Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America

Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America

By: John McWhorter  

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Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5

Berkeley linguistics professor John McWhorter, born at the dawn of the post-Civil Rights era, spent years trying to make sense of this question. Now he dares to say the unsayable: racism's ugliest legacy is the disease of defeatism that has infected black America. Losing the Race explores the three main components of this cultural virus: the cults of victimology, separatism, and antiintellectualism that are making blacks their own worst enemies in the struggle for success.

More angry than Stephen Carter, more pragmatic and compassionate than Shelby Steele, more forward-looking than Stanley Crouch, McWhorter represents an original and provocative point of view. With Losing the Race, a bold new voice rises among black intellectuals.

According to the author, victimology "has become a keystone of cultural blackness to treat victimhood not as a problem to be solved but as an identity to be nurtured," while "separatism encourages black Americans to conceive of black people as an unofficial sovereign entity, within which the rules other Americans are expected to follow are suspended out of a belief that our victimhood renders us morally exempt from them." Anti-intellectualism is a belief that "school is a 'white' endeavor." McWhorter suggests that only blacks embrace such opinions, placing most of the blame on them while underemphasizing the institutional racism that facilitates such views. Needless to say, McWhorter has no love for the likes of Al Sharpton, Hazel Carby, June Jordan, or Patricia Williams and their ilk. His chapter on Ebonics, his specialty, is the most nuanced, though certainly not the final word on the matter. And though some readers will be turned off by his use of tired anti-affirmative-action, right-wing clichés, anyone interested in the education of African Americans in the post civil rights era will find Losing the Race a worthy read. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Release Date: 2001-07-31

Customer Review: 1 out of 5
Lack of evidence for arguments appalling - The title of this book intrigued me as a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in sociology with a concentration in sociology of education. I do not shy away from books or articles I suspect a priori are going to be contrary to my own beliefs...doing so would certainly limit my ability to be well rounded in any respect.

I read McWhorter's book. I though long and hard about McWhorter's arguments. I see the appeal of his perspective. But his arguments have an insurmountable flaw: He provides little to no reliable, empirical evidence to support his claims. In fact, he dismisses the efforts of social scientists who meticulously design studies (both quantitative and qualitative) with randomized samples, clear research questions, and well-crafted agendas for answering the questions they set forth. How can McWhorter do so when he provides no reference to RELIABLE empirical evidence to support his own claims? Most of his references (because yes, I am obsessed with flipping to the "Notes" pages) come from the public realm (i.e. newspapers and periodicals) and speeches by well-known public figures who share his point of view.

I am not suggesting information from the public realm is not worthy of attention or not worthy as reliable sources. However, when trying to explain something as complex as the current social and economic position of African-Americans in the US, sole reliance on such sources just will not do. There are many, many academic researchers out there working hard to come up with explanations of the social phenomena McWhorter refers to as "self-sabotage." His three "cults" seem too simplistic an explanation for the many layers (i.e. history) and socio-economic interactions involved in explaining the social position of African-Americans.

People call it "blaming the victim" or ascribing Arican-Americans to a "culture of failure" when it comes to education...years ago it was known as the "culture of poverty." I do not in any way discount the role of culture in shaping the lives of any member of society. Culture is real, powerful, and important for any attempt to understand better the societies in which people live. However, the STRUCTURE of society is similarly powerful, real, and important for any attempt to understand better the societies in which people live. Culture tends to change at a rate faster than social structure. Social structural change is historically slow...but to discount the effect of social structure on the social position of any group within American society is foolish.

I know there are African-American students who are uninterested in school. I know there are white students uninterested in school. My question is: for the majority of white students uninterested in school does this disinterest stem from dilapidated school buildings? from overcrowded schools filled well beyond maximum capacity? from schools with 6 bathrooms in which only 1 is operational? from having teachers with less education, less experience? from out-dated textbooks and lackluster technology from which to learn?

For disengaged white students, I believe the answers to these questions are no. However, for disengaged African-American students, I believe a great number of them would agree that structural conditions at schools to which they must attend has a significant effect on their desire to learn.

Think of it this way: if your job lacked a bathroom, had rats, had HVAC systems that make rooms stifling hot, had a boss with little qualifications to lead you, would you look to yourself as the explanation for why you do not like work?

