It's the Little Things: Everyday Interactions That Anger, Annoy, and Divide the Races

Rating:
Summary: Not as advertised -- but interesting anyway
Review: Authors don't control their jacket copy. So when the back cover says "Lena Williams does for race what Deborah Tannen did for gender," it's unfair to hold Ms. Williams responsible.

This book does not do for race what Deborah Tannen did for gender. Tannen's examples and explanations did not show one side up as long-suffering and the other as long-insulting; her books do not make me feel demeaned when I read them. They frame cross-gender communication as cross-cultural communication and provide though-provoking information for both genders. I learn from them without ever being insulted.

"It's The Little Things" does not accomplish this. Is it worth buying if you're white and want to know what one black woman thinks of you? Yes. In that regard, it's interesting to this white man. I'm also a little better informed as to why certain responses exist on the black side of some black/white conflicts.

Is it a fair assessment of cross-cultural issues? No. Not even close. In many instances, it doesn't even try to be. This is a prejudiced author trying to be fair-minded and failing. If she has an understanding of points of view besides her own, that understanding does not appear in this text. This is a book about what white people are too dumb to understand without being told.

Since there were things in it that I was too dumb to understand without being told, it was worth my time. But if you're looking for something about "Everyday Interactions That Anger, Annoy, And Divide The Races" (the book's subtitle), this isn't it. This is "Stuff Lena Williams Is Fed Up With And Thinks She Can Put Across As The Truth Despite Her Lack Of Understanding Of Other People."

Since some of the stuff Lena Williams is fed up with was enlightening to me, I don't consider this a wasted purchase. But maybe next time out, she can learn something from the woman she's compared to on her jacket, and write a book that's about cross-racial issues as they really exist, not just idealize one race and demonize the other.

It's clear, from the occasional injection of comments from white people and the occasional "he has a point," that she sincerely tried not to demonize the other. It's also clear that her best intentions are no match for the chip on her shoulder.

White people may learn something from this book about their black neighbors, if their black neighbors happen to agree with Ms. Williams. Black people will learn very little about white people; most of the depiction of whites is quite shallow.

But, according to Ms. Williams, black people already know all about whites.

If she's any indication, she's mistaken.

A single chapter, "The White Take," makes a halfhearted effort at balance, but it's obviously a token gesture. It's an interesting book; I found it worth my time. However, it's not as advertised, and the author doesn't seem to know there's much to be said about the white side of the equation. Since white people are, ostensibly, half the subject of this book, that's a problem.

I disagree with the one-star reviews: It wasn't a waste of my time; but the flaws are serious.

Rating:
Summary: It's the little things
Review: I did enjoy the book and what she had to say about the way blacks and whites act when they are around eachother. This book may me understand a little bit better on race and what is was like for the people that had to grow up around that. I really think this book is pretty good and i wounld tell a friend that they should read the book.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful but not truly helpful
Review: I read Ms. Williams' book to better understand racism in this country as experienced and described by Black people. (I am an Asian American woman and recognize that my own experiences with racism and oppression are unique to me and, to some extent, to my specific racial/ethnic group.)

Her book will definitely provide you with some sense of how some Black people experience life in this country. And for that, the book is both an opener for the eyes and the soul.

You may be very surprised at what angers, amuses, and discomforts Black people. (I myself learned many new things that I would not otherwise have known.) You may think that many things are due to mistaken assumptions or false understandings of "White people." (That's certainly true enough, something that Ms. Williams on occasion admits to being a problem.)

But I promise you: If you read this book with open eyes and an open soul, you will never view encounters with Black people--your own and those of other people around you--the same way again.

It doesn't really matter if the beliefs, perceptions, and assumptions of the Black people quoted in the book are true or if you think they're true. Some of them are not. What does matter (and why you should care) is that there are a myriad of things that White people do--consciously and unconsciously--that really angers Black people. And as long as they continue to exist and anger Black people, we as a country won't get very far ahead in "race relations" and healing ourselves from racism.

Other readers have identified problems with Ms. Williams' book. At times, Ms. Williams' sentiments do sound petty and unrelated to the topic at hand. Ms. Williams does not bother to consider how other issues like gender, class (a big issue that, ironically enough, she does not recognize in herself or her friendship circle), etc. also affect the experiences of both Whites and Blacks. The book is anecdotal and would have benefited greatly from an analytical methodology. The experiences described in the book are from a very select group of people who she met through a series of focus groups and primarily from her friendship circle. Ms. Williams provides no solutions or strategies for what she describes.

But, for all those problems and faults, the book is still worth reading. (It is surprisingly easy reading for being such a potentially difficult and sore subject.)

If her book makes you rethink the way we interact with each other and Black people, then it's done more than it's share of work towards increasing dialogue between people and races. And if it makes you rethink that, then I don't think it's too much more to make people actually change the way they interact with people from different races.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful but not truly helpful
Review: I read Ms. Williams' book to better understand racism in this country as experienced and described by Black people. (I am an Asian American woman and recognize that my own experiences with racism and oppression are unique to me and, to some extent, to my specific racial/ethnic group.)

Her book will definitely provide you with some sense of how some Black people experience life in this country. And for that, the book is both an opener for the eyes and the soul.

You may be very surprised at what angers, amuses, and discomforts Black people. (I myself learned many new things that I would not otherwise have known.) You may think that many things are due to mistaken assumptions or false understandings of "White people." (That's certainly true enough, something that Ms. Williams on occasion admits to being a problem.)

