't understand WHERE all of the cries of racial inequality were coming from. This book opened my eyes to a lot - especially on the national scale. Policies that are either intentionally or incidentally perpetuating inequality are brought to light. Had it not been for the timeline presentation, I'm not sure I would have connected to the material as much.
2. It hurts. The oppression of our fellow man should always make your heart hurt. The harm done by folks like me who assume policy changes = actual every day changes can't be excused. We assumed that life instantly changed when the laws were. Then we decided it wasn't our problem because it wasn't us - it was our ancestors. This 'just deal with it' attitude isn't working. We need to consciously change our attitudes and work together towards equality - and that will involve a LOT of being uncomfortable, a LOT of 'that's not me' and 'that's not true of me', and a LOT of grassroots changes.
3. It's an adaptation of "White Rage" by the same author for young adults so it has a wide range of audiences. I would like to see high school students reading this book, but I would also really like to see adults reading it. The conversations that can take place would be valuable for everyone. I have a short list of teachers and friends I am going to ask to read it so we can talk about it together.
4. It seeks to inform and educate - not point fingers and preach. I appreciated the author's approach because, well, it was more comfortable and aligned with what I perceive as professional. I put the book down feeling like I just went to school. It's up to me how that makes me feel.
For me, "We are not yet equal" was a call to higher perception and an ability to see more where people and movements are coming from. I still don't condone violence and rioting. I have always loved a good protest. Now I at least see where the anger comes from and how desperately we as American citizens need to claw for equality of all types. The sooner we are all truly equal, the sooner we can fulfill our dreams to pursue life, liberty, and happiness together.
1. Holy timeline, folks! I always thought I was pretty well-versed in American history. My history book was worn, the pages delved into with care. So, I honestly really didn't understand WHERE all of the cries of racial inequality were coming from. This book opened my eyes to a lot - especially on the national scale. Policies that are either intentionally or incidentally perpetuating inequality are brought to light. Had it not been for the timeline presentation, I'm not sure I would have connected to the material as much.
2. It hurts. The oppression of our fellow man should always make your heart hurt. The harm done by folks like me who assume policy changes = actual every day changes can't be excused. We assumed that life instantly changed when the laws were. Then we decided it wasn't our problem because it wasn't us - it was our ancestors. This 'just deal with it' attitude isn't working. We need to consciously change our attitudes and work together towards equality - and that will involve a LOT of being uncomfortable, a LOT of 'that's not me' and 'that's not true of me', and a LOT of grassroots changes.
3. It's an adaptation of "White Rage" by the same author for young adults so it has a wide range of audiences. I would like to see high school students reading this book, but I would also really like to see adults reading it. The conversations that can take place would be valuable for everyone. I have a short list of teachers and friends I am going to ask to read it so we can talk about it together.
4. It seeks to inform and educate - not point fingers and preach. I appreciated the author's approach because, well, it was more comfortable and aligned with what I perceive as professional. I put the book down feeling like I just went to school. It's up to me how that makes me feel.
For me, "We are not yet equal" was a call to higher perception and an ability to see more where people and movements are coming from. I still don't condone violence and rioting. I have always loved a good protest. Now I at least see where the anger comes from and how desperately we as American citizens need to claw for equality of all types. The sooner we are all truly equal, the sooner we can fulfill our dreams to pursue life, liberty, and happiness together.
August 17, 2018
I keep starting this review only to delete what I wrote and start over because I can't find the words that are right to start this off. Instead of allowing myself to get caught in an endless loop of rewritten intros, let's start with a quote from the epilogue of this book.
"Imagine if, instead of continually refighting the Civil War, we had actually moved on to rebuilding..."
This quote basically sums up the entire book. Every chapter is full of examples of (white) people going out of their way to keep people of color down, even though doing so hurts everyone. Where could we be as a country if we built everyone up and let people succeed instead of letting racism run unchecked and tearing people down for our own bigoted amusement?
There was so much in the early chapters of this book that I had never heard before, and it's depressing to realize how much of history has been whitewashed and retaught as something less shameful than what it actually was. It's equally frustrating to read about the presidencies immediately following the Civil War and realize...things are basically the same today. The idea that equal treatment of minorities is somehow favoritism, for instance. The attitude of, "Fine, we'll grant you these rights so you can be 'equal', but do you really need to exercise all of them? Can't you just be happy with the scraps we already gave you?" Definitely still going on. Ugh.
This book is well-researched, well-written, and a great adaptation of White Rage. If you're wondering whether you should read it, the answer is yes, you should. Full disclosure: it will make you mad. Hopefully we can all use that anger to make things better.
"Imagine if, instead of continually refighting the Civil War, we had actually moved on to rebuilding..."
This quote basically sums up the entire book. Every chapter is full of examples of (white) people going out of their way to keep people of color down, even though doing so hurts everyone. Where could we be as a country if we built everyone up and let people succeed instead of letting racism run unchecked and tearing people down for our own bigoted amusement?
There was so much in the early chapters of this book that I had never heard before, and it's depressing to realize how much of history has been whitewashed and retaught as something less shameful than what it actually was. It's equally frustrating to read about the presidencies immediately following the Civil War and realize...things are basically the same today. The idea that equal treatment of minorities is somehow favoritism, for instance. The attitude of, "Fine, we'll grant you these rights so you can be 'equal', but do you really need to exercise all of them? Can't you just be happy with the scraps we already gave you?" Definitely still going on. Ugh.
This book is well-researched, well-written, and a great adaptation of White Rage. If you're wondering whether you should read it, the answer is yes, you should. Full disclosure: it will make you mad. Hopefully we can all use that anger to make things better.
August 3, 2018
This is a well-researched breakdown of where politicians got it wrong and steered our country in the wrong direction (spoiler: usually backward) from slavery to present day.
I somehow missed reading White Rage when it came out, so reading We Are Not Yet Equal, which is White Rage adapted for younger readers, enticed me to read White Rage next.
