Introduction: Summary
In her book, White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide (2016), Carol Anderson develops an argument regarding the ongoing fight over racial equity. The central ideas are drawn up in the context of a historical survey of concentrated political and legal efforts to mitigate black American achievements toward justice. By integrating a set of historical research on sequential eras of the United States history, the author profoundly guides a reader through the key documented events concerning and initiates a critical conversation about race. They include the Reconstruction period, the Great Migration, Brown v. Board of Education and Jim Crow, the “war on drugs,” mass incarceration, and the contemporary voter suppression measures following Barack Obama’s election to the presidency (Anderson, 2016, p. 4). Therefore, White Rage serves as an essential correction to the common narratives of sustained United States progress in establishing racial justice and also plays a role of a handbook examining the nature of structural racism itself.
Critical Ideas of Injustice
White Rage (2016) is a significant resource for justice-minded American communities, which aims at developing an efficient strategy for reinforcing the struggle for equity. The primary goal of this book review implies identifying the three most important ideas of injustice delivered by Anderson and analyzing them from the perspective of the victim. One of the most powerful insights provided in the book implies that the issue of white rage and white backlash is a recurring problem in American society. This issue is deeply investigated by Anderson (2016) starting from the Civil War, the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, and, most importantly, throughout its progression with Barack Obama’s ascent to the White House. More specifically, there is a perpetual white reaction to every action of African-American advancement.
The author attempts to substitute broader surveys of court decisions and regulations with a more specific analysis of individual cases. The second crucial idea is based on the systematic white supremacy and the general subtleness of the issue. To be more specific, Anderson (2016) argues that white rage is a subtle and corrosive phenomenon, which operates through the state legislatures, Congress, judiciary, and school boards, and covers behind the legalities. Thus, it is necessary to trace the white rage throughout time. Most importantly, the author emphasizes that the presence of Black people is not the trigger for white backlash, but the presence of black people with ambition, drive, and aspirations. Finally, the third critical idea of injustice presented in the book is grounded in the Black respectability and appropriate behavior, referring to the lack of protection of the Black success and achievements. White rage has considerably undermined democracy and weakened the nation’s ability to compete economically, laying the ground for the ongoing fight for racial equity.
Recurring Issue of White Backlash
With regard to the underlying framework of the book, Anderson (2016) presents the Black community of the United States as the main victim of American society and historical development through the decades. As such, each of the analyzed ideas in this book is considered from the perspective of the Black American citizen, as the victim engaged in the recurring fight for racial justice. The first important idea of racial injustice advocates for the repetition of white rage and white backlash in American history. Hence, every action of the African-American person has always received a white American reaction. From the victim’s perspective, the representatives of the Black community in the United States undergo a painful and horrendous experience, which is also in many ways dispiriting for the Blacks. Furthermore, it is an ongoing cycle in the history of the country.
White Rage masterfully determined recurring patterns of white rhetorical strategies over the course of American history. In addition, Anderson believes that American society is wallowed in “the language of black pathology”(Emory University, 2018). The white citizens always tend to accuse the Blacks of undervaluing education, safety and integrity, property, and many others. However, throughout history, the Black community demonstrated an incredible drive, resilience, and creativity. The abundance of such creativity, along with the refusal to accept subjugation, promoted this anger within the larger white community based on the deeply-embedded racial bias. These movements had led to a massive and recurring white backlash. For instance, when Mayor Johnny Smith of Detroit proclaimed that any African-American is responsible for inciting a race war, he forecasted the arguments of southern opponents of Brown. Anderson recognized a highly critical pattern that needs to be emphasized in a “modern political climate” full of controversial claims (Hauge, 2017, p. 197). The latter include that diversity initiatives in institutions are heavy-handed, the elimination of non-white peoples’ immigration as necessary to preserve social cohesion, or the obsession with diversity.
Systematic White Supremacy and its Subtleness
The kindling of the white rage and white backlash can be examined through the lens of the invisible violence posed by white society. According to the author, white supremacy and racial aggression is a subtle, invisible societal issue, which “cloaks themselves in legitimacies” (Emory University, 2018). One cannot see the implication of racism and its real consequences until the massive rage and reactions from both sides. Therefore, white backlash needs to be traced in terms of American history up to the Civil War and all the way through. As mentioned before, the enhancement of white rage is inherently linked to the presence of Black people with strong and sound ambitions, drive, aspirations, achievements, refusal to accept their subjugation, and demand for their rights. Thus, black resilience and resolve were punished by the white rage and the existing society.
Anderson states that such a critical idea of racial injustice in American society is perceived as counter-intuitive because the United States is commonly considered the land of opportunities. Such a notion is deeply grounded in the cultural language of the country. However, there still exist a series of policies that punish the achievements of the Black people, which affect every aspect of the life of the Black community, including high-quality education. For instance, Prince Edward County became one of the school districts that was bundled into the Brown case (a historic decision of the U.S. Supreme Court advocating against the unconstitutional state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools). White children continue to be educated with access to the white segregated private academies, which leaves nothing for thousands of Black children. When the schools of Prince Edward County were closed for five years, it was time for the United States economy to transform from a manufacturing-based economy to a technology-driven knowledge-based economy. This is how the governments and school boards left the Black children without education.
Black Respectability and Appropriate Behavior
White backlash does not have to be brought to the streets with the bullets to be recognized. White rage is, in fact, lead by the sense of respectability by having access to “the courts, police, legislators, and governors,” which consider their efforts noble (Hauge, 2017, p. 196). The failure of the Brown case facilitated systemic racism and biased inequities in American society. The racial injustice also touches upon inequalities in policing, housing, voting, and employment. Therefore, this characterizes the inappropriate social behavior towards the Black community. Moreover, Anderson (2016) reminds the readers that many white people demonstrated complete contempt for Obama as the first Black president. Such a historical and political event in U.S. history failed to achieve unity in racial relations.
Anderson points out that Black Americans contributed way more than any white Americans in building the United States, however, they are the least respected class of Americans. In addition, the author reveals the main argument of the book, which implies that whites use their power as “the status quos” in order to repel the rights and opportunities of blacks (Anderson, 2016, p. 54). The current American society needs to reinforce its focus on tolerating respectable social behavior free of racial bias and injustice within political, educational, and economic areas of life. With this said, White Rage provides us with a fundamental reminder about the critical instability and the ongoing struggle for racial equity in the United States. The Black community is forced repeatedly to find new ways to exercise their citizenship in the country after the Emancipation Proclamation in terms of voting, securing jobs, and owning property.
Conclusion
In the course of American history, white backlash significantly prevented the Blacks from becoming rightful citizens. Anderson (2016) illustrated the prevalence of inadequate race relations and yet widespread racial divide. To conclude, White Rage by Anderson (2016) has the power to reshape American society and promote an essential conversation, mainly between the white people, concerning a more just future without racial injustice. This review examined three important ideas of injustice presented in the book from the victim’s perspective of a Black American. Each idea is analyzed through the lens of social, economic, political, educational, and historical aspects of life and, thus, presents three crucial arguments that do not endorse white supremacy and disagree with the allegedly established tolerating society and black respectability. The American society needs to understand that the work of powerful reconciliation cannot be done alone and, thus, requires well-aware and respectful members to ensure an equitable future.
References
Anderson, C. (2016). White rage: The unspoken truth of our racial divide. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Emory University. (2018). White rage: The unspoken truth of our nation’s divide [Video]. Web.
Hauge, D. J. (2017). White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. Journal of Pastoral Theology, 27(3), 195–198.