Saturday, August 10, 2019

Beyond Charlottesville, Terry McAuliffe

Beyond Charlottesville:  Taking a stand against white nationalism by Governor Terry McAuliffe was sent to me by its editor,  Stephen Power.  This was ostensibly in appreciation for some fact checking that I did on Team of Vipers, but I think it is more likely that Mr. Power is just a nice guy.

Started: 8/4/2019
Completed: 8/10/2019
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By:  Stephen Power

Review:

It so happened that I started this book just after two back-to-back mass shootings by white supremacists.  It appeared in my mail box and went straight to the top of the pile, so it was coincidence of a sort.  Given that we are currently averaging more than one mass shooting per day this year it couldn't be too much of a coincidence, but enough that the book felt heavy in my hands (despite it being a small treatise) before I started reading John Lewis' introduction.

"Alt-right protesters who had lived double lives soon found they could no longer hide from whom they really were.  They had exposed themselves--and the world took notice, and recoiled."  Not the most adroit prose, but striking none the less.

McAuliffe quotes Larry Sabato, "Until whites do get [racism], progress is going to be very limited.  We'll never make lasting progress if we pretend race isn't still central to many of the problems that bedevil us."

This book is well written.  I thought that the beginning was sort of a "pat myself on the back" for Gov. McAuliffe, but fight through it.  That background material is important to understand his commitment to acting in Charlottesville then and continuing to work against white nationalism today.

A geeky book note:  I really like the dust jacket.  It is mildly textured and it makes the book much easier to hold.  It does not wear well as it is already showing wear around the edges (white is showing through the mostly black cover).  Maybe black paper would fix that instead of black ink on white paper.

No comments:

Post a Comment