Customer Reviews

The End of Blackness

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

Dickerson's body blow-dealing introduction is enough to wither most black intellectuals where they stand. Taken by itself, one would think the remaining 275 pages were a primer on how to get your butt-whupped at the company picnic of the NAACP. After plainly and deftly laying out in the first sentence the purpose of her book, she jabs, kicks and otherwise pounds on the kufi-donned heads of any black person donning race baggage without breaking a lip sweat, with such haymakers as:

"[Blacks] have not been left out of America; they affect rejecting it while availing themselves of every morsel of its benefits."

Ouch. Or how about:

"If an upheaval on the scale of the civil rights movement couldn't do it, it is hard to know what it will take to satisfy the 'woe is me' race men that they are citizens; perhaps a giant Hallmark card signed by every Caucasian in America."

Are your cowry shells ringing yet?

Dickerson, however, isn't a simple race baiter. She just as easily spends the next 25 pages running white folks through the ringer, detailing the developmental history of slavery and racism as it has nurtured and been so nurtured in the west. From there, the rest of the book is open season on anybody without an open mind.

Dickerson possesses a cool hand when it comes to capturing not only the academic side of the racial shebang, but is particularly stunning at pointing out the ridiculous foibles of a people who want freedom by as few means as necessary. Her codification and critique of popular public-passed emails such as "You Know You're Ghetto Corporate If..." and "Ghetto Resume" puts her research firmly in the front lines of the debate, and yet, just when you think she's Clarence Thomas in a dress, she lambasts whites for contributing politely to much of the same crimes of ignorance and fear-based rhetoric as blacks. A great example, among many, is the section on Africa-bashing by whites to slip under the radar of the homegrown racism they claim to no longer possess as it relates to Africa's American stepchildren.

Dickerson plays for keeps, and despite what must be an obvious and careful noting of just-enough cases to make the points she wishes to make, she writes this book with more courage and brawn than any Dyson book, and with more on-ramps into her worldview than Cornel West has ever offered. You may not like what she has to say, but chances are if the rock hit you, well, you were the one in the pack she was aiming for. The question isn't how back is Dickerson. The question is, how black are blacks, and what does that mean 40 years out of the civil rights movement?

This book reads as though Dickerson wrote it like it might be her only one. Hopefully, we'll not have to wait long for another dose of her medicine. It goes down tough, but you'll be better in the morning.

(Review from KISO Books)

Miseducated lunacy in print. The author needs a good English teacher and a shrink before she publishes another book. To see how well she managed her own personal life, read her previous semi-fictional autobiography. Another unemployed degree-holder looking for attention and profits.

This is an inconsistent book. In the author's introduction, Dickerson says that she aims at making the case that blacks should get away from obsessing over past grievances such as slavery and Jim Crow and take full responsibility for the choices that they make and accept the consequences. In other words, blacks should stop blaming white folks for everything that goes wrong.

She then turns around and spends the first half or so of the book blaming whites for the state of black America. She presents horror stories of racism, such as the murder of Emmett Till, just as if she believes that they represent the state of race relations today. Indeed, she expends much verbiage on whites and on how they pretend to support civil rights while secretly doing everything that they can to undermine those same civil rights.

Dickerson seems to have some racist tendencies of her own. She seems to resent the fact that Asian Americans generally live in mostly white, middle-class communities as opposed to having their own ethnic enclaves.

Dickerson also has some weird ideas on how prevalent racism supposedly is in America. For instance,Dickerson complains about the fact that the movie "Saving Private Ryan" does not include black soldiers storming the Normandy Beach. However, she admits that no blacks participated in the D-Day invasion. Yet, she criticizes the producers for excluding a black presence in the film anyways.

After her carnival of criticism of whites and Asians for their alleged role in keeping blacks down, she then gets into the second half of her book, which is a critique of blacks in modern America. In this part, she criticizes blacks for dwelling on the racist past and using racism as a crutch for blacks not making it in America. By doing so, she completely contradicts the first half of her book.

This is an inconsistent and contradictory book on race relations in America. Definitely not recommended.

I thought fate had led me to buy this book because within one weekend's time I had stumbled on three televised interviews with the author. My feelings seemed to be in-line with hers so I went to the local bookstore and thumbed through the pages.

It seems the book was written for a very narrow audience; I could hardly keep up with it. Finishing a sentence left me breathless (not amazed, but actually gasping for air). Forget about anyone with less than a doctorate degree reading and gaining anything from this book. The author has succeeded in turning me away.

DICKERSON OPENS ON THE WHITE SIDE OF THE HOUSE
Dickerson begins this book by skewering whites (mostly conservatives seem to draw her ire) as folks who always wish to always appear in a good light- seeking to airbrush away the ugly facts of history before the closing credits roll. But black folk as Dickerson jokes, "have access to the Director's cut". They KNOW what parts are missing. Whites also she says, always desire to be at the center of attention- whether it be from the easy assumption of black inferiority, to the clutching of purses within the vicinity of any black male, to white South African tales of woe, doom and gloom. Black conservatives are not exempt, although she handles them gingerly. Curiously enough, Dickerson seems to have few bones to pick with white liberals apart from some mild boilerplate.