I doubt it.

This is something McWhorter should think about before overgeneralizing an entire group of people within our society.

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Eye-Opener for Blacks - I only had to read a little over half of the book to realize that the author speaks the truth. I mean, basically he was telling me everything I already knew, so it was as if my assertions were being validated. "Victimology", as the author so aptly puts it, is very real. Almost every single race were slaves at some point in history, it just so happens that black self-opportunists like Sharpton and Jackson exploit it and enable it. In remote parts of Africa, slavery is still very real and commonplace. "Separatism" is also real, in fact, the Jim Crow laws are still very much in place; just not mandatory any longer. Go to a mall and you'll see groups of either whites, latinos or blacks- but very seldom will you see them integrate. People want to stick to their own, stay in their comfort zone. Everybody fits the bill of racist, it's just that some perpetuate it much more than others. But the majority of blacks need to ask themselves why upper and middle class America doesn't want to be around them. Instead of searching for any honest answer, they instead sweep it under the rug and credit it to "racism."
And it was touched on lightly in this book, but the main culprit isn't the blacks, it's the liberal establishment. Slavery was never abolished, I mean technically it was, but the blacks are still slaves and they don't even know it. They are slaves on the Democratic Plantation. The leftists don't give a crap about blacks, they just want the votes. By giving them multiple hand-outs, they are ensuring that they'll stay in office as you do not bite the hand that feeds you. They bank on the fact that blacks will not "wake up" and keep on blaming the white man for the predicament they are in. (Anti-Intellectualism)The leftist Democrats do not want the blacks to succeed in life, thus they make them dependent on the government. They are stealing their ambition- robbery without a gun.
The whites aren't without fault here. By aiding and abetting and remaining subservient, they are enabling the raping of the black race. The very same liberals that are under the assumption that they are helping blacks, are actually erecting one huge hurdle that they must climb over. It's just a shame that this eye-opening thesis by an african american probably will be reduced to a diatribe by an "uncle Tom."

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Brilliant - This book is brilliant and one of the few roadmaps for understanding the problem and painting the way forward. I don't know how I missed it when it was released. I couldn't put it down. 3 days later I was done and eager to share with others. And now I am reading the second book. I have purchased 20 to give to friends who are stuck in the victimology mentality and now they are seeing the light and getting on with their lives. Pity the author does not travel overseas because he would be a big hit here in Bermuda.
Dale Butler

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
This book still holds up!! - This is my second John McWhorter book that I have read, and he is now my new favorite author. He thinks outside of the box. The only major issue that I disagree with him on is the O.J. situation. I don't think that the Prosecution had a slam dunk case, but I digress. Mr. McWhorter hit the nail on the head when he address making yourself a victim, the black community's natural aversion to intellectual activity, and separating from mainstream society. (to the point where it hinders your upward mobility) Two things in this book have stuck in my mind. I am currently writing the second volume of my series on race called Plain Talk. Plain Talk - Volume 1 In the second volume I write about people calling things racist, when it may be something else. Mr. McWhorter brought out how some people may not be racist, but they have a "lack of imagination". I have seen this barrier in so many aspects of life. I am grateful to those who have broken barriers. People like Jimi Hendrix, whose artistry knew no boundaries. The other thing that stuck in my mind is a part towards the end of the book, where he says we have to switch to the second phase of the Civil Rights movement. The first phase was getting a level playing field, now the second phase is actually getting out there and playing!!! Great analogy!! Please read this book as well as Mr. McWhorter's other books. My next book to tackle is Winning the Race. I can't wait.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
An outstanding book - I had read two of Professor McWhorter's books on linguistics and was searching the bookstore looking for other books written by him. I found this book and had to double check the author's picture to make sure that it was the same John McWhorter. I knew that Professor was a highly respected linguist. I did not know (until I found this book) that he wrote books on politics (or social studies, or however you want to categorize this book.)

This book is just outstanding. In addition to showing how African-Americans are harming themselves, Professor McWhorter also turns his focus on White Americans and shows how White Americans have aided and abetted in the decline. The book is written in Professor McWhorter's straightforward and often humorous style, but the subject matter is always treated with gravity and earnestness and unflinching honesty.

I look forward to reading the rest of Professor McWhorter's works.

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