Some of My Best Friends Are Black
Books | Social Science / Ethnic Studies / American / African American & Black Studies
Tanner Colby
An irreverent, yet powerful exploration of race relations by the New York Times-bestselling author of The Chris Farley ShowFrank, funny, and incisive, Some of My Best Friends Are Black offers a profoundly honest portrait of race in America. In a book that is part reportage, part history, part social commentary, Tanner Colby explores why the civil rights movement ultimately produced such little true integration in schools, neighborhoods, offices, and churches—the very places where social change needed to unfold. Weaving together the personal, intimate stories of everyday people—black and white—Colby reveals the strange, sordid history of what was supposed to be the end of Jim Crow, but turned out to be more of the same with no name. He shows us how far we have come in our journey to leave mistrust and anger behind—and how far all of us have left to go.
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Tanner Colby
Pages
320
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2013-07-30
ISBN
0143123637 9780143123637
Community ReviewsSee all
"Maddening, shocking, frustrating and infuriating: these are a few terms that came to mind as I read Tanner Colby's terrific look at the successes and (mostly) failures of racial integration. Wisely focusing on 4 areas of American life within his personal experience, Colby probes the hypocrisies and bad decisions behind school desegregation in Alabama; redlining, blockbusting and restrictive covenants in Kansas City; "ethnic niche" advertising in New York; and racially divided parishes in Catholic New Orleans. Unlike many histories of desegregation, Colby highlights the reasons why many African Americans opposed, and continue to oppose "color blind" institutions: fear of continued white hostility yes, but also a pride in the historic black schools, neighborhoods and churches which often disappeared after the Civil Rights movement. Full of vivid anecdotes from a variety of witnesses of both races, <i>Some of My Best Friends</i> should be read by anyone who truly wants to understand the challenges and perils involved in creating a racially equitable society."
Lesley Williams
"Yes. A very good read. "
Marcie Gillespie McTaggart