Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul by Eddie S. Glaude Jr

Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul by Eddie S. Glaude Jr

Let’s have an honest conversation about race. Let’s talk about those things that make us uncomfortable. Let’s talk about white privilege and Black Lives Matter. Let’s talk about Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights movement and Barack Obama. But be honest. Be uncomfortable. Only by being honest and uncomfortable will be able to have an honest conversation about what life in America has been and continues to be. Glaude’s Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul is a step in the right direction because it is one man’s honest opinion about how his life has been and those experiences shared within the black community. He is a Princeton professor who knows through life experiences and through study the experiences of black people in America. He may not speak for everybody but his opinion speaks volumes to what life is like in the U.S. and it will resonate with a majority of people. It resonated with me.

                When I first started reading this book I was taken away by the honesty with which his opinion was presented. I guess I was unconsciously expecting a water down version of the African American struggle. I was wrong. Glaude jumped right into the issue of Ferguson and the shooting of Michael Brown. He began speaking on the existence of white supremacy and what he coins the value gap in our society (white people being valued more than others in this country). He talks about the history of this country as a whole and the racist past that still has effects on the country today.

“When we think about the differences between whites and blacks in high school and college graduation rates, in mortality rates, in access to health care, in levels of wealth, in salary differences with comparable education, in the childhood poverty rate, we can see that in this country, white people, particularly those with money, matter more than others. It has been this way since the very day this country was founded.”

Does this resonate as true for you? Does it make you feel uncomfortable? If so then you need to read this book for no other reason than to understand why some people feel this way. Because he isn’t alone in the way he feels! Glaude simply knew how to articulate and present how he feels and why he feels this way. The way Democracy in Black is presented you can tell he wants to educate as well as inform those who simply do not understand the current position many African-Americans find themselves. I was moved by his honesty and his candor. I was forced to look at things differently.

                I would recommend this book to everyone. Why? Because racism is still alive in this country and ignoring it, won’t change it. Pretending that this country has changed because there is a black president in office and everyone can sit anywhere on the bus, doesn’t mean that the history of this country has somehow changed and that the black community is no longer affected by the past. Read it to open your perspective. Read it because someone was unabashedly honest about it. Read it because it will make you think. I really enjoyed this book for many reasons. I don’t agree with everything that Glaude has written but I relate to an overwhelming majority of what he presented. I give this 4 out of 5 stars. 

Thank you to Blogging for Books for this copy in exchange for an honest review.