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About
In the tradition of Randall Kennedy's Nigger and Shelby Steele's The Content of Our Character, Acting White demonstrates how the charge that any African-American who is successful, well mannered, or well educated is "acting white," is a slur that continues to haunt blacks. Ron Christie traces the complex history of the phrase, from Uncle Tom's Cabin to the tensions between Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X to Bill Cosby's controversial NAACP speech in 2004. The author also writes candidly of being challenged by black students for his "acting white," and also of being labeled a race traitor in Congress by daring to be Republican. This lucid chronicle reveals how this prevalent put-down sets back much of the hard-earned progress for all blacks in American society. Deftly argued and determinedly controversial, this book is certain to spur thoughtful discussion for years to come.
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Reviews
"In Acting White Ron Christie has written a powerful black protest book, but its target is not the usual suspect: white America. Christie goes after an hypocrisy in black America itself: the tendency to equate black mainstream success with "acting white." He shows how this bad cultural habit actually reinforces white supremacy by linking whiteness to mainstream success and "authentic" blackness to
Shelby Steele, author of The Content of Our Character and White Guilt
"A captivating book that will offer readers an insight into the dynamics of modern Black culture. Christie's book will send shockwaves through the political establishment."
Donna Brazile, Democratic strategist and syndicated columnist