Basically everything we were told in history class about United States history, especially where the rights and citizenship of African Americans are concerned, was completely wrong. Everyone needs to read this book, especially if you're white. Too many Americans think that schools integrated at the same time, that racism only looks like a white man in a hood, and that voting is a guaranteed right with easy access for all citizens.
Not true.
In order to move forward as a society that values everyone we have to learn about our past and how racism has--and still does--disenfranchise millions of Americans because of the color of their skin, Before we can address serious political and civil rights problems, we need to know what they are and how hundreds of years of racist politics (among other things) has led to a system that greatly favors white people.
I recommend this for adults and teens alike.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley for review consideration.
I somehow missed reading White Rage when it came out, so reading We Are Not Yet Equal, which is White Rage adapted for younger readers, enticed me to read White Rage next.
Basically everything we were told in history class about United States history, especially where the rights and citizenship of African Americans are concerned, was completely wrong. Everyone needs to read this book, especially if you're white. Too many Americans think that schools integrated at the same time, that racism only looks like a white man in a hood, and that voting is a guaranteed right with easy access for all citizens.
Not true.
In order to move forward as a society that values everyone we have to learn about our past and how racism has--and still does--disenfranchise millions of Americans because of the color of their skin, Before we can address serious political and civil rights problems, we need to know what they are and how hundreds of years of racist politics (among other things) has led to a system that greatly favors white people.
I recommend this for adults and teens alike.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley for review consideration.
August 4, 2018
This should be recommended reading for all high school students in US History courses. It is another eye opening read that has helped me educate myself about the oppression that POC have faced repeatedly from the beginning of time.
As I read each chapter one constant word kept coming to mind - FEAR. White people, and more often than not, white men are so fearful of people of color. I don't understand why we fear POC so much that we continue to try to "keep them down" and treat them like slaves or second class citizens. Our politicians and Supreme Court have continued to create laws knowing that they allow discrimination and segregation of POC.
It is disheartening that in 2018 we still live in a world where people are racist and in complete denial of how to treat others equally.
As I read each chapter one constant word kept coming to mind - FEAR. White people, and more often than not, white men are so fearful of people of color. I don't understand why we fear POC so much that we continue to try to "keep them down" and treat them like slaves or second class citizens. Our politicians and Supreme Court have continued to create laws knowing that they allow discrimination and segregation of POC.
It is disheartening that in 2018 we still live in a world where people are racist and in complete denial of how to treat others equally.
December 1, 2018
Richie’s Picks: WE ARE NOT YET EQUAL: UNDERSTANDING OUR RACIAL DIVIDE by Carol Anderson with Tonya Bolden, Bloomsbury, September 2018, 288p., ISBN: 978-1-547-60076-2
“I am not poison,
no I am not poison
Just a boy from the hood that
Got my hands in the air in despair
Don’t shoot!”
-- Jay-Z “Spiritual” (2016)
“President Trump buoyed the white nationalist movement on Tuesday as no president has done in generations -- equating activists protesting racism with the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who rampaged in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.
Never has he gone as far in defending their actions as he did during a wild, street-corner shouting match of a news conference in the gilded lobby of Trump Tower, angrily asserting that so-called alt-left activists were just as responsible for the bloody confrontation as marchers brandishing swastikas, Confederate battle flags, anti-Semitic banners and ‘Trump/Pence’ signs.
‘Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth,’ David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, wrote in a Twitter post shortly after Mr. Trump spoke.”
-- New York Times, August 17, 2017
“President Trump on Thursday balked at an immigration deal that would include protections for people from Haiti and some nations in Africa, demanding to know at a White House meeting why he should accept immigrants from ‘shithole countries’ rather than from places like Norway, according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation.”
-- New York Times, January 11, 2018
“White rage doesn’t have to wear sheets, burn crosses, or take to the streets. Working the halls of power, it can achieve its ends far more effectively, far more destructively.
The trigger for white rage, inevitably, is black advancement. It is not the mere presence of black people that is the problem; rather, it is blackness with ambition, with drive, with purpose, with aspiration, and with demands for full and equal citizenship. It is blackness that refuses to accept subjugation, to give up, A formidable array of policy assaults and legal contortions has consistently punished black resilience, black resolve…
It is only by recognizing the roots of this rage that we can build a future without it.”
If you are angry about having to live with a racist president in the White House, this book will make you even angrier. WE ARE NOT YET EQUAL: UNDERSTANDING OUR RACIAL DIVIDE closely examines the policy assaults and legal contortions that were undertaken in response to five American history landmarks that made things more equal for African Americans.
These landmarks include the end of the Civil War and ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments; the Great Migration; the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision; enactment of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act; and the election of America’s first black president.
After reading this history of the deliberately-imposed backward steps that have followed black advancement in America, one could conclude that Trump falls into a rogue’s gallery of racist presidents alongside Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. But there is also abundant evidence here to blemish the legacies of many other white men who have occupied the Oval Office, Congress, various statehouses, and the New York mayor’s office.
I pride myself on having read many books that examine aspects and incidents of racism in American history. But I am shocked by how much I didn’t know before reading WE ARE NOT YET EQUAL. There is so much packed into this book, and so much of the history discussed has taken place during my lifetime.
Personally, I received a great public education, but had no idea that millions of my generation were deprived of public education by governors, state legislators, and local officials who literally shut down public schools for years rather than comply with the 1954 Brown decision.
Despite being an adult consumer of the news during the Iran Contra scandal, I never before understood the full extent to which Reagan mercilessly attacked America’s black communities. This book lays it out clearly.
In our recent election cycle, the Georgia Secretary of State (who is now the incoming governor) disenfranchised as many black voters as possible. It is enlightening to read about the genesis of the GOP’s campaign to suppress the black vote under the guise of protecting the integrity of the ballot box from voter fraud. And it is infuriating to read about the latest tricks in the GOP’s repertoire of black voter suppression measures.
