Faces at the Bottom of the Well

The Permanence of Racism

By: Derrick Bell, Michelle Alexander - introduction

Narrated by: Brad Raymond

The classic work on American racism and the struggle for racial justice

In Faces at the Bottom of the Well, civil rights activist and legal scholar Derrick Bell uses allegory and historical example to argue that racism is an integral and permanent part of American society. African American struggles for equality are doomed to fail so long as the majority of whites do not see their own well-being threatened by the status quo. Bell calls on African Americans to face up to this unhappy truth and abandon a misplaced faith in inevitable progress. Only then will blacks, and those whites who join with them, be in a position to create viable strategies to alleviate the burdens of racism. "Freed of the stifling rigidity of relying unthinkingly on the slogan 'we shall overcome,'" he writes, "we are impelled both to live each day more fully and to examine critically the actual effectiveness of traditional civil rights remedies."

Critic reviews

"Eerily prophetic, almost haunting, and yet at the same time oddly reassuring."—Michelle Alexander, from the Foreword

"Effective...chilling."—New York Times Book Review

"A disturbing but ultimately inspiring book."—San Francisco Chronicle

Excellent

Outstanding. 10/10. I highly recommend this book. Derrick Bell was ahead of his time.

Compelling Argument On Racism and it’s Permeating Existence in Society

The author gives quite a compelling, believable thesis as to why racism will forever be a permanent stain in our society. The short stories were a particular favorite especially Chapter 9 as much as it pains me to say if aliens gave that offer to whites they’d readily accept the terms of the contract without any forethought.

Informative

Continuing to expand my know of black culture and history in my quest for understanding

Content!

I like the content but I don’t like the “table of content.” The introduction, chapter titles and epilogue are missing and replaced by generic chapter labels! This makes it difficult to go back and reread specific chapters or to skip around and read them out of order. Each chapter is unique. So, it’s not a good idea to use generic chapter labels for them… Please fix it!

Simply perfect

This book opened my mind to possibilities I never knew I needed. simply perfect indeed!