Product Description
A controversial and widely heralded look at the race-related pain and anger felt by the most respected, best educated, and wealthiest members of the black community.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 10 reviews)

Tired of being sick and tired.

I wanted to read this book several years ago, but I was too busy being like the people in his book to read it. It's easy to digest; I finished it in less than a day. It is a better read for some white person looking for enlightenment than for one of us enraged, discontented, over-educated folk.
August 28, 2006

Outstanding book

I find the title a bit melodramatic - although there is definitely rage, there are a lot of other feelings, too. I won't summarize the book because the other reviewers have done so already. It seems that a key problem for successful African-Americans is the ambiguity of many situations. They are pretty sure race explains why they don't get ahead as they should have, but never (or rarely) 100% sure that any given situation and/or obstacle, such as delay in getting a promotion, is entirely due to racism. This uncertainty in itself sounds enormously frustrating.

What is very unfortunate is the extent to which successful people have to deny their feelings and reactions to avoid upsetting oversensitive or excessively judgemental white people, or just those whites (of which there are many) who are not as comfortable around African Americans as other whites. The too-frequent social rejection takes a huge toll, as well. Finally, there is the dilemma of raising children. Be blunt about racial injustice, or shield them from it? It all sounds tough to deal with - harder than it should be, and proof we have not arrived at a true recognition and respect for diversity, as well as overcoming the stereotypes of African-Americans as inferior.

One theme that haunts Cose is the frequency with which he was told - yes, I've done very well indeed, but - who knows how far I could have gone without these obstacles to overcome? The sense of lost opportunities is stated by a number of interviewees.

I wish Bill Gates would read this book and take it seriously. It seems unfair that for these arguments to really get the publicity they deserve, a rich white guy would have to adopt the cause. But I do think this book has gotten less publicity and been taken less seriously than it should have. Being subtly nasty to those who've done everything right and worked hard, in addition to being unfair, is stupid because it means America loses out in many ways.
July 23, 2006

Jack and Jill

1. Classic.
2. A JackandJill-US.com must-have.
3. Inside the black upper class.
December 06, 2005

Great Analysis, An Important Read for everyone.

Ellis Cose presents a thoughtful, well researched book that investigates the complex nuances of racial discrimination. Cose chooses to focus in his book on middle and upper middle class blacks, who show the most dissatisfaction with their social and economic standing according to his research. The feeling of exclusion among this group of people runs deep, whether social exclusion in the mostly-white neighborhoods where many of the people interviewed for this book live, racial exclusion from other members of their race who do not enjoy the same economic standing, or professional exclusion from the track that leads to corporate success.

Cose begins by presenting several stories of middle class blacks who, for one reason or another, have a reason to be dissatisfied with their position in life. What is most striking about these stories is that they are not rich with examples of egregious racial discrimination (though a couple of them are), but that they are mostly stories of affluent blacks who have more or less "made it," in spite of having a deck stacked against them. It is here that Cose introduces his first common theme: though the people interviewed for his book were more successful than most Americans, they have no idea where they may have ended up had they been given a chance to fulfill their potential.

During the course of his numerous interviews with middle class black professionals, Cose found a curious pattern. There were approximately 12 common threads among the many stories he heard. The author named these common threads "The Dozen Demons." They were, in essence, the most common hurdles to the success of today's black professional. Managers would do well to study these 12 complaints, for they are not what most would guess them to be. In fact, more introspctive white managers might find that they unconciously engage in undermining behavior every day, without even knowing it. In this respecet, the book serves as a valuable tool for self-aware people who accept that racism exists, yet do not want to accept that condition.

The central theme of the book is that modern racism is less about hatred and hostility than it is about condescension. Since the implements of racism now have a decidedly lower profile, it is more difficult for people who are not the victims of racism to show much empathy or acknowledgement. That being the case, middle class blacks have generally tended to find that being vocal about racism is not a particularly effective means of creating dialogue. Instead, Cose observes, they tend to keep a low profile, stay outside the mainstream, and distance themselves emotionally from their white counterparts in order to cope. Unfortunately, many white people mistake this reaction for "reverse discrimination," or anti-white prejudice.

Rather than eliminate racism, it seems that Americans have instead eliminated many of the effective means of protesting, arguing against, or even identifying racism. It is becoming more fashionable to insist that race does not matter rather than start any meaningful discussion of the remaining efforts necessary to eliminate racism. When someone treats a black person with respect as an individual, it is a deed to be rewarded with praise. Yet white people expect that same treatment as a social norm.

Cose theorizes that the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s had the unfortunate effect of creating a great deal of "White Guilt". That white guilt is responsible for policies that see minorities as targets of charity, which serves to reinforce the low expectations and perception of laziness that unconciously pervade the minds of many white people.

The problem is not that people do not feel guilty enough, it is that they are in denial. Cose's work goes a long way toward opening eyes, if we can set our fear aside long enough to take a very hard look at ourelves. Reading this book is a good start.

March 20, 2005

Makes me wanna holler! Throw up both my hands.

Ellis Cose has written brilliantly with regard to the American Dilemma. This is without a doubt his best work. Cose has interviews with successful African-American men and women, including lawyers and corporate executives. What comes forth is a searing indictment of our society, and a warning with regard to (as James Baldwin wrote more than a generation ago) "the fire next time".

A central theme of the work makes clear that regardless of the rate of one's acknowledges material success; racial prejudice remains one of if not the most pervasive and oppressing impacts on the lives of people of color in this society.

"What is there to be angry about?", one may ask. Our President enjoys the benefits which have flowed to him solely due to his Father's success at Yale. At the same time, he decries as "unfair" a Law School's use of race to assist in determining which members of this generation will get to enjoy the same benefit. One person is unabashed about his ability to enjoy the blessings of an accident of birth. Another is challenged and denigrated for the temerity of seeking a corner of the same benefit.

Sometimes, seeing someone else explain the problem makes it not necessarily easier to deal with, but easier to understand (I guess in some way that leads to being easier to deal with). Often as I read this, I thought "yeah".

If the "privileged class", those who by virtually every yardstick appear to be "making it" (and have the most invested in this society) have this much rage, the feeling which is pervasive throughout much of the throughout the rest of Black America is something which must be resolved.

Anyone who thinks that we have got this problem of race in America solved ought to read this book.
January 29, 2003

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Black Bourgeoisie: The Book That Brought the Shock of Self-Revelation to Middle-Class Blacks in America
by E. Franklin Frazier

Color-Blind: Seeing Beyond Race in a Race-Obsessed World
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Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class
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The Envy of the World: On Being a Black Man in America
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Beyond Race and Gender: Unleashing the Power of Your Total Workforce by Managing Diversity
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