Which brings us to the authors’ detailed explanation of the Supreme Court’s 2013 evisceration of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. This is the decision that facilitated all of these new black voter suppression measures. In my opinion, Shelby will go down in American history as being as backward and harmful to America as Dred Scott v. Sandford and Plessy v. Ferguson.
From cover to cover, this impeccably-researched and referenced book provides endless examples of how and why we are not yet equal. It will be up to readers to imagine themselves in the shoes of black Americans and to work for fulfilling America’s not-yet-delivered promises of justice and equality for all.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
[email protected]
“I am not poison,
no I am not poison
Just a boy from the hood that
Got my hands in the air in despair
Don’t shoot!”
-- Jay-Z “Spiritual” (2016)
“President Trump buoyed the white nationalist movement on Tuesday as no president has done in generations -- equating activists protesting racism with the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who rampaged in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.
Never has he gone as far in defending their actions as he did during a wild, street-corner shouting match of a news conference in the gilded lobby of Trump Tower, angrily asserting that so-called alt-left activists were just as responsible for the bloody confrontation as marchers brandishing swastikas, Confederate battle flags, anti-Semitic banners and ‘Trump/Pence’ signs.
‘Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth,’ David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, wrote in a Twitter post shortly after Mr. Trump spoke.”
-- New York Times, August 17, 2017
“President Trump on Thursday balked at an immigration deal that would include protections for people from Haiti and some nations in Africa, demanding to know at a White House meeting why he should accept immigrants from ‘shithole countries’ rather than from places like Norway, according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation.”
-- New York Times, January 11, 2018
“White rage doesn’t have to wear sheets, burn crosses, or take to the streets. Working the halls of power, it can achieve its ends far more effectively, far more destructively.
The trigger for white rage, inevitably, is black advancement. It is not the mere presence of black people that is the problem; rather, it is blackness with ambition, with drive, with purpose, with aspiration, and with demands for full and equal citizenship. It is blackness that refuses to accept subjugation, to give up, A formidable array of policy assaults and legal contortions has consistently punished black resilience, black resolve…
It is only by recognizing the roots of this rage that we can build a future without it.”
If you are angry about having to live with a racist president in the White House, this book will make you even angrier. WE ARE NOT YET EQUAL: UNDERSTANDING OUR RACIAL DIVIDE closely examines the policy assaults and legal contortions that were undertaken in response to five American history landmarks that made things more equal for African Americans.
These landmarks include the end of the Civil War and ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments; the Great Migration; the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision; enactment of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act; and the election of America’s first black president.
After reading this history of the deliberately-imposed backward steps that have followed black advancement in America, one could conclude that Trump falls into a rogue’s gallery of racist presidents alongside Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. But there is also abundant evidence here to blemish the legacies of many other white men who have occupied the Oval Office, Congress, various statehouses, and the New York mayor’s office.
I pride myself on having read many books that examine aspects and incidents of racism in American history. But I am shocked by how much I didn’t know before reading WE ARE NOT YET EQUAL. There is so much packed into this book, and so much of the history discussed has taken place during my lifetime.
Personally, I received a great public education, but had no idea that millions of my generation were deprived of public education by governors, state legislators, and local officials who literally shut down public schools for years rather than comply with the 1954 Brown decision.
Despite being an adult consumer of the news during the Iran Contra scandal, I never before understood the full extent to which Reagan mercilessly attacked America’s black communities. This book lays it out clearly.
In our recent election cycle, the Georgia Secretary of State (who is now the incoming governor) disenfranchised as many black voters as possible. It is enlightening to read about the genesis of the GOP’s campaign to suppress the black vote under the guise of protecting the integrity of the ballot box from voter fraud. And it is infuriating to read about the latest tricks in the GOP’s repertoire of black voter suppression measures.
Which brings us to the authors’ detailed explanation of the Supreme Court’s 2013 evisceration of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. This is the decision that facilitated all of these new black voter suppression measures. In my opinion, Shelby will go down in American history as being as backward and harmful to America as Dred Scott v. Sandford and Plessy v. Ferguson.
From cover to cover, this impeccably-researched and referenced book provides endless examples of how and why we are not yet equal. It will be up to readers to imagine themselves in the shoes of black Americans and to work for fulfilling America’s not-yet-delivered promises of justice and equality for all.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
[email protected]
November 26, 2018
I should have started highlighting quotes before I was halfway through the book. But, this one struck me because I keep thinking as I read that the people in power at the time were so very intent on keeping black people "in their place" that they were willing to shoot themselves in the foot, right down to closing ALL of the schools rather than integrate. That level of hate really is mind-boggling, while at the same time, there's evidence of it all around us still today.
"In the war on Brown, black people were not the only ones who took a hit. The states that fought Brown tooth and nail all fall today in the bottom quartile of state rankings for educational attainment, per capita income, and quality of health."
10/10/2018 - "The second key maneuver in rolling back civil rights was to redefine racism itself. Confronted with headlines about KKK rallies and jackbooted sheriffs, white authority transformed those damning images of white supremacy into the sole definition of racism. This simple but wickedly brilliant shift served multiple purposes. First and foremost, it was conscience soothing. The whittling down of racism to sheet-wearing goons enveloped white people who were not members of the Klan or groups like it in a cloud of racial innocence. Such people, although hostile to black advancement, could see and project themselves as the “kind of upstanding white citizen[ s]”who were “positively outraged at the tactics of the Ku Klux Klan,”wrote Michelle Alexander in The New Jim Crow.
The focus on the Klan also helped to tag racism as an individual aberration rather than something systemic, institutional, and pervasive. What’s more, isolating racism to only its most virulent and visible form allowed politicians and judges to push for policies that seemed to meet the standard of America’s new civil rights norms while at the same time working to undermine and destabilize these norms, all too often leaving black communities ravaged.
