Rating: 
Summary: a bit disappointing
Review: I had higher hopes from this much discussed book by the eminent Princeton professor. West begins with a personal anecdote about his difficulty hailing a cab in midtown Manhattan en route to his "photo-shoot." He seems to divide the world into three essential components, the first being himself, a renowned tenured Ivy League professor who drives "an elegent car," among other personal attributes. Second are the icey, heartless types who run the corporations that do nothing but worship something really bad called "the marketplace," and who bring suffering and pain to the people. Finally, there are the members of a very special community of caring and soulful folks who offer a shining beacon of decency to humanity through the example of their soul food and soul music. Basically, it seems that as long as the icey types run things, poor Professor West will have to take the subway, but when soulfulness runs the world, then Professor West can get a cab to his photo-shoot. I'll simply make one criticism of Professor West's logic: cab drivers in Manhattan aren't the icey types, they're immigrants from soulful countries like Jamaica, and their hesitancy to pick up Professor West has less to do with patriarchy, homophobia, racism or oppression of the workers than it does with a desire to make a living without running the risk of getting robbed. I found the rest of the book to be similarly lacking in illumination or insight.
Rating: 
Summary: Race Matters and the White American Male
Review: It is somewhat disturbing to read past reviews of Dr. West's work and find no middle ground. The reviews range from exalting to damning, but the issues are out of focus. As a white American male (veteran AND Republican), I am on the receiving end of Dr. West's criticisms...or am I? This (the reader review section) is where one can see evidence of the racial conflict Dr. West writes about. Self-loathing and guilt manifested as hate and distrust in a zero-sum world...and this is the world most of us were brought up in.If Dr. West is correct, and the subjugation of the African-American underclass is caused by Corporate White America, then what is to be done? Taxes and subsidies focused on social equality are out of fashion with a majority of White Americans because the question, "who benefits?" is rarely addressed in full. Unfortunately, for most, an acceptable answer is lacking in this particular analysis, but it should be obvious to anyone CHOOSING to read RACE MATTERS, that positive externalities exist on both sides of the racial divide. As a white American, reading RACE MATTERS is like asking a stranger to identify all the perceived shortcomings and failures embodied in your character. However, walking away and assuming a defensive posture, without ever asking "What can I do to change you perceptions?", is tantamount to failure in itself.
Dr. West's book is an excellent answer to the question most white Americans want answered..."What did I do to you?"
And although I may not agree with every solution or angle of criticism proposed by Dr. West, it most certainly initiates the discourse. This is where the benefit of his book is realized...in the discourse...and in the development of a common social ground.
Rating:
Summary: Ahhh! Yes!
Review: I waited nine years to read this book, and I have not been disappointed! Cornel West presents a vivid portrayal of the issues facing black America. In a very easy yet captivating manner, West meticulousness deals with politics, religion, and spirit that have all in one way or another contributed to or hindered American race relations. His appeal to a moral highroad as the solution is once again the prophetic message ringing to a devastated society as previously exclaimed by earlier freedom fighters. Race Matters is also a wonderful start for the person just becoming acquainted with West and the African-American plight. Simply indispensable.
Rating:
Summary: Astute and provocative!
Review: This is truly a great book that deals with an important and current issue. It sheds light on racism, discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes and scapegoating. Undeniably, Cornel West is a very eloquent and competent author. Moreover, he is very intelligent and persuasive. Most importantly, he provides strong arguments in favor of his viewpoints. However, even though I find this book illuminating and meticulous, there are, nevertheless, shortcomings. West's arguments are sometimes fallacious and ambiguous. To exemplify, West claims that black people become criminals mainly due to socioeconomic factors. According to West, poverty and social factors almost always lead to criminal behavior- learned helplessness hypothesis! This assertion has serious flaws. It is well-known that not all underprivileged people become criminals; this is irrefutable! Consequently, West fails to explain why some black individuals persist in face of numerous adversities, while others actively choose to become criminals. The fact that he does not take individual differences into consideration seriously undermines his work. Instead, West frequently makes sweeping generalizations. It is now widely accepted that overgeneralizations contribute to racial disparities. What I am implying here is that every individual is responsible for his actions. On that account, we all have the right to make active choices in life. Poverty and racial discrimination do not justify criminality. Indisputably, I can actively choose not to become a criminal and I am rest assured that this holds for all of us. West states in his book that majority of white people are biased and inimically disposed toward black people. However, West does not acknowledge that there are black people who are prejudiced too. Dividing people into categories based on one's race fosters racism and prejudice. Moreover, blaming the entire white race for the plights of black people is preposterous. It promotes hatred and suspicion. In spite of these criticisms, however, this book is interesting, informative and thought-provoking! Finally, West's difficult and elegant terminology makes him one of the best writers in English. This is incontestable.
