Racism: A Very Short Introduction [Paperback]

I thought that, as far as a highly sensitive topic goes, this was the best possible way to address it in an intelligent and sensitive way. The book is up to date on recent scientific developments and maintains, rightly, that race can never be seriously treated as anything but a social construct. That being said, the author does not dismiss the power and relevance of the social category of race, and talks about the complex ways in which racism(s) play a role in our everyday lives. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the way the author suggests that labeling someone a "racist" can in some ways be as essentializing and unfair as racism in practice is. The Rattansi does not say this in order to dismiss the power or brutality of many forms of overt and covert racial hatreds; on the contrary, he suggests that racism is far too complex a historical and cultural phenomenon to be dismissed as one person's individual pathology. A very good introduction and a good brief historiography. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone.

The author has succeeded in giving short, but sufficiently detailed overview of the racist phenomenon. His approach is very careful & nuanced, particularly when he addresses Nazi antisemitism & complexities of intertwined strands of biological
basis of racism ("essentialism"), ethnocentrism & cultural or religious identities which can be "racialized", giving added passion & intransigence of racial enmity. Author is much less successful in refuting the "Bell curve" argument
(blacks have IQ lower than whites and east Asians) & racial element in evolutionary psychology.

So far, so good.

But, the ultimate flaw of the book is her complete neglect of anti-white racism in the US and UK.
Let's see some facts:

* US Department of Justice has published that from 1996 to 2006 had been between 11,000 and 37,000 black on white rapes annually; figure for white on black rapes fluctuated between 2,000 and 8,000. But, since "whites" in the 20th century included Hispanic Mestizos, the numbers from 2003 on had been zero white on black rapes & around 20,000 (even more than 37,000 during 2005.) black on white rapes

* as far as homicides go, from 1976 to 2005, white on black annual murder rate oscillated between 290 and 540; black on white homicides were in the range 830 to 1350 (one can check these figures at DOJ site; links are always bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov ). Whites are 70-75% of the population, blacks 12-13%.

Also, one should add numerous gruesome murders that happened in the US (Wichita massacre, Knoxville horror,..) in past decade or two, when US media had played a dishonorable role of minimizing racial component of these sadistic tortures & virtually kept US wider public in the dark- all according to the liberal-leftist dogma that only whites can be racists.

In the UK, racial component has been almost completely swept under the rug in cases of Pakistani gang rapes of teenage white girls, or the case of London riots. Also, author has conveniently forgotten to mention that no black populated country (Jamaica, Haiti, parts of Brazil and Colombia) or continent (subsaharan Africa) can in any way be a part of (post) modern world. White racism has been defeated by facts of industrial & intellectual accomplishments of Japan, South Korea and China, as well as parts of India. In Africa- not so.

My general assessment of the book would be- this is a fine exposition of white racism, mainly its 19th century variant. But, as a comprehensive analysis of the entire phenomenon, it is weak rephrasing of leftist delusions. The most dangerous racisms of today are non-white ethnic swamping of Europe, kowtowing to Islamic threat in the UK & pandering to black racism in the US.

In these respects, the book is a complete failure.

Ali Rattansi's Racism is an absolutely outstanding introduction to a very complex topic. In a series of extremely concise and well written chapters, he covers the development of modern racism and its intensification in imperialism and colonialism, the Holocaust and the many complexities of "anti-semitism", eugenics and IQ science, and the resurgence of xenophobia and the rise of the far right in response to immigration from the global south. Unlike many other books on this topic, Rattansi is always careful to point out that the terms involved in this discourse are very difficult to define, and that just as one ought not to essentialize the characteristics of certain ethnic or religious groups groups, the attitudes of those displaying apparently racist sentiment ought to be treated as similarly nuanced. Rattansi, like most of the OUP authors, clearly writes from a universalistic, left wing perspective, but he is alert to the fact that the shutting down of contrary opinions by name calling is highly destructive to the functioning of any true democracy. In a particularly trenchant quote, he notes that "the labelling of an action...as racist should be the beginning of a dialogue and enquiry, not the prelude to a round of polarized shouting matches from entrenched positions." If, like me, you believe that the free movement of peoples is a human right, and are concerned about the problems it may engender in the future, I can't think of a better place to start.

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