But I promise you: If you read this book with open eyes and an open soul, you will never view encounters with Black people--your own and those of other people around you--the same way again.

It doesn't really matter if the beliefs, perceptions, and assumptions of the Black people quoted in the book are true or if you think they're true. Some of them are not. What does matter (and why you should care) is that there are a myriad of things that White people do--consciously and unconsciously--that really angers Black people. And as long as they continue to exist and anger Black people, we as a country won't get very far ahead in "race relations" and healing ourselves from racism.

Other readers have identified problems with Ms. Williams' book. At times, Ms. Williams' sentiments do sound petty and unrelated to the topic at hand. Ms. Williams does not bother to consider how other issues like gender, class (a big issue that, ironically enough, she does not recognize in herself or her friendship circle), etc. also affect the experiences of both Whites and Blacks. The book is anecdotal and would have benefited greatly from an analytical methodology. The experiences described in the book are from a very select group of people who she met through a series of focus groups and primarily from her friendship circle. Ms. Williams provides no solutions or strategies for what she describes.

But, for all those problems and faults, the book is still worth reading. (It is surprisingly easy reading for being such a potentially difficult and sore subject.)

If her book makes you rethink the way we interact with each other and Black people, then it's done more than it's share of work towards increasing dialogue between people and races. And if it makes you rethink that, then I don't think it's too much more to make people actually change the way they interact with people from different races.

Rating:
Summary: Well -- At least she tried again.
Review: I'm just shocked she got another chance at the same subject matter twice.

How about we stop pushing the stereotype that all "blacks" think this way, and all "whites" act that way and move on already. The notion that "race" is the defining issue is nonsense. Culturally the person raised in a different environment than me is bound to get under my skin now and then as I try to understand where they are coming from. No need for a book to tell me that.

Rating:
Summary: it's NOT supposed to be a solution...
Review: Ms. Williams repeats throughout the book that hers is just one opinion and that she does not represent all Blacks in America. With that in mind, I, as a white male, found it to be an intriguing glance into the minds of specific people. To be honest, I never gave thought to having hair that can be tossed with a flick of the head, or to the way some Blacks may feel about giving up space on a sidewalk.

The book is certainly no sociological breakthrough, but it opens up public discourse on something that is almost a taboo topic today. If we had multiple books like this written be people of different races/ethnicities, perhaps more people could understand each other.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but less enlightening than I hoped
Review: The book starts off quite strong and has several gems that explain the possible rationale behind behaviors that I've observed for years among Blacks. As a Black female, it also often made me smile because the descriptions were so familiar to my life experience. However I was disappointed in the lack of balance between the Black and White perspective, and by the middle of the book I also began to feel that Ms. Williams either has a major chip on her shoulder and/or the White folks she interviewed just didn't have much to say. I felt that I learned little or nothing about the White perspective on Black/White interactions. However the book is full of good conversation starters and therefore definately worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Black South African male reader...
Review: This is a true work of bravery from Lena Williams and Charlayne Hunter-Gault. While I am not surprised that it raises the ire of many readers, it should be noted that people have ignored these issues too long in the USA, while lecturing us South Africans to get with the 'equality thing'... This book exposes that equality comes from making an effort to rectify situations we feel uncomfortable about, precisely the way this book has garnered reactions in the USA. Critics who say it is one-sided should read Dalton Conley's "Honky". No examination of contemporary race should be based on a single book alone, especially in the USA. I commend the authors for this book. It echoes much of what I write about myself and others as black and coloured people in South Africa, so why are American white people so surprised to find that it is relevant in their country as well? I live in both places, so I know what it is like.

Rating:
Summary: Telling Like It Is, With Gusto and Humor!
Review: This is an exceptionally interesting book, written with style and energy, using none of the pretentious sociological terms that clutter many sincere but overly-reserved works on this same subject. As a middle-aged white male, I suppose I expected the book to be a rant against all us over-privileged folk, and certainly there are lots of reasons to rant, but it's refreshing to read a straightforward essay that places both sides--black and white--in the middle, so that a decent discussion of race can take place. It's a difficult subject, but scholarly writers could learn a thing or two about communication without rancor from this author. There has to be a place for narratives on complicated subjects--narratives that try to keep balance and wit while teaching great and important lessons. I learned a lot from this book, and I hope I have an opportunity to hear more from this author.

--Jim Reed, author, DAD'S TWEED COAT: SMALL WISDOMS, HIDDEN COMFORTS, UNEXPECTED JOYS (learn more about Reed's writings and reviews: jimreedbooks.com)

Rating:
Summary: wonderful....
Review: What "angers" and "annoys" me most about this book is not its unquestioning agreement with so many of its interviewees' uninformed overgeneralizations about Euro-Americans and Afro-Americans. Instead, I oppose the idea -- implicit throughout this book, and even in its title -- that the cause of racial justice in America can best be served by increased attention to trivialities ("little things").

Ours is a nation with a large and struggling lower working class -- exploited and underpaid, underappreciated and often ignored -- whose membership is disproportionately Afro-American as a direct result of the cruel legacy of centuries of brutal racial oppression. The best way to help erase the legacy of racism is not to indulge the unhelpful desire of certain successful Afro-Americans to display anger or annoyance with the slightest of slights. Rather, we can best advance the great cause of racial justice in America by focusing on the "big thing" -- economic inequality.