TAKING BLACKS TO THE WOODSHED
Dickerson next heads to the woodshed with blacks. The bottom line is that she says blacks are focused too much on whites, who yet again, seem to be the center of attention. It is time that blacks concentrate on OTHER THINGS, like the hard work that needs to be done internally. Such a view of course is not the "correct" one to play up, and the "black politiburo" ruthlessly attacks those who fail to demonstrate the "right way of thinking".

DICKERSON LETS WHITE LIBERALS OFF THE HOOK
It could be a strategy of protective innoculation or flank cover, but Dickerson expends a lot of ink hurling barbs at "conservative" whites. Some are well deserved, but even in the book's ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS at the back, she is warning against the machinations of the Republicans and manages to squeeze in a reference to the Ku Klux Klan. Easy targets include wavers of the Confederate Flag, right wing talk show hosts, racists of the old Jim Crow regimes, conservative scholars and various other "unreconstructed" whites.

--- --- Some of these criticisms are valid, but she fails to do the blunt speaking that is also needed towards white liberals, who are adept at manipulating blacks symbolically to cover their own agendas. The whites doing the most damage to blacks today are not those insensitive Confederate Flag people, but arguably, white liberals. Too often, the patronizing social policies they support have helped sap and preempt the initiative of the black community- from the dependency fostering welfare system, to the deceptive quotas of "affirmative action", to the cynical tokenism of some so-called "diversity", to the dismal and corrupt public "education" system and its obstructive (white dominated) unions. Any SERIOUS analysis of white society must acknowledge liberal deception. Malcolm X didn't shirk from it, but Dickerson by in large does, despite liberal quotations from Malcolm himself.

. . Dickerson asserts that the "black politiburo" tactily cooperates with those bad white right-wingers in exposing the negative side of black life, but curiously, downplays a much more relevant and substantial relationship- that of white liberals with said "black politiburo"- a link which demands that such negatives be played up endlessly.

. . Dickerson continually seesaws between pulling out yet another nugget of white hypocrisy or racism, while simultaneously urging black folk to frankly examine themselves. As a result the book sometimes seems to lose focus, and some of the plain speaking and central thread of her argument, is lost in the shuffle.

DICKERSON'S ANALYSES COULD BE BETTER
Dickerson too often resorts to sound-bite McNuggets, when meatier examples would make her case. She has very little substantatively, to say about religion, a key player in any realistic scenario of black uplift. She mentions black preachers successfully catering to "millions" of unmarried black women and points out that while women make up 75% or more of many congregation, they are only 5% of the clergy.
Fine, but such imbalances have been noted ever since the 1960s, and doesn't 4 decades of success by such preachers in the face of this imbalance (and numerous scandals) indicate that blacks still WANT and PREFER the male element to exercise spiritual leadership? The "Essence Sisters" crowd may not think much of this as they head to the salon for another hairdo, but it is the reality on the ground for millions. Doesn't the success of the "patriarchal" Nation of Islam also confirm this preference among blacks, unglamorous as it may be?

. . Furthermore the ancient Hebrew scriptures speaking of Jehovah as father to the fatherless, and a protector and husband to widows and the vulnerable female, finds strong resonance in historical black religion. And some of the most promising initiatives for black uplift today are found precisely in those churches. Doesn't all this call for more serious analysis and commentary, rather than yet another joke about "yo baby daddy?"

THE BOTTOM LINE
Dickerson's brief final summation notes that while blacks can't control the behavior of others, they can control THEIR REACTIONS to that behavior. Rather than attempting to change the hearts and minds of the insensitive, the racist or the indifferent, it is time to concentrate on changing what they can. Blacks must stop dreading and stop caring what white people think. No one should set higher standards for blacks, than blacks.

RATING
On the whole- 4 stars for some good writing and fresh material, but too often sound bites substitute for penetrating analysis, and white liberals- one of the most damaging groups to blacks, are essentially given a pass. Her avoidance of serious discussion of such topics as affirmative action also shows that the "courageous" declarations touted by some reviewers are rather less so. Dickerson too often plays it safe, and picks easy targets. This may offer some flank protection, but at the end of the day, the peeps will still holler "traitor", and white liberals will keep on feeling good.

NOTE: Some folks seem to have worked themselves into a lather over Dickerson's interracial marriage. Cut the hypocrisy and get over it people. Evaluate Dickerson's arguments on their own merits.

Debra Dickerson has shown courage and cojones in writing this book. As an African-American male, I appreciate her perspective. One does not have to agree with everything she says in order to understand her critique of the toxic dialogue that is in the general culture. Some of her critics need to stop throwing verbal bricks at her and listen to her more carefully. Truly there are some black bigots who have nothing better to do than to hurl insults.