The objective was to contain and neutralize the victories of the Civil Rights Movement by painting a picture of a “colorblind,”equal opportunity society whose doors were now wide open. All black people had to do was take the initiative and walk on through."
"In the war on Brown, black people were not the only ones who took a hit. The states that fought Brown tooth and nail all fall today in the bottom quartile of state rankings for educational attainment, per capita income, and quality of health."
10/10/2018 - "The second key maneuver in rolling back civil rights was to redefine racism itself. Confronted with headlines about KKK rallies and jackbooted sheriffs, white authority transformed those damning images of white supremacy into the sole definition of racism. This simple but wickedly brilliant shift served multiple purposes. First and foremost, it was conscience soothing. The whittling down of racism to sheet-wearing goons enveloped white people who were not members of the Klan or groups like it in a cloud of racial innocence. Such people, although hostile to black advancement, could see and project themselves as the “kind of upstanding white citizen[ s]”who were “positively outraged at the tactics of the Ku Klux Klan,”wrote Michelle Alexander in The New Jim Crow.
The focus on the Klan also helped to tag racism as an individual aberration rather than something systemic, institutional, and pervasive. What’s more, isolating racism to only its most virulent and visible form allowed politicians and judges to push for policies that seemed to meet the standard of America’s new civil rights norms while at the same time working to undermine and destabilize these norms, all too often leaving black communities ravaged.
The objective was to contain and neutralize the victories of the Civil Rights Movement by painting a picture of a “colorblind,”equal opportunity society whose doors were now wide open. All black people had to do was take the initiative and walk on through."
October 15, 2018
Ok - so actual enjoyment reading this book probably only 3 or 4. BUT IT'S SO IMPORTANT. I just don't really enjoy reading non-fiction. Not my thing. But this YA adaptation of White Rage is awesome and great for people like me who aren't big non-fiction readers. Most chapters are around 10 -15 pages so it doesn't spend too much time on one topic getting bogged down in the details.
BUT I LEARNED SO MUCH. Seriously recommend this.
BUT I LEARNED SO MUCH. Seriously recommend this.
February 6, 2020
I really enjoyed this nonfictional account of the US’s history of actively harming black Americans, whether with violence or laws. Most of the history I already knew but there were a few new things I learned. Would 100% recommend.
September 3, 2020
Wow, wow, wow. I finished this book last night and I'm still at a loss for words. This is a horror story of truth about America and the ongoing, systemic, often deadly racism that plagues its history. To say it's shocking is an understatement. It's so well researched and so well presented, written in a way that is easily readable by a younger audience but also appealing to adults. It's a raw statement of facts and the tells the political and legal history of racism, gerrymadering, and even gaslighting in America.
If I were an American, I'd be angry by the blatant manipulation of the truth that's been fed to Americans throughout their history. If I was a journalist in America, I'd be ashamed by how taken in by the code words and phrases politicians have used to mask racism that were further perpetuated by the media. My personal belief is that most people just want to get along, love their families, make a living, have a nice life, be nice to people and have people be nice to them. For my own sanity, I have to believe that 99.9% of us are not born to hate. And if I was a young white American, I'd be angry that my education about my country's history has been a blatant lie. And I'd be committed to deprogramming myself and ensuring America's children are not fed the same lies.
I'm not American. But I'm honestly fearful that I'm going to find that I've experienced similar manipulation done to me in my own country's history. I know I'm going to find it. I already know about the atrocities Canada inflicted upon our first nations peoples, similar in vein and tactic to America's treatment of their native sons and daughters. What else have we done to oppress and stamp down the potential of black Canadians? What laws are still in place to ensure white privilege? It makes me so ashamed and hurt to realize that we've been lied to and manipulated by people we've entrusted to care for the best interests of ALL citizens. It makes me feel like a fool, to have been influenced by code words and phrases floated used to make racism more palatable to the unsuspecting citizen who has no malice in their heart, only wanting to get along and take care of their families. It's innocence lost, innocence manipulated, innocence corrupted in the worst possible ways.
It's time to wake up to the truth, as awful and as shameful as it is. It's time to stop the lies and ensure our children are taught the truth of our history. My generation has failed by if given the truth, I have faith the younger generations CAN work towards healing and building a truly equal society. I fear I won't see it in my lifetime but I have hope for my children.
If I were an American, I'd be angry by the blatant manipulation of the truth that's been fed to Americans throughout their history. If I was a journalist in America, I'd be ashamed by how taken in by the code words and phrases politicians have used to mask racism that were further perpetuated by the media. My personal belief is that most people just want to get along, love their families, make a living, have a nice life, be nice to people and have people be nice to them. For my own sanity, I have to believe that 99.9% of us are not born to hate. And if I was a young white American, I'd be angry that my education about my country's history has been a blatant lie. And I'd be committed to deprogramming myself and ensuring America's children are not fed the same lies.
I'm not American. But I'm honestly fearful that I'm going to find that I've experienced similar manipulation done to me in my own country's history. I know I'm going to find it. I already know about the atrocities Canada inflicted upon our first nations peoples, similar in vein and tactic to America's treatment of their native sons and daughters. What else have we done to oppress and stamp down the potential of black Canadians? What laws are still in place to ensure white privilege? It makes me so ashamed and hurt to realize that we've been lied to and manipulated by people we've entrusted to care for the best interests of ALL citizens. It makes me feel like a fool, to have been influenced by code words and phrases floated used to make racism more palatable to the unsuspecting citizen who has no malice in their heart, only wanting to get along and take care of their families. It's innocence lost, innocence manipulated, innocence corrupted in the worst possible ways.
It's time to wake up to the truth, as awful and as shameful as it is. It's time to stop the lies and ensure our children are taught the truth of our history. My generation has failed by if given the truth, I have faith the younger generations CAN work towards healing and building a truly equal society. I fear I won't see it in my lifetime but I have hope for my children.
