Books about racism

[JhKreisler]

We all know Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison,
but do you know any more books which are specifically about racism?

[keilj]

I'm gonna sound like a broken record, recommending Sinclair Lewis books all the time - but Kingsblood Royal is a great examination/engagement of racism in America. In it Lewis nearly "satirizes racism into impotence", as one reviewer put it.

The book really is an honest and unabashed examination of racism

[myrna22]

We all know Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison,
but do you know any more books which are specifically about racism?

Specifically to do with racism:

Native Son, Richard Wright
Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin
Master Harold and the Boys, Athol Fugard
The Autobiography of Malcom X, Malcom X & Arthur Hailey
Roots, Arthur Hailey
Go Tell It on the Mountain, James Baldwin
Black Boy, Richard Wright
Beloved, Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Ernest Gaines



Racism as a major theme:

Othello, Shakespeare
House Made of Dawn, N. Scott Momaday
The Jewel in the Crown, Paul Scott
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Little Big Man, Thomas Berger
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

[billl]

A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, by Frederick Douglass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Narrative_of_the_Life_of_Frederick_Douglass,_an_ American_Slave

This is an amazing document of racism/slavery in the U.S. Hard to pick a better choice if one wants to understand slavery in the U.S. during the 19th Century.

[Pryderi Agni]

In modern fiction, John Grisham's A Time To Kill is an excellent novel that revolves around racism, though that's not its central theme.

[keilj]

Racism as a major theme:


Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain



I wouldn't put Huck Finn in a category of racism as a major theme. I don't know why so many people do that - it is a book about a boy avoiding responsibilities.

If anything, Twain's Puddnhead Wilson tackles racism much more directly, and devotes more of the novel on racism, than Huck Finn


Also, as a personal preference, I would not recommend Malcolm X, and would instead strongly recommend any of Dr. King's essays and short books. Malcolm's autobiography is very skewed, filled with one-sided and therefore flawed logic. As far as non-fiction, I would much more quickly recommend anything by William Wilson or Cornel West

[myrna22]

I wouldn't put Huck Finn in a category of racism as a major theme. I don't know why so many people do that - it is a book about a boy avoiding responsibilities.

If anything, Twain's Puddnhead Wilson tackles racism much more directly, and devotes more of the novel on racism, than Huck Finn


Also, as a personal preference, I would not recommend Malcolm X, and would instead strongly recommend any of Dr. King's essays and short books. Malcolm's autobiography is very skewed, filled with one-sided and therefore flawed logic. As far as non-fiction, I would much more quickly recommend anything by William Wilson or Cornel West

One of the main themes of Huckleberry Finn is Jim's slavery, a slavery which is based on racism. The river symbolizes freedom, the river trip symbolizing the quest for freedom. Indirectly, Jim escapes slavery via the river. You are correct, Puddnhead Wilson does address racism quite directly; I had not thought of it as it has been so many years since I read it. However, much of the satire in Huckleberry Finn is about racism: it takes place in a culture wherein blacks were considered sub-human and stupid, yet Jim is smart, wise, and to Huck, a warm, loving, and responsible father figure, very much in contrast to Huck's real father, a white man. The novel is full of subtext that addresses the issues of racism. The reason Huckleberry Finn is a novel that has had such a long lasting effect and so much respect as one of the most valued novels ever written is because it is a complex, many layered satire very deftly written. Puddnhead Wilson is a much simpler novel, essentially a one idea novel, the idea being, you are right: racism. Huckleberry Finn has several themes, one of which, and it is a major theme, is racism.

You have also missed the point of The Autobiography of Malcom X. He was an exceedingly complex man with a brilliant mind who, because of American racism, lost his way. In the end, he found it and understood that it was not race that was the issue, that made people what they are, but each individual's character. He came to, essentially, the same conclusion as Dr. King, but by a very, very different route. The book is fascinating and very much about racism. An extremely important scene in the book is when Malcom Little recounts a meeting with his high school advisor. Though Malcom was one of the brightest and most successful students in his high school graduating class, he was advised to seek vocational training, such as carpentry, because he was a 'negro' and those occupations were best suited to 'negroes.' This to someone who would, had he been white, been a prime candidate for university. This moment in time was a turning point in the young man's life and set in place his downward spiral which eventually landed him in prison, where he became a self educated man, but also where he became a Black Muslim, in an effort to reclaim his dignity as a man and as a human being. As we all know, he was then himself a fervent racist, calling the white man 'the devil.' Later he traveled to Mecca where he found that many Muslims were white skinned and blue eyed and he had an epiphany and realized that race was not what made people what they were but character and that racism in America was a sickness that some people had, but not all. He then broke from the group of Black Muslims he had been with, began preaching his new found understanding, and was assassinated by them. This is all about racism, racism and finding one's identity. Nothing skewed about it. If you are basing your impression of the book on the film and have not read the book, the film was not a good retelling of the book. Very poor and disappointing, imo.

[hellsapoppin]

Manchild In The Promised Land by Claude Brown. Big favorite in the late 60s.

Down These Mean Streets Piri Thomas - Puerto Rican ghetto life in NYC, 1940s-1960s.

Soul On Ice by Eldridge Cleaver.

Custer Died For Your Sins by Vine Deloria, Jr


I'll think of more later on ...

[eric.bell]

An interesting take on racism can be found in the pages of Look Out, Whitey! Black Power’s Gonna’ Get Your Mama, a series of essays on racism and black power, by Julias Lester. I found it quite interesting and read through it in one setting.