Here we go again another "objective" book coming from a closet neoconservative "black" woman. In the tradition of John McHorror, Judas Patterson, Thomas Sorewell, Larry Failure Elder etc. al. Same formula once again. Lets attack blacks indirectly by using "black" people that way they can go much further than Charles Murray and David Duke ever could dream to go. Second lets make it "objective" by quoting Dr. King or Malcolm X and by taking thier words out of context (even though if Dr. King and Malcolm X were alive today they would be against them!). Third lets tell closet white racist what they want to hear every single negative stereotype possible. But their is a reason why this book and so many others written by "black" racist fail or at best become a modest seller. The typical bookstore keeps putting thier works in the African-American section. I have been saying this time and time again. They should just create a white supremacist book section in each book store that way when the typical closet white racist buys for instance The Bell Curve he can discover books like the End of blackness. At least the book would get a shot at making the NYT bestseller list somthing that the Bell Curve was able to accomplish. Which proves another point these "black" neoconservatives keep saying. Which is that racism does not exisist or is quite miniscule but if that is the case how can you explain the succes of books like the Bell Curve?

Considering my above average interest in this subject as a white guy, I learned a lot about our nations black history that I did not know. Thus my recommendation to all whites, we simply don't learn this stuff. To blacks who are not already brain washed into believing that change need only occur in whites for you to reach the promised land I also highly recommend this reading.

Ms. Dickerson spends equal time bashing whites and blacks for past and current behaviors but lays responsibility for the future more squarely in the laps of Black Americans. As she says the last plantation needing to be escaped is in the black mind.

The truth is that as a black in todays America you have an incredible advantage to succeed if you can overcome many of the obstacles placed in your path via your enviroment. If you can get the degree and avoid the evil doers and nay sayers you can make for yourself reality the vision of those who sacraficed so much before you as exampled in this book.

Coming to terms with that success in a community which both shuns you as a sellout yet requests that you contribute back may be the final river you have to cross. The final underground railroad may be the one escaping from the community/unity mental plantation and taking you to the individual success reality.

No one can tell you what the Matrix is, you must see it for yourself. -Morpheus

I really wanted to like this book. The author's previous tome was inspiring because she refused to be put in the box that society had prescribed for her. I liked the fact that she went from a dull bank job to the military to Harvard Law School. However, her current book is a disappointment.

My main criticism is that she legitimizes stereotypes by publishing email jokes. The fact that these jokes are now in book form gives them a legitimacy that they never would have had when merely passed around as email jokes.

The travesty of books like this is that usually they are hastily put together diatribes.
Dickerson, in my humblest of opinion is a clown. I actually feel sorry for her. She is just one, of a number of "Black" people who so loath the skin that she is in; she will do anything to denigrate it.
For a quick minute; I thought that this clown really had something to say; substantative to the condition that we find ourselves into today. A condition that is exascerbated by our own doing and by conditions of racism, discrimination and just plain hatred-that the clown wants us to believe does not exist.
She is part of a long list of clowns who have used us. She used her blackness to go to the white schools, to get into the army, and to go to Harvard. She is using her blackness now; and by that I mean, haven't any of you noticed that whites and their slaves (the black ones I am speaking of) are trying to bombard us with racist drivel? In reviewing the likes of Sowell, Thomas, A. Williams, Elders,....Dickerson, McWhorter..., with the exception of a Sowell, they are written like 10 year olds, trying to please their parents. And then when we easily pick up on it, the go screaming to Massah, saying that they are being wronged... and old Massah plays this revised history on us... just because someone is black they cannot be racist against blacks.
Well, if I am a racist because I recognize that people like Dickerson is a racist and a nasty one at that; then so be it, I'll wear that title proudly.
Many of you on here have picked up on the things in this "book"
so I don't need to relist them here. But, I went to her "website" the other day (no I will not be returning and advise you all not to give her any attention either) but in her links she lists National Association for the Advancement of White People and Black Republicans.Com...
Black Enterprise, a primere periodical that has been a mainstay on my family's tables since I can remember, has launched a contest at the HBCU's and the clown even mocked that in her blog saying, "Shouldn't they just sue and demand the money?"
Now that was enough for me; the clown in just a pig racist. Luckily, I was able to return the book. Why should we care anyway about some racist?
She is right about one thing however in her book; We should not let Whites and their racism keep us down, and we should ignore it and get on with our lives. Just as we should not let Black Racist - a worse kind of dog; because they are holding out for a bone. Debra Dickerson is such a dog. Let White people have her... and we do not take returns; once you break, you keep.
It is sad to see. Her parent's didn't do right by her; if they had they would have given her the arse whipping that she deserves.
The End of Blackness is fourth rate. A book meant to denigrate and separate us... making us like them. UNITY is our weapon, let us use it.