January 1, 2022
The trigger for white rage is black advancement.
With so much attention focused on the flames, everyone had ignored the logs, the kindling.
Before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, he had plotted to rid the nation of as many of the nearly half million free black people as possible.
Thomas Jefferson had advocated the expulsion of blacks from the United States in order to save the nation.
Migration is the story of America. It is foundational.
Thurgood Marshall's dissent in Bakke recounted 350 years of the most pervasive and ingenious forms of racial discrimination against black people.
Ronald Reagan used coded language to roll back progress made through the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.
Reagan cut student aid to colleges and nationwide black college enrollment plummeted from 34 percent to 26 percent. Reagan kept his hands off of Social Security, where black people were but a small fraction of the recipients.
Reagan gutted aid to cities so extensively that federal dollars were reduced from 22 percent of a city's budget to 6 percent.
Contra leaders, whom Reagan referred to as the moral equivalent to the founding fathers, floated the idea of trafficking cocaine into California to get the money needed to train and arm the counter revolutionaries.
Reagan's staff actively allowed cocaine imports to the United States to skyrocket by 50 percent within three years with the cartel's cut being ten billion dollars.
Wren vs United States, 1996 ruled that police could use their discretion instead of probable cause to search motorists for drugs.
Atwater vs Lago Vista, 2001 found that having a busted taillight or not using a turn signal are a legal and permissible use for police to hunt for drugs.
The United States did not face a crime problem that was racialized; it faced a race problem that was criminalized.
Georgia's laws required three separate categories of documentation to secure a government issued photo ID.
Florida has been one of the most aggressive states to use records from the Department of Motor Vehicle to identify and scrub 180,000 names from the voter roles.
It is time to move into a future where the right to vote is unfettered by discriminatory restrictions that prevent millions of American citizens from having any say in their own government.
With so much attention focused on the flames, everyone had ignored the logs, the kindling.
Before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, he had plotted to rid the nation of as many of the nearly half million free black people as possible.
Thomas Jefferson had advocated the expulsion of blacks from the United States in order to save the nation.
Migration is the story of America. It is foundational.
Thurgood Marshall's dissent in Bakke recounted 350 years of the most pervasive and ingenious forms of racial discrimination against black people.
Ronald Reagan used coded language to roll back progress made through the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.
Reagan cut student aid to colleges and nationwide black college enrollment plummeted from 34 percent to 26 percent. Reagan kept his hands off of Social Security, where black people were but a small fraction of the recipients.
Reagan gutted aid to cities so extensively that federal dollars were reduced from 22 percent of a city's budget to 6 percent.
Contra leaders, whom Reagan referred to as the moral equivalent to the founding fathers, floated the idea of trafficking cocaine into California to get the money needed to train and arm the counter revolutionaries.
Reagan's staff actively allowed cocaine imports to the United States to skyrocket by 50 percent within three years with the cartel's cut being ten billion dollars.
Wren vs United States, 1996 ruled that police could use their discretion instead of probable cause to search motorists for drugs.
Atwater vs Lago Vista, 2001 found that having a busted taillight or not using a turn signal are a legal and permissible use for police to hunt for drugs.
The United States did not face a crime problem that was racialized; it faced a race problem that was criminalized.
Georgia's laws required three separate categories of documentation to secure a government issued photo ID.
Florida has been one of the most aggressive states to use records from the Department of Motor Vehicle to identify and scrub 180,000 names from the voter roles.
It is time to move into a future where the right to vote is unfettered by discriminatory restrictions that prevent millions of American citizens from having any say in their own government.
June 26, 2020
Great introduction. An “easy” read, physically. But an excellent wake up call if real US history is a new subject. Gives the basic foundation and structure for a more thorough study. Enough to start the conversation to healing and real change.
Rolling back advances in Civil Rights
P. 131 “Also magically removed by this interpretation were up to $24 trillion in multi generational devastation the blacks had suffered in lost wages, stolen land, educational impoverishment, and housing inequalities it was as if all of that never happened.”
P. 135 “Once the need for the civil rights movement was minimized and history written, initiative like President Johnson’s great Society and affirmative action, which were developed to make amends or atone for hundreds of years of island and corrosive repression, were usually characterized as reverse discrimination against hard-working whites and a “government handout that lazy Black people choose to take rather than work”
P. 137 Trying to go “Color-blind” —Painted a picture of a color blind, equal opportunity society whose doors were now wide open. All Black people had to do was take the initiative and walk on through.
Nixon
P. 145 Crime and blackness soon became synonymous in a carefully constructed way.
P. 161 It played beautifully into the color blind, post civil rights language of substituting economics for race, yet achieving a similar result: inequality.
Reagan
P. 171 Now take higher education. Almost 5 times as many black college bound high school seniors as white came from families with incomes below $12,000. Reagan’s administration reconfigured various grants and loan packages so that the needier the student, the harder he or she would be hit by Reagan’s student aid cuts. Nationwide, black college enrollment plummeted from 34% to 26%.
P. 173 The 1980s revealed just how fragile the economic recovery of black Americans was in the wake of 350 years of slavery and Jim Crow. From the 1960s to the 1970s the black unemployment rate had declined, and the gap between black and white unemployment rates had actually narrowed. By the time Reagan’s policies had taken affect, the black unemployment rate had increased and the unemployment gap between blacks and whites had widened to unprecedented levels.
War on Drugs
Rolling back advances in Civil Rights
P. 131 “Also magically removed by this interpretation were up to $24 trillion in multi generational devastation the blacks had suffered in lost wages, stolen land, educational impoverishment, and housing inequalities it was as if all of that never happened.”
P. 135 “Once the need for the civil rights movement was minimized and history written, initiative like President Johnson’s great Society and affirmative action, which were developed to make amends or atone for hundreds of years of island and corrosive repression, were usually characterized as reverse discrimination against hard-working whites and a “government handout that lazy Black people choose to take rather than work”
P. 137 Trying to go “Color-blind” —Painted a picture of a color blind, equal opportunity society whose doors were now wide open. All Black people had to do was take the initiative and walk on through.