[janesmith]

"My Place" by Sally Morgan. A really interesting novel which focuses on the Australian aboriginal perspective.

[hellsapoppin]

A definitive anthology on the subject by MLK:


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AFNTZ21AL._SCLZZZZZZZ_AA250_A-Testament-of-Hope-The-Essential-Writings-and-Speeches-of-Martin-Luther-King-Jr.jpg





http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AFNTZ21AL._SCLZZZZZZZ_AA250_A-Testament-of-Hope-The-Essential-Writings-and-Speeches-of-Martin-Luther-King-Jr.jpg

[keilj]

A definitive anthology on the subject by MLK:


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AFNTZ21AL._SCLZZZZZZZ_AA250_A-Testament-of-Hope-The-Essential-Writings-and-Speeches-of-Martin-Luther-King-Jr.jpg





http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AFNTZ21AL._SCLZZZZZZZ_AA250_A-Testament-of-Hope-The-Essential-Writings-and-Speeches-of-Martin-Luther-King-Jr.jpg


:iagree: strongly

[Dark Lady]

It's been years since I read it but I remember liking the young adult novel Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. It's set in a fictional world where racism exists with black people subjugating white people.

[hellsapoppin]

For the past several days I've been thinking about this subject. I have read dozens of books about it and couldn't come up with more titles. Finally, last night just before I went to bed a list of books came up in my mind:


I Never Had It Made - autobio of Jackie Robinson

Only the Ball Was White - Robert Peterson

The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Or, Africa for the Africans

The Souls of Black Folk - WEB DuBois

Here I Stand - Paul Robeson

A Choice of Weapons - Gordon Parks



All of these are excellent books.

[myrna22]

For the past several days I've been thinking about this subject. I have read dozens of books about it and couldn't come up with more titles. Finally, last night just before I went to bed a list of books came up in my mind:

I Never Had It Made - autobio of Jackie Robinson

Only the Ball Was White - Robert Peterson

The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Or, Africa for the Africans

The Souls of Black Folk - WEB DuBois

Here I Stand - Paul Robeson

A Choice of Weapons - Gordon Parks



All of these are excellent books.



I don't know if we have heard back from the OP, but I do think he/she was asking about novels, fiction, or perhaps plays. Stories anyway. jmo I suppose. That was my impression of the initial post.

[hellsapoppin]

It says "books about racism". It does not say "fiction about racism". Therefore, I assume these others are acceptible. Previously, the bios of Frederick Douglass and Malcom X (which you wrote about) have been listed. Again, without any hint of objection, I assume these are acceptible as well.

[myrna22]

It says "books about racism". It does not say "fiction about racism". Therefore, I assume these others are acceptible. Previously, the bios of Frederick Douglass and Malcom X (which you wrote about) have been listed. Again, without any hint of objection, I assume these are acceptible as well.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a biography, a well written 'story' of a life, and therefore similar to fiction in the sense of being a story with setting, conflict, character, and so on.

I just think that it would have been obvious to the OP that there are many 'books' about racism, discussion of racism, theories about racisim, etc. It is a topic easily researched if one wants non-fiction books on it. He mentioned The Invisible Man, which is a work of fiction, and asked for more of the same type of 'books.' I am not suggesting what is 'acceptable' or not, just wondering why the OP would ask for books that discuss racism when it would be so easy to find any number of them; whereas, it would not be so easy, obvious or direct to find novels/fiction/stories whose essential theme or topic is racism.

[MrRegular]

Look in the African American section.

[MrMojoRisin]

I'm stepping into the anomaly.

"Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich" by Mark Kriegal.

Ah, all right, so the major theme of the book isn't about racism, but I'll tell you why I'm tossing this suggestion out there:

Pete Maravich is largely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all-time. He's touted to be "ahead of his time". He had an enthralling college career at LSU, but his ten-year tenure in the NBA was marred by injuries and sporadic depression.

So, where's the racism? I'll tell you: he played in the NBA during the 1970s. Where? For the most part Atlanta and New Orleans. Let's keep in mind that both cities are Southern cities, and back in the '70s the teams were comprised, by the most part, of black players.

There's a stereotype that's painted of the "average basketball player" as being a black player who's flashy with the basketball (in other words: can cross over and toss the ball behind the back no matter how precarious the situation appears to be).

Maravich was a flashy white player, which was an anomaly in and of itself considering that the other stereotype has always been that whites were too involved in the fundamentals of basketball (aka "the boring side of the game"). On the two teams he played for (before the one-and-done season in Boston with Bill Fitch), he was the highest paid player among his black teammates. The black players had much contempt for Maravich, apparently, as some guys refused to pass the ball to Pistol, resulting in one P/O'ed Maravich. They didn't like to the fact that he 'played like them.' In fact, they hated it, and looked to defenestrate Maravich and ostracize him from playing. Ultimately, after a couple of banged up knees and a depressed mind, Maravich walked away from pro basketball in 1980.

The book is a great read about the rise and fall of 'The Pistol.' I highly recommend it to anybody interested in basketball.

[hellsapoppin]

"there are many 'books' about racism"

Some of the readings I mentioned give a historical perspective and that should add much to one's readings on the subject. When combined, fiction and non-fiction reading will shed much light on life as it was under segregated times.

[JhKreisler]

I don't know if we have heard back from the OP, but I do think he/she was asking about novels, fiction, or perhaps plays. Stories anyway. jmo I suppose. That was my impression of the initial post.

It's he; ) and novels, biographies, plays, it's all good:)

[Pecksie]

Karel Schoeman's 'The Promised Land' is an interesting take on racism in South Africa...