Thomas Chatterton Williams

I received a free copy of this book to review. I don't believe that has biased my review or my rating.

A contemplation, a memoir, but overall an indictment, of race -not racism, not race-because-people-think-race-is-real, but race itself- couched in and springing from William's having "white" (or able-to-pass, or Black, or ???) children.

It may sound crazy to say it, here in late 2020, with Trump still in the running for a second term, with police shootings and Black Lives Matter firmly in the zeitgeist, with Twitter frenzies and blasts and counter-blasts from e.g. the NYT opinion pages about cancel culture, wokeness, White privilege, and all the rest... but, maybe the time is about to right for something like the message here. Not colorblindness, not Identity Uber Alles, not wokeness, not reaction, but a hard look at racism and race, and an imminently reasonable question (Williams puts it so much better): Why the fuck are we still doing race, indeed actively enforcing race on people (anywhere, but not least as part of "anti-racism"?)… (more)

An engaging memoir that is somewhere between 40% and 90% really social criticism. I'm not sure 100% of the blame Williams puts on "hip-hop culture" belongs there; some of the e.g. anti-intellectualism, "fear of books" or fear of being a nerd, etc. is common to much of American culture. On the flip side, that perhaps makes the question of why more "white boys" were able to "compartmentalize" those things more pressing... This and many other things are left unsaid and uninvestigated.

Those critiques aside, an engaging memoir with, yes, some engaging if not deep cultural criticism. I'd compare this to [b:Buck: A Memoir|16169867|Buck A Memoir|M.K. Asante|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1377634358l/16169867._SX50_.jpg|22016569] but I give this 1 because it is far more critical and less... I can't quite put my finger on it. Williams seems to grow much more; Asante, to a great extent, just doesn't (and, in my mind, maybe retrogresses in his total and complete acceptance of his father's e.g. actions toward his family.)… (more)

Interesting thoughts and points on how we still cling to a specific race even if that may be a very small component of our natural heritage. Also shows up that there is a certain pugnacious glee in clinging to a previously victimized group and waving the victim banner as if in victory. I just wish the author hadn't sat at a lectern and read me his paper. I'd much rather have had some energy and emotion in his voice as well as a varying of pitch and tempo. A very robotic delivery which lessens the effect and immediacy of the information.… (more)