Rating: 
Summary: a good place to start
Review: This book is a good place to begin learning about the challenges that face the African American population. Dr. West writes forcefully and bluntly about the plight of the African American. I was impressed with this book because it speaks to the plight of all oppressed people, not just African Americans. This book has also helped me to confront my own racism, classism, and sexism. Dr. West's writing style can be a bit daunting at times, but books on the topics he covers in his work should not be easy reads. This book will make you think, and I hope, will make you act.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone retreats or embraces relative to his/her station
Review: Rest assured, those who attempt to reduce West to the pregnant, media-induced notion of a "communist," a word that if people were using it in its original meaning and original context might possess them of an arguable viewpoint, are those who never did their homework. What they mean is "Communist," and the fact that they don't know the difference (which is not at all subtle, but simply springs from ignorance and thinking that must be discredited) means they without question don't know West.
West, a deeply religious thinker who further cements himself in the philosophical notions of Chekov and Kirkegaard, has in "Race Matters" begun the process of dialogue. Those who come to this - or any - book with the idea that the dialogue contained therein should - or can - be a wholly illuminating work without engagement with others are looking for brainwashing, and are consequently dissatisfied with the "failed" attempt at "convincing" them of a viewpoint; they are open and susceptible to claims of absolutist notions rather than a starting point for further discussion, and its no wonder that, in that context, these reviews focus so much on Marx and "Communism" as monolithic, zero-sum end analyses; such is our Oprahesque, television, solve-it-in-one-hour-with-commercials culture, one West rightly attacks with cogent, vigorous aplomb.
The reviews here, not unlike most everywhere, are far more reflective of the people who write them than they are of the work. Everyone rips or reveres Race Matters relative to their own station. The point that they miss is that in acting as a staring point for a discussion, Race Matters acts as the locomotive agent for West as he hopes to move us beyond relating everything to our personal circumstance and self-interest, a phenomenon exacerbated by the insular lives we lead: walled off physically from the rest of the world in our single-family superb-urban dwellings, and walled off mentally as we sit in darkened rooms as consumer/receptors for the tele-vision owned by the economic elites, we wait for our "consume" button to be triggered by the cathode images we have no choice but to receive as we delude ourselves by thinking that we make highbrow choices with regard to what we watch, what we "consume."
Recognize that to reduce your argument to the "isms" (Marxism, Communism, capitalism, racism) means that you have already missed the larger point of not only West's work, but the larger idea prevalent throughout his professional life: that education springs from resources, yes, but also from discipline, love from family, and love from community. You understand West only relative to your level of engagement with your family, with your community, and if you are possessed of living discipline. So when it comes to West (or Lani or Michael Eric, or William Julius or anyone else speaking to the notion that America has been and continues to be a goal and not a finished work of any sort)), turn off the television, and do your homework. Get your contexts together, then come back to the book. Maybe then, possibly, you might conditionally be able to tell me about the greatness of America. I would then tell you, in Cornel-ian fashion, about America in the simple context of every other forgettable empire; just as we today expend no energy in forgetting the Persians, future societies may forget us; staying on the course that we as a nation are on shows an America as a timed and fateful experiement in self-delusion, an experiment due to expire for lack of commitment to the notions espoused by West in Race Matters and other work. Do your homework.