Nixon
P. 145 Crime and blackness soon became synonymous in a carefully constructed way.
P. 161 It played beautifully into the color blind, post civil rights language of substituting economics for race, yet achieving a similar result: inequality.
Reagan
P. 171 Now take higher education. Almost 5 times as many black college bound high school seniors as white came from families with incomes below $12,000. Reagan’s administration reconfigured various grants and loan packages so that the needier the student, the harder he or she would be hit by Reagan’s student aid cuts. Nationwide, black college enrollment plummeted from 34% to 26%.
P. 173 The 1980s revealed just how fragile the economic recovery of black Americans was in the wake of 350 years of slavery and Jim Crow. From the 1960s to the 1970s the black unemployment rate had declined, and the gap between black and white unemployment rates had actually narrowed. By the time Reagan’s policies had taken affect, the black unemployment rate had increased and the unemployment gap between blacks and whites had widened to unprecedented levels.
War on Drugs
November 10, 2018
See even more book reviews at: https://www.lifeofafemalebibliophile.com
We Are Not Yet Equal is an insightful book about the history of civil rights with a deeper focus on law. Though it’s aimed at a younger audience, I felt that it could be read by older children and adults alike. The book follows the timeline of history pointing out historical events and legislature from the era of the civil war to the 21st century. It highlights moments such as the Great Migration, the case of Brown vs. Board, and other significant moments in civil rights/political history.
I loved this book and I appreciated the solid timeline layout as well as the diagrams about legislature passed that made it easier for the reader to understand. I also like the inclusion of photos that referenced the events discussed in the book to really connect readers with the text. Though a lot of the material was familiar to me, I learned a lot of my new things about information I was taught years ago and even things I was unfamiliar with before reading this book:
-How the Chicago Defender, a black newspaper in the early 1900s was central to the Great Migration
-How the launch Sputnik spurred STEM education
-The Education Act
-The Voting Rights Act
-The case of Shelby County vs. Holder
I think any reader will be able to educate information about civil rights history through reading this book. It’s a great resource and starting point for anyone who wants to research Civil Rights history and politics. I found a lot of great resources that were cited in the back in the back of the book, that I wanted to check out for further reading.
*Trigger warning: Though this was an insightful book, I will say at times it was difficult to read due to some of the graphic descriptions violence, death.
We Are Not Yet Equal is an insightful book about the history of civil rights with a deeper focus on law. Though it’s aimed at a younger audience, I felt that it could be read by older children and adults alike. The book follows the timeline of history pointing out historical events and legislature from the era of the civil war to the 21st century. It highlights moments such as the Great Migration, the case of Brown vs. Board, and other significant moments in civil rights/political history.
I loved this book and I appreciated the solid timeline layout as well as the diagrams about legislature passed that made it easier for the reader to understand. I also like the inclusion of photos that referenced the events discussed in the book to really connect readers with the text. Though a lot of the material was familiar to me, I learned a lot of my new things about information I was taught years ago and even things I was unfamiliar with before reading this book:
-How the Chicago Defender, a black newspaper in the early 1900s was central to the Great Migration
-How the launch Sputnik spurred STEM education
-The Education Act
-The Voting Rights Act
-The case of Shelby County vs. Holder
I think any reader will be able to educate information about civil rights history through reading this book. It’s a great resource and starting point for anyone who wants to research Civil Rights history and politics. I found a lot of great resources that were cited in the back in the back of the book, that I wanted to check out for further reading.
*Trigger warning: Though this was an insightful book, I will say at times it was difficult to read due to some of the graphic descriptions violence, death.
January 16, 2019
We Are not yet Equal was a fascinating and informative read. Anderson does an amazing job supporting her theme of racial inequality. Her point is that every time progress has been made in addressing racial inequality, especially in regards to blacks, there has been a massive backlash by the white population (white rage she calls it). And after reading the book, I have to say that she's convinced me of the truthfulness of that statement. This YA adaption focuses on five major events that seemed to indicate that progress was winning the day, only to have the backlash lead to major regression. Anderson focuses on the following events: Reconstruction/Jim Crow laws, the Great Migration, the backlash to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the War on Drugs, and the election of President Obama. I was aware of some of the circumstances and events mentioned in the book, but some of them were new to me. It's clear to me after reading this book that the United States hasn't made nearly as much progress to racial equality as we like to think we have. Anderson makes it clear that there is still much to be done to achieve social and racial justice.
January 9, 2019
Please make it a goal this year to read this book, share it with your family and friends, and then have meaningful discussions. This is well-researched and documented, outlining insidious, ubiquitous racism in the United States from Reconstruction to the present. With an emphasis on Constitutional Amendments and Supreme Court cases, the author illustrates and explains dozens of events in the US that probably went under your radar. I've read much of similar content before in other books, but was left dazed and confused. With this book by Carol Anderson comes clarity. The author teaches without imposing emotion on the reader, so there is no need to be on the defensive. Set aside your notions and world view and simply read. Your eyes will be opened. We cannot be a free society until that happens. My family/friends be advised - if you don't read this book and talk with me about it, you will be getting it for Christmas next year.
January 25, 2020
This is my new secret weapon for my conservative relatives at family reunions. This book has statistics, studies, court cases, pieces of legislation, and quotes backing every claim. It is a very informative book that clearly shows how blacks have been oppressed throughout American history and continue to be disadvantaged relative to whites. What surprised me was the vast amount of area it touches on--this book covers A LOT of American history from the beginning of the Antebellum period to the present day. And throughout the entire 250 year journey Bolden is very articulate and concise making this a very educational yet accessible read. That is why I would recommend this book to history buffs, those interested in social justice, and especially those that are unfamiliar with America's stained history or aren't convinced that blacks are still disadvantaged today (I'm looking at you, Kanye West).
