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Summary: A marvelous literary work that gets to the heart of racism
Review: As a student of sociology and contemporary critical literature, I find this book to be of indescribable significance. As White Americans, what we often miss is that the issues of race and class inequality are just as present today as they were before the Civil-Rights movements. What this movement did is bring these problems to the attention of mainstream, White America-yet it did not solve it in any way. In these essays, Bell Hooks does an especially nice job of making it apparent that all White America has done about the issues of race and class is "slip it under the rug." Some readers have found her writings to be evidence of ranting and raving or the victimization of Black Americans. It has been said that she hates Whites. Yet these comments are evidence that White America desperately needs to face its prejudiced views-and Bell Hooks shows provides us with a wonderful opportunity to do so. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: A marvelous literary work that gets to the heart of racism
Review: As a student of sociology and contemporary critical literature, I find this book to be of indescribable significance. As White Americans, what we often miss is that the issues of race and class inequality are just as present today as they were before the Civil-Rights movements. What this movement did is bring these problems to the attention of mainstream, White America-yet it did not solve it in any way. In these essays, Bell Hooks does an especially nice job of making it apparent that all White America has done about the issues of race and class is "slip it under the rug." Some readers have found her writings to be evidence of ranting and raving or the victimization of Black Americans. It has been said that she hates Whites. Yet these comments are evidence that White America desperately needs to face its prejudiced views-and Bell Hooks shows provides us with a wonderful opportunity to do so. A must read!
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Summary: a response to the customer criticism...
Review: as a white, upper-middle class male, i found bell hooks KILLING RAGE very interesting. her politics are radical, her words are strong, yet very compelling and very true. hooks questions the contemporary status of blacks in our hegemonic white heterosexual society, asserting that racial tensions are still very much a reality and a problem to be addressed. at times, i found her words offensive. yet i must respect hook's position as race in america is still an issue. hooks knows this, i know this, and anyone with any sort of perceptiveness know this. in reviewing the customer's reviews, i was struck by the "ignorance" of many reviews. many, it seems, didn't bother to look past hook's strong language and realize that her arguements and perspectives are a reality...a reality that must be faced and addressed if racial harmony is to be achieved. i strongly suggest this book to anyone with an interest in racial dynamics or the politics of race...white, black, yellow or green.
Rating:
Summary: a response to the customer criticism...
Review: as a white, upper-middle class male, i found bell hooks KILLING RAGE very interesting. her politics are radical, her words are strong, yet very compelling and very true. hooks questions the contemporary status of blacks in our hegemonic white heterosexual society, asserting that racial tensions are still very much a reality and a problem to be addressed. at times, i found her words offensive. yet i must respect hook's position as race in america is still an issue. hooks knows this, i know this, and anyone with any sort of perceptiveness know this. in reviewing the customer's reviews, i was struck by the "ignorance" of many reviews. many, it seems, didn't bother to look past hook's strong language and realize that her arguements and perspectives are a reality...a reality that must be faced and addressed if racial harmony is to be achieved. i strongly suggest this book to anyone with an interest in racial dynamics or the politics of race...white, black, yellow or green.
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Summary: bell hooks is a voice for black women
Review: bell hooks is one of the most articulate and formidable speakers on the interconnected nature of sexism, racism, homophobia and classism. She ellicits such strong personal attacks precisely because she does not resort to coddling "feel-good" language. America prides itself on being free and democratic, but the truth is that we have not done as good a job eradicating discrimination as we want to desparately congratulate ourselves. Blatantly offensive statues and ordinances may be gone, but it is the subtle nuances that continue to permitt a divided society. Even though such a format would make it easier for the majority of society to swallow, hooks is justified for requiring the reader to perform extremely crticial self-examination while reading this book. Those who are unable to handle it are the very same indivduals who are prone to name-calling.
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Summary: Not a killing rage, but certainly a blind one
Review: For readers of Hooks' past books this one further expounds upon her theories regarding racism and sexism. "Killing Rage" is a frank and open discussion of racism. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Profound Denouncement of White Supremacy and Patriarchy
Review: Have you ever had the experience of feeling something deep down inside, passionate policy positions (about racism, sexism, classism, etc.), fervently knowing all the time that you are not only right but also profoundly aware, and yet, because your positions are unpopular and/or because you cannot cite authority for your position, you cannot fully express your thoughts, and hence, when called upon to proffer and defend your position, you can rely only upon your passions -- never enough for the logician engaging you in discussion and debate? Well, I have. I live in this constant state when I challenge racism and sexism (most especially sexism). But I just finished the most empowering book I have read in a long time -- Killing Rage by bell hooks -- which coalesces my thoughts on both racism and sexism, passionately denouncing one while not betraying the denouncement of the other. All that I've been saying for so long, all that I've felt, I knew I was right. But it's often lonely thinking outside the box, and I could never quite reconcile my thoughts with my daily training in white supremacist patriarchy. Now, I don't have to, and it's a wonderful feeling. I strongly recommend this book to any woman who disavows both racism and sexism, and yet who often searches for the words to condemn both simultaneously. A must read for the vigilant soul. Sure, few white people can accept such a politically incorrect denouncement of racism. Few men can accept such truth that dethrones them from their perceived superiority over women. This is not Kumbaya-Let's-all-hold-hands-and-forget-racism. This is not Be-Submissive-to-your-man-and-sexism-goes-away. This is not typical, conventional, or superficial... only the deep mind can handle this work.