Rating: 
Summary: Utter Nonsense, Poorly Written
Review: The best thing that we could do to Cornel West is laugh him out of academia. His book exposes exactly what is wrong with politicizing the academy. Read Roger Kimball's "Tenured Radicals" for a further explanation.
Rating:
Summary: Race Matters, but only one side
Review: I suggest you read this book to be remind why people especially in West's position should be more even handed and critical of their own views. He is a "University Professor" at Harvard but in this book of short sighted commentary he is nothing but a ringmaster for the white guilt circus. African Americans deserve better than this because so many look to him for expertise in the area of race, instead they find themselves being sold out.
Rating:
Summary: A book for us, perhaps?
Review: I am currently enjoying Race Matters, an intellectual discussion of issues facing Black America, complete with thought-provoking ideas on the causes, realities, and solutions of the problems brought up. I for some reason expected West to contradict my own views a lot and was pleasantly surprised to find that he is not some reactionary guy who just wants to stir up controversy. Rather, he is a deep thinker with a LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE. The last part of course should be a prerequisite for writing a book on the problems we face. West critiques both sides of almost every issue he discusses, honestly assessing the positive and negative aspects of the two viewpoints (eg. liberal and conservative views, black-Jewish relations, etc.). What comes out is that he desires more than anything realistic and penetrating analysis of our situation with, most importantly, a view to concrete solutions or at least pathways toward improvement. This is inspiring, because some people are content to just argue for the sake of arguing. Anyway, when I came to read amazon.com reviews of the book, I was shocked at first. The strong offense some readers took at the book really surprised me. I found myself asking, should white people maybe just not read stuff to do with black issues? Cornel West is far from being radical, yet many white people portrayed this book as being nearly racist(!) I felt like saying to them, just stay away from stuff to do with black people from now on. You're not gonna understand, so why bother? Now, to prospective readers, do I actually believe that if you're white, you shouldn't read this book? No. The above comments were coming from my strong reaction to some of the other reviews. And I don't even think that you have to be racist to disagree with Cornel (though he's so far from an extremist, it almost feels like it). This is intellectual discussion, so you can have a different point of view. My point of view is theat we need more thinkers like Cornel West in the world today.
Rating: 
Summary: The best argument I can think of against AA
Review: "Race Matters" is an Affirmative Action tour-de-force. That some people have even heard of Cornel West is testament to the success of "humanities": bottomless pits American universities dug solely for the purpose of throwing student's brains into.
West's masterwork has AA written all over it, and BS written inside of it. In it, he turgidly praises the efforts of American "progressives" -- Richard Nixon? -- who bypassed the Constitution to take the steps (over the backs of white males) necessary to implement AA, thereby giving oppressed bruthas like Cornel a chance. Without thinking, West dismisses the notion -- not the argument; the "notion" -- that AA be abolished, because, as he explains, "Given the history of this country, it is a virtual certainty that without affirmative action, racial and sexual discrimination would return with a vengeance." Now, I found that remark extremely peculiar seeing as how West is a Marxist, because one of the central tenants of Marxism is that the aim of any business is unmitigated profit. Why does West assume that businesses would all of a sudden impose limitations on their "profits" by denying themselves qualified black employees, which would leave them open to the risk of increased labor costs and poor competition? Whether he realized it at the time, West had implied that blacks make worse employees than white heterosexual males. Don't get me wrong -- it's not that I don't agree with him, it's just that I wish he'd been more forthright about it.
In addition, West urges whites to stop "ignoring the psychic pain that racism has inflicted" on what he euphemistically describes as "the urban poor." Aside from the fact that his sloppy determinist argument removes any responsibility from this easily identifiable group -- "urban poor," ha ha! -- I would urge West not to ignore the long history of city treasuries that have been sucked dry to support subsidized housing, welfare, and interventionist programs (like Head Start and the Milwaukee Project) to raise the scholastic performance of the urban poor's children, most of whom were knocked out for the welfare state he unabashedly supports. Note to Cornel: if you read "The Bell Curve," you'll discover this is not a group you want to encourage to breed. (I could go on, but you get the general idea.)
2 stars.
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