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Loading... The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person| 299 | 25 | 88,240 | 
(4.34) | 10 | Human Rights.
Politics.
Sociology.
Young Adult Nonfiction.
HTML: Writing from the perspective of a friend, Frederick Joseph offers candid reflections on his own experiences with racism and conversations with prominent artists and activists about theirsâ??creating an essential read for white people who are committed anti-racists and those newly come to the cause of racial justice.
"We don't see color." "I didn't know Black people liked Star Wars!" "What hood are you from?" For Frederick Joseph, life as a transfer student in a largely white high school was full of wince-worthy moments that he often simply let go. As he grew older, however, he saw these as missed opportunities not only to stand up for himself, but to spread awareness to those white people who didn't see the negative impact they were having.
Speaking directly to the reader, The Black Friend calls up race-related anecdotes from the author's past, weaving in his thoughts on why they were hurtful and how he might handle things differently now. Each chapter features the voice of at least one artist or activist, including Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give; April Reign, creator of #OscarsSoWhite; Jemele Hill, sports journalist and podcast host; and eleven others. Touching on everything from cultural appropriation to power dynamics, "reverse racism" to white privilege, microaggressions to the tragic results of overt racism, this book serves as conversation starter, tool kit, and invaluable window into the life of a former "token Black kid" who now presents himself as the friend many readers need. Backmatter includes an encyclopedia of racism, providing details on relevant historical events, terminology, and more.… (more) |
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To my mother and grandmother, who made sure this Black boy knew he was amazing — even when the world tried to teach him otherwise
â–ş
Brandon, this book is for you and millions of other Black and brown children who should be loved for all of your beauty and glory.  | |
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(Preface) To My Reader: I finished writing The Black Friend in 2019, but so much has happened in 2020, I feel like I have to address it. (Introduction) One of the most important lessons I learned when I was younger was that being a Black person in this world usually means that at some point, you're going to have to do things you don't enjoy. There's something special about firsts — you know, your first kiss, a baby's first steps, the first day of school, your first time deleting a message from your teacher so your parents don't know you got in trouble at school. | |
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If you feel you don’t need to read this book because you're already a decent white person, there’s a good chance you’re not as decent as you think. Instead, he turned on NPR (National Public Radio), which I’ve come to realize is like religion for liberal white people. All we asked them to do was respect us. Why won’t they just respect us?” (Cynthia) No one would be comfortable being racist around someone who truly stands against racism. If you still have racist friends or family members in your life, you aren’t truly standing against racism. ...those types of people shouldn’t feel comfortable in their racism around you. Those types of people should know you’re going to speak up, regardless of who they are. This might have been my first time understanding just how powerful white privilege could be and the power white people hold within the justice system. ...white people don’t have to change; they will be fine without doing so. But white people should change, because just being fine shouldn’t be good enough. Because Black kids don’t get to make mistakes. Black kids don’t get to be kids.  Black kids get judgment and bullets. You’ll remind people when they do something wrong that it’s not okay, and you’ll step in to be an accomplice when the moment calls for it. But you’re nothing like them, and that’s why we’re friends. | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English
None ▾Book descriptions Human Rights.
Politics.
Sociology.
Young Adult Nonfiction.
HTML: Writing from the perspective of a friend, Frederick Joseph offers candid reflections on his own experiences with racism and conversations with prominent artists and activists about theirsâ??creating an essential read for white people who are committed anti-racists and those newly come to the cause of racial justice.
"We don't see color." "I didn't know Black people liked Star Wars!" "What hood are you from?" For Frederick Joseph, life as a transfer student in a largely white high school was full of wince-worthy moments that he often simply let go. As he grew older, however, he saw these as missed opportunities not only to stand up for himself, but to spread awareness to those white people who didn't see the negative impact they were having.
Speaking directly to the reader, The Black Friend calls up race-related anecdotes from the author's past, weaving in his thoughts on why they were hurtful and how he might handle things differently now. Each chapter features the voice of at least one artist or activist, including Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give; April Reign, creator of #OscarsSoWhite; Jemele Hill, sports journalist and podcast host; and eleven others. Touching on everything from cultural appropriation to power dynamics, "reverse racism" to white privilege, microaggressions to the tragic results of overt racism, this book serves as conversation starter, tool kit, and invaluable window into the life of a former "token Black kid" who now presents himself as the friend many readers need. Backmatter includes an encyclopedia of racism, providing details on relevant historical events, terminology, and more. ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description |
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“We don’t see color.” “I didn’t know Black people liked Star Wars!” “What hood are you from?” For Frederick Joseph, life as a transfer student in a largely white high school was full of wince-worthy moments that he often simply let go. As he grew older, however, he saw these as missed opportunities not only to stand up for himself, but to spread awareness to those white people who didn’t see the negative impact they were having.
Speaking directly to the reader, The Black Friend calls up race-related anecdotes from the author’s past, weaving in his thoughts on why they were hurtful and how he might handle things differently now. Each chapter features the voice of at least one artist or activist, including Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give;April Reign, creator of #OscarsSoWhite; Jemele Hill, sports journalist and podcast host; and eleven others. Touching on everything from cultural appropriation to power dynamics, “reverse racism” to white privilege, microaggressions to the tragic results of overt racism, this book serves as conversation starter, tool kit, and invaluable window into the life of a former “token Black kid” who now presents himself as the friend many readers need. Backmatter includes an encyclopedia of racism, providing details on relevant historical events, terminology, and more. (