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Summary: A passionate call for "race talk" and Black consciousness
Review: I'm sort of a bell hooks fan. I've always liked her keen intelligence, lucid writing, and her ability to name oppressive forces that impact us all. Many people will not like hooks because she doesn't write from an activist experience. She's primarily a cultural critic, providing insight and analysis rather than strategy and tactics. Her lack of political activism is indeed problematic, but as an activist teacher, I turn to hooks for inspiration and vision for how to engage my students and other folks in the educational community in visions of radical change. In "Killing Rage," hooks comes on very strong in naming racism as a White, patriarcial, capitalist enterprise. In providing this analysis, hooks is examining instutions of both covert and institutionalized racism, the latter of which is harder to name and explain. In this work, bell argues that the ending of racism must come through a "collecitve black rage." which means that "Progressive black activists must show how we take that rage and move it beyond fruitless scapegoating of any group, linking it instead to a passion for freedom and justice that illuminates, heals, and makes redemptive struggle possible." In other words, bell is spreaking of what took place in the Black power movement in which collective black rage rose up against racist aparthied in America. But she's not advocating that we build on the Black Power struggles of the sixities. Collective Black rage must include solidarity with Black feminist struggle and solidarity with class struggle along all racial lines. While hooks does not seek to exclude White allies in the struggle to end racism, "Killing Rage" seems largely targeted to African people. She's calling for African people redefine Black identity, "one that is not sexist, homophobic, patriarchal, or supportive of capitalism." Lastly, I want to point out how hooks argues that this struggle to end racism must be tied an edcuational agenda. She writes: "Until all black people address the educational crisis in black life, we cannot hope to attain collective self-detremination. As long as progressive radical black folks ignore secondary edcuation and fail to take the initiative to call for and demand progressive anti-racist, anti-sexist education for black children, and all children, our communities will be deluged by folks who see bourgeois partirarchal pedagogy as the only hope." For me, this says it all. I strongly encourage freedom-loving people to read this book.
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Summary: (Review) Killing Rage: Ending Racism
Review: Killing Rage addresses a spectrum of sum and substance centered on race, racism, and sexism. And while it is possible for certain readers (color or white, men or women) to regard these adjoined essays as acrimonious or unmerited, I discovered them to be both discerning and penetrating. Being a white male I could have simply dismissed the book out of hand or perceived the author as a witch with a topped-off shoulder full of chips. But those reactions would have been dogmatic and unfair to both hooks and myself, besides I would have been submitting to the very concerns she writes about. I may not agree entirely with portions of her reasoning or writing, but I do respect and appreciate her in-your-face method of writing.
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Summary: Rosa Parks she ain't
Review: Leaving aside the fact that the spelling-your-name-with-lower-case-only affectation was tired and old 6 decades ago, let it be said that BELL HOOKS is a pampered uber-bourgie prima donna nutcase. Consider the anecdotal source of HOOK's titular "killing rage": she and a friend are on an airliner, sitting in the first class section, of course. (What radical superstar ever flew coach? Gotta maximize those contradictions, after all. Plus the leg room is so much better....). Anyway, it transpires that HOOK's traveling companion does not have legitimate title to her first class seat. Another passenger carrying a bona fide ticket for that seat appears and asks for it. HOOK's companion is requested to relocate to coach. Apologies are offered and spurned. Tellingly, Princess BELL does not opt to join her friend in coach. What more do you need to know about a person than that? Instead, she stays up in first class and harangues the poor soul whose misfortune it was to end up sitting next to BELL HOOKS. Because, wouldn't you know it, the passenger in question is a WHITE MALE. Golly gee, the galling bitter injustice of it drives BELL HOOKS into a KILLING RAGE, and she bravely lets the whole plane know it. In time, Mr White Male gets tired of defending his right to oxygen, and begs BELL HOOKS to please get out of his face. Whereupon BELL HOOKS --she will not be silenced!-- gets out a pad of paper and a pen and begins taking notes for another incisive diagnostic essay on our incorrigibly racist American society. On top of the first page, she angrily writes in block capitals, "KILLING RAGE," just in case Mr. White Male has yet to get the message. The bottom line: BELL HOOKS is a narcissistic loon. She should buy herself a Lear Jet.
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