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How Systemic Racism Devastates Black Lives—and How We Break Free
by Tricia Rose
The definitive book on how systemic racism in America really works, revealing the vast and often hidden network of interconnected policies, practices, and beliefs that combine to devastate Black lives.
In recent years, condemnations of racism in America have echoed from the streets to corporate boardrooms. At the same time, politicians and commentators fiercely debate racism's very existence. And so, our conversations about racial inequalities remain muddled.
In Metaracism, pioneering scholar Tricia Rose cuts through the noise with a bracing and invaluable new account of what systemic racism actually is, how it works, and how we can fight back. She reveals how—from housing to education to criminal justice—an array of policies and practices connect and interact to produce an even more devastating "metaracism" far worse than the sum of its parts. While these systemic connections can be difficult to see—and are often portrayed as "color-blind"—again and again they function to disproportionately contain, exploit, and punish Black people.
By helping us to comprehend systemic racism's inner workings and destructive impacts, Metaracism shows us also how to break free—and how to create a more just America for us all.
"Throughout this trenchant book, Rose's analysis is rigorous, insightful, and lucid, and her language glimmers with lyrical clarity…A brilliant guide to a systemic malady that cannot be denied." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Marshalling extensive evidence into a lucid and powerful narrative, Rose provides an essential new look at American inequality. Even readers well versed in the topic will have their eyes opened by this cogent analysis." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Rose is a brilliant scholar who has been on the cutting edge of every concept she's touched. I read everything she writes and always learn from her insights and analyses." —Imani Perry, National Book Award–winning author of South to America
"This book will be the most definitive and comprehensive treatment of systemic racism we have from the academy for the larger culture in America! There is simply no one better equipped to write this magisterial text than Rose! She brings together the best of sociological analysis, cultural criticism, and brilliant prose!" —Cornel West, New York Times–bestselling author of Democracy Matters
"Rose is one of our most powerful and profound public intellectuals. Her work on systemic racism is groundbreaking in its ability to elucidate the myriad ways in which we are still blind to how race operates under the surface of every American encounter. This book will become essential reading for anyone seriously interested in understanding the ways racism is seamlessly reproduced in this culture." —Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times–bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop
"Rose is one of our most dynamic and thoughtful public intellectuals today, and in her new book, Metaracism, she gives us the gift of sight. At a time when terms like 'structural racism' and 'systemic racism' are tossed around in the political fires with little rigor or reflection, Metaracism provides a much-needed primer on the real-world meaning of the problem. From housing to education, economic inequality to the criminal justice system, Rose invites us to see that the roots of racism run deep and are pervasive in the traumatic suffering we have witnessed in our time—of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Kelley Williams-Bolar, and so many others. We must not only say their names. We must be able to name the reasons why. In this critical text, Rose helps us to do just that." ―Henry Louis Gates Jr., New York Times–bestselling author of Stony the Road
This information about Metaracism was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Tricia Rose is Chancellor's Professor of Africana Studies and the director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. The author of three books, including The Hip Hop Wars, she has received fellowships from the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, and her research has been funded by the Mellon and Robert Wood Johnson Foundations.
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