Countdown: Race Matters: Preface - Chapter 4

5 Sentences on the Big Picture

In Race Matters, Cornel West emphasizes the obvious problem of racism in our world today. Throughout these chapters, he gives his ruthless opinions about this problem that has been pushed aside by so many people. Cornel touches on many events from the past that have carried over and affect our society today. He brings forth the issues of an increase in class division, lack of black leadership, and the lack of courage people have to speak out on racism. It is up to us to stop tip-toeing around this serious problem and to do our best to help out. 

4 Key Passages 

• "The implication is that only certain Americans can define what it means to be American - and the rest must simply "fit in" (7).
• "How do we capture a new spirit and vision... First, we must admit that the most valuable sources for help, hope, and power consist of ourselves and our common history" (11).
• Quality leadership is neither the product of one great individual nor the result of odd historical accidents. Rather, it comes from deeply bred traditions and communities that shape and mold talented and gifted persons" (56).
• “The crisis in black leadership can be remedied only if we candidly confront its existence…it is a matter of grasping the structural and institutional processes that have disfigured, deformed, and devastated black America such that the resources for nurturing collective and critical consciousness, more commitment, and courageous engagement are vastly underdeveloped” (pg 69).

3 Key Terms

1. Nihilism - Cornel defines it as "the lived experience of coping with a life of horrifying meaninglessness, hopelessness, and (most important) lovelessness" (22).
2. Race - a population that is defined based on their genetics and physical characteristics
3. Afrocentrism - Cornel defines it as "a contemporary species of black nationalism" (7).

2 Connections

• I connected with Cornel when he stressed the fact of how many Americans "tip-toe" or avoid bringing the issue of racism to the surface. I see the effects of keeping quiet of these issues and how they can eventually blow up. 
• This book related with Kozol's, Shame of the Nation, and the idea that after all of these years of "fixing" the problem of racism, it still exists today. Both authors stress how no one is rising to the challenge to do anything about it. They both feel as though it is up to us, individually, to do our best to stand up for what is right.

1 Question

• Do you think President Obama is changing or will change the issue of the lack of black leadership among our society today?