White Rage

The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide

By: Carol Anderson

Narrated by: Pamela Gibson

Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

National Book Critics Circle Award winner, Criticism, 2016.

As Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in August 2014 and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as 'black rage', historian Carol Anderson wrote a remarkable op-ed in the Washington Post showing that this was, instead, 'white rage at work. With so much attention on the flames,' she wrote, 'everyone had ignored the kindling.'

Since 1865 and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, every time African Americans have made advances towards full participation in our democracy, white reaction has fueled a deliberate and relentless rollback of their gains. The end of the Civil War and Reconstruction was greeted with the Black Codes and Jim Crow; the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision was met with the shutting down of public schools throughout the South while taxpayer dollars financed segregated white private schools; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 triggered a coded but powerful response: the so-called Southern Strategy and the War on Drugs that disenfranchised millions of African Americans while propelling presidents Nixon and Reagan into the White House.

Carefully linking these and other historical flash points when social progress for African Americans was countered by deliberate and cleverly crafted opposition, Anderson pulls back the veil that has long covered actions made in the name of protecting democracy, fiscal responsibility, or protection against fraud, rendering visible the long lineage of white rage.

Compelling and dramatic in the unimpeachable history it relates, White Rage will add an important new dimension to the national conversation about race in America.

©2016 Carol Anderson (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"Narrator Pamela Gibson perfectly conveys the insightful research and writing in this book about civil rights in the U.S. by an Emory University historian. Anderson contends that when African-Americans make even the slightest progress, a subtle, almost invisible, white rage in the form of opposition reverses what little progress has been made. An example is the current suppression of Black votes under the guise of voter fraud prevention. Gibson's delivery registers rage and compassion where appropriate. No one - from Lincoln to Trump - escapes criticism. Hard truths and supporting citations are clearly stated, leaving no confusion for listeners. Also, Gibson ably presents Anderson's unexpected humor, for example, when she talks about the current paralysis of the U.S. Senate." (AudioFile Magazine)

Pick up your Torch

This book was very enlightening for me. It went into great detail of the views and actions of the American leaders like never before. The main thing that caught me was the evolution of our racially injust system and how it has never really stopped, instead it has evolved into a legal battle. I am a black man and this will be my first time voting in the upcoming election. It enraged me to know that the same vote that my ancestors have fought hard to receive has not fully been reclaimed. I've taken this book as a cause for me to get more involved in politics and to help improve the lives of the "Least of these" in America.

White Rage: driven, dramatic, a must read

White Rage is already stunning for it's title, for it puts racism very much in the present tense and the moral burden where it should be. Anderson takes us from Reconstruction to Ferguson showing a long history of injustices that are still operating today. Maybe the saddest for me was the failure of school and housing integration that makes us a virtually apartheid country (Jonathan Kozol, Shame of the Nation.) I wish she went into the psychology of white rage a bit more.

Totally Wow!!!

Wish this would change but I know the reality of life in the U.S. We have had more than 100+ years to change this. Truly saddened!

An outstanding work

This it's a very detailed analysis of how white anger and outrage has been channelled into actions and systems of control for containing blacks and other minorities.

Absolutely Awesome

This book was explosive for me! The author did a masterful job of chronicling from Reconstruction to present the systematic white backlash of any progress that Black People have made in America! It is well worth the investment to gain the knowledge that is contained in this work! In fact, I would go as far as to say this should be required reading in every Black home! This is a must for your library!

Interesting Research!

This is an effective, well-researched account of systemic racism in the US. It covers a lot of territory and history from slavery to the present day. I found most of the information a must-read for people who might not understand what underlying forces sustain racism. I can tell that great care was taken to find positive correlations between policies, historical trends, preconceptions and the systemic factors at work. I think that the book is a great book for an advanced level high school class on social studies or for those working on undergrad papers related to race and identity politics in general. Pamela Gibson does a good read. The book itself, and perhaps my only gripe, attacks today's white rage with a fairly far-reaching probe in the past that has a couple of holes in several areas that needed filling. Don't get me wrong, I didn't find any morose errors, but wanted a more meticulous understanding of several points. This lack of detail seems to stem from writing for a general audience as opposed to writing for academics. Great read, regardless.

Should be required reading!

Our school curriculum in the United States does such an abysmal job teaching the racial issues that are threaded throughout our everyday lives. I find people are exceedingly ignorant regarding black issues and this leads to several misunderstandings. White Rage is a short book chronicling the systemic, psychological, and often times heinous backlash to black advancement over the years starting with slavery and ending with the irrationally exaggerated reaction to the Presidency of Barack Obama. Should be included in everyone's reading list.

Not what I was expecting (but buy it)

Granted I had no idea what to expect. This was one of those Audible recommended titles that I purchased on a whim. I listened to this on a long flight and boy am I glad I did. It really angered me as the history that I was taught in public schools glossed over the plight of blacks in America in an almost criminal way. I feel a little sick knowing that my education portrayed Jim Crow in oversimplified caricature that grossly understates the systematic violence of the era.
I hate the concept of black history in the sense that I think American history should better represent the past. I appreciate the author for taking the time to put this one together and boy am I glad that Audible recommended this book for me to consider.
Granted when I bought the book, I didn’t know what I was getting and was a little concerned it would be a glen beck type that would anger me for completely different reasons.

Robotic voiceover

I made it barely a chapter through the audio version. The voice has so little inflection and sounds like a robot, which does nothing to support the passionate writing and important subject matter that this book addresses. I will be purchasing the print version so I can finish the book.

Very informative

Very informative at the beginning but the last hour is a bit over the top