June 10, 2020
While reading this, I felt similarly to when I read another of Dr. Anderson's books One Person, No Vote. Very informative, but also very name, fact, date heavy writing as she details hundreds of acts of individual and systemic racism throughout American history. I think that's important, it's just not my preferred method of storytelling. I guess what I mean is that Dr. Anderson's strategy seems to be to overflow the reader with a tsunami of examples, whether about the history of racist acts in this text, or voter suppression in the other. I think reading a combination of books like this that go wide, and books that go deep into one specific facet of racism (such as The New Jim Crow on mass incarceration) make a healthy balance.
November 29, 2018
Carol Anderson did a great job on breaking down the racial divide. The book was also very detailed and enjoyable. To me there was no slow bits of the book. For me I think it is super important for any one to read this book just to learn more about the divide and hopefully close it in the future.With in the book I really liked all of the facts that went along with it. It details the past and how there still is a divided. Not only the details but it high lighted important people that played or plays a key part into the divide.
May 16, 2019
Required reading for everyone regardless of age, ethnicity, race, class, political affiliation. But, especially, ALL white people MUST read this book. Then, take action to eradicate white supremacy in all of us. Even if you think you don't hold white supremacist beliefs, you do. Intent is irrelevant. Move aside, it's the least we can do as we've benefited from white supremacy forever.
May 14, 2020
This is the first young adult adaptation of a nonfiction that made me want to pick up the original book. As much as I learned, I definitely wanted more of the in-depth breakdown that I'm sure is in the main book, White Rage. This is perfect as a primer - informative and direct. Definitely recommend
June 4, 2020
This should be required reading for all high schoolers.
July 26, 2021
In high school, I was led to believe that progress, in regards to equality, was a constant upward progression. The reality is much different. For every bit of progress that was made, from the end of slavery to the election of Obama, new laws and policies were implemented to hinder that progress.
A powerful, informative read. The photos, resources, and citations Anderson included will lead readers to further information, if so desired. Anderson proves that America still has a long way to go in terms of equality.
A powerful, informative read. The photos, resources, and citations Anderson included will lead readers to further information, if so desired. Anderson proves that America still has a long way to go in terms of equality.
January 6, 2025
my mom is giving everyone she knows a copy of this book it’s so cute
March 19, 2019
An excellent explanation of the systemic and leagalized use of racism in history and how those precedents are still felt/in use today.
August 15, 2019
A clear account of the myriad ways whites in this country have strategically and systematically suppressed black progress.
August 20, 2018
We Are Not Yet Equal is a condensed history of the post-Civil War struggles to combat racism and protect the civil rights of African Americans and the resistance to that struggle by white supremacists of all kinds, from those in sheets to those in business suits to those in the White House. As soon as the War was over, racists in the North and the South and in both parties set to work to get things back to their normal, the white supremacist normal, with Black Codes and new laws that effectively reestablished slavery, this time through forced labor for debt and petty offenses like vagrancy.
Many sought relief by moving north, though the South’s demand for cheap labor led to laws and strategies designed to keep Black families from leaving. Seriously, they went so far as to kidnap trains and hold them, refusing to let them leave if they carried Black people north despite the fact we were in the middle of World War I.
The Massive Resistance to Brown vs. Bd. of Education is somewhat familiar to Americans. We’ve seen the Norman Rockwell painting, after all. However, it lasted far longer and was far more extreme and costly than is usually recognized. Some places simply shut down education completely for years. It’s not only they would rather be poor than equal, they also would rather be uneducated than integrated. If we are honest, the Massive Resistance to integrated education continues to the day with charter schools and the ongoing attacks on public education.
Anderson and Bolden also cover mass incarceration, the war on drugs, including the Reagan era policy of promoting crack cocaine to fund the Contras. It’s depressing, particularly how effectively the gains of the Civil Rights Movement have been undercut by the Supreme Court who is now working hard to eviscerate the Voting Rights Act.
We Are Not Yet Equal is an excellent primer on systemic racism. The people who wrote this know it really doesn’t matter whether there is a tape of Trump saying a racist fighting word because, through policy, Trump’s Administration has undone progress on criminal justice reform, okayed segregated housing and schools, and attacked voting rights. They are not wasting their time on personal racism because it is the laws, policies, and structures that enforce racism that have the greatest impact and, frankly, perpetuated personal racism.
This is a short book that is clear and easy to understand that sometimes vibrates with outrage and a passion for justice. This is less about the search for equality and more about white resistance to equality and the extreme ends to which white people will go to enforce white supremacy and how that is achieved through courts and legislation, not so much through protest and unrest–because if you’re in power, you can use the tools of power.
This would be a great book for people to read in high school or junior high. It would be fabulous if everyone was exposed to this history because as a country, we need it.
We Are Not Yet Equal will be published on September 11th. I received an ARC from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.
We Are Not Yet Equal at Bloomsbury
Carol Anderson faculty site
Tonya Bolden author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
Many sought relief by moving north, though the South’s demand for cheap labor led to laws and strategies designed to keep Black families from leaving. Seriously, they went so far as to kidnap trains and hold them, refusing to let them leave if they carried Black people north despite the fact we were in the middle of World War I.
The Massive Resistance to Brown vs. Bd. of Education is somewhat familiar to Americans. We’ve seen the Norman Rockwell painting, after all. However, it lasted far longer and was far more extreme and costly than is usually recognized. Some places simply shut down education completely for years. It’s not only they would rather be poor than equal, they also would rather be uneducated than integrated. If we are honest, the Massive Resistance to integrated education continues to the day with charter schools and the ongoing attacks on public education.
Anderson and Bolden also cover mass incarceration, the war on drugs, including the Reagan era policy of promoting crack cocaine to fund the Contras. It’s depressing, particularly how effectively the gains of the Civil Rights Movement have been undercut by the Supreme Court who is now working hard to eviscerate the Voting Rights Act.
