Race War in America: A Book Report

Some people - both black and white - would probably like it very much, and would probably think that Rowan is very realistic in what he has to say. However, it seems to me that he is only spewing hateful and ugly words most of the time, instead of really looking at the problems, whether they are actually real, and how they can best be solved. If he were expressing his upset in a more realistic manner more people would take his book seriously and be more likely to do something that the problems that may be out there. It is no secret that race relations are still not where they should be in this country, and there is still a lot of prejudice out there in American today.

The days of slavery are long past, but granting a race equal rights under the law does not mean that race is automatically granted equal rights in the minds of all the people in a country. Racism still exists in many ways and in many places. It is understandable that Rowan is angry about this, but not as understandable that he cannot address it in such a way that other people feel his pain. It almost seems as though his type of talk is contributing to the problem rather than looking at ways to solve it. The book added very little to my knowledge other than to show me that the hate that blacks have for whites (in some cases) can be very strong - it makes some of them prejudice against whites, just as there are white people who still have strong prejudices against blacks. The 'forgive and forget' mentality that would be so nice is not completely there yet for everyone in this country.

In my own life, there is also not much that I can do to use anything from this book. It was interesting from the standpoint that I was amazed at how angry Rowan seemed through most of it. I was surprised that it was published because it seemed like a rant. I am not at all prejudiced against any race, but I did feel that Rowan was only hurting his cause by many of his words.He seemed too harsh and too willing to place blame based on race. None of that will solve the problems that have been seen throughout this country since the times of slavery. I did not think that the book was very interesting strictly from the standpoint of having valuable information, though, because there was really nothing new in it. Rowan did not present real, important, factual issues with suggested solutions that had merit. That would have been a much more interesting and valuable contribution to race relations.

The book was not confusing, but it was repetitive and it would have been better if Rowan had not spent so much time lamenting the moral day of the country and instead started coming up with ways to be more helpful. Addressing how things could be made better in a realistic manner is always more valuable to me than listening to the same old problems. Even with Rowan's anger, I think I would have basically liked the book if he would have addressed things from the standpoint of how to solve his concerns. Instead he only played 'the blame game,' which never solves anything at all. I am sure that there is some blame that does belong to white people, just as there is some blame that belongs to black people. However, learning to work together and continuing to try to solve our differences in productive ways is the only realistic solution that I see toward making the world a better place for individuals of all races and nationalities to call home.

Bibliography

Rowan, Carl T. (1996). The Coming Race War in America: A Wake Up Call. New York: Little, Brown,….....