We Are Not Yet Equal is an excellent primer on systemic racism. The people who wrote this know it really doesn’t matter whether there is a tape of Trump saying a racist fighting word because, through policy, Trump’s Administration has undone progress on criminal justice reform, okayed segregated housing and schools, and attacked voting rights. They are not wasting their time on personal racism because it is the laws, policies, and structures that enforce racism that have the greatest impact and, frankly, perpetuated personal racism.
This is a short book that is clear and easy to understand that sometimes vibrates with outrage and a passion for justice. This is less about the search for equality and more about white resistance to equality and the extreme ends to which white people will go to enforce white supremacy and how that is achieved through courts and legislation, not so much through protest and unrest–because if you’re in power, you can use the tools of power.
This would be a great book for people to read in high school or junior high. It would be fabulous if everyone was exposed to this history because as a country, we need it.
We Are Not Yet Equal will be published on September 11th. I received an ARC from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.
We Are Not Yet Equal at Bloomsbury
Carol Anderson faculty site
Tonya Bolden author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
August 12, 2018
Advance copy made available to me through Net Galley.
This book delves into the history of racism in the United States and it pulls zero punches. Early on the book starts with the statement that Abraham Lincoln lacked "clarity" "humanity" and "resolve" when it came to post-Civil War/reconstruction and moving the U.S. forward. The authors go in on a number of founding fathers and at first, I was genuinely surprised at the tone of the book. Was it all right, I wondered, for a history book for teens to be written in such a manner? Then I wondered why I, a woman of color, felt obligated to defend white men who died 150+ years ago, that did little to nothing to ensure the safety and prosperity of black people in America? With that mentality, I continued reading the book and though the outrage in the book very much comes through in the writing, they have the hard facts to back up every claim. What Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden have done is clearly lay out in chronological order the myriad steps politicians, police enforcement, and the judicial system took to undermine the chances of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for black Americans. It also makes clear that the collateral damage was the American education system. Sometimes brutal to read (I almost had to stop reading at an explicit description of the lynching and mutilation of a pregnant black woman and her unborn child--yes, they mutilated the child too), I learned a tremendous amount. At the end of the book I wished it weren't so bleak, I wished there were more of a call to action to save the United States. It is not up to people of color to improve the lives of people of color in America, no, this book makes apparent that there are systems in place built exactly to prevent that. What then, do I take away from this book? I suppose it's the relief to see the problems in our nation and be able to understand and articulate the how and the why. Maybe that is a start.
This book delves into the history of racism in the United States and it pulls zero punches. Early on the book starts with the statement that Abraham Lincoln lacked "clarity" "humanity" and "resolve" when it came to post-Civil War/reconstruction and moving the U.S. forward. The authors go in on a number of founding fathers and at first, I was genuinely surprised at the tone of the book. Was it all right, I wondered, for a history book for teens to be written in such a manner? Then I wondered why I, a woman of color, felt obligated to defend white men who died 150+ years ago, that did little to nothing to ensure the safety and prosperity of black people in America? With that mentality, I continued reading the book and though the outrage in the book very much comes through in the writing, they have the hard facts to back up every claim. What Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden have done is clearly lay out in chronological order the myriad steps politicians, police enforcement, and the judicial system took to undermine the chances of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for black Americans. It also makes clear that the collateral damage was the American education system. Sometimes brutal to read (I almost had to stop reading at an explicit description of the lynching and mutilation of a pregnant black woman and her unborn child--yes, they mutilated the child too), I learned a tremendous amount. At the end of the book I wished it weren't so bleak, I wished there were more of a call to action to save the United States. It is not up to people of color to improve the lives of people of color in America, no, this book makes apparent that there are systems in place built exactly to prevent that. What then, do I take away from this book? I suppose it's the relief to see the problems in our nation and be able to understand and articulate the how and the why. Maybe that is a start.
June 25, 2020
Eye opening!
I know this is a YA book - but all adults should read it! The history is clear and explained well - and honestly - as a child of the 80's...it was all the important parts of history my teachers must have either not known or didn't bother to teach us...
All current adults and teens now and forward on should be reading this book as part of our historical education. I think we need to reframe our history classes - instead of learning facts and historical figures - we should learn historical inquiry. How to research and evaluate history. And learn how to grow and change for the better because of our past.
I also admire the final chapter and the call to action: "We must step out of the shadow of white rage, deny its power, understanding its unseemly goal, and refuse to be seduced by its buzzwords, dog whistles, and sophistry. This is when we choose a different future."
I know this is a YA book - but all adults should read it! The history is clear and explained well - and honestly - as a child of the 80's...it was all the important parts of history my teachers must have either not known or didn't bother to teach us...
All current adults and teens now and forward on should be reading this book as part of our historical education. I think we need to reframe our history classes - instead of learning facts and historical figures - we should learn historical inquiry. How to research and evaluate history. And learn how to grow and change for the better because of our past.
I also admire the final chapter and the call to action: "We must step out of the shadow of white rage, deny its power, understanding its unseemly goal, and refuse to be seduced by its buzzwords, dog whistles, and sophistry. This is when we choose a different future."
December 31, 2020
This is a must-read book outlining the history of race in the US. I annotated this book in it's entirety.
It covers SO MUCH content and delves very deep but is still super accessible to read for those folks who struggle with non-fiction or for younger readers.
This will stay on my shelf, and in my classroom, and will likely be referenced consistently.
It covers SO MUCH content and delves very deep but is still super accessible to read for those folks who struggle with non-fiction or for younger readers.
This will stay on my shelf, and in my classroom, and will likely be referenced consistently.
November 15, 2018
I am so glad to have discovered this book. It's very clear and methodical (and well documented to boot) in laying out the history of racism in this country and draws a straight line from slavery, through jim crow, and up through the present. All my kids will be reading this.
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