More Beautiful and More Terrible: The Embrace and Transcendence of Racial Inequality in the United States

by Imani Perry

For a nation that often optimistically claims to be post-racial, we are still mired in the practices of racial inequality that plays out in law, policy, and in our local communities. One of two explanations is often given for this persistent phenomenon: On the one hand, we might be hypocritical saying one thing, and doing or believing another; on the other, it might have little to do with us individually but rather be inherent to the structure of American society.

More Beautiful and More Terrible compels us to think beyond this insufficient dichotomy in order to see how racial inequality is perpetuated. Imani Perry asserts that the U.S. is in a new and distinct phase of racism that is post-intentional: neither based on the intentional discrimination of the past, nor drawing upon biological concepts of race. Drawing upon the insights and tools of critical race theory, social policy, law, sociology and cultural studies, she demonstrates how post-intentional racism works and maintains that it cannot be addressed solely through the kinds of structural solutions of the Left or the values arguments of the Right. Rather, the author identifies a place in the middle a space of righteous hope and articulates a notion of ethics and human agency that will allow us to expand and amplify that hope.

To paraphrase James Baldwin, when talking about race, it is both more terrible than most think, but also more beautiful than most can imagine, with limitless and open-ended possibility. Perry leads readers down the path of imagining the possible and points to the way forward."

Genres: Race, Nonfiction, Sociology, Politics, History, Social Justice, College

263 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2011

About the author

Imani Perry, a professor of African American studies at Princeton, first appeared in print at age 3 in the Birmingham (Alabama) News in a photo of her and her parents at a protest against police brutality. She has published widely on topics ranging from racial inequality to hip-hop and is active across various media. She earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a bachelor's degree from Yale University.

(from http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/ar...)

Reviews

[Annie Rupertus]

I read all of this in one day and I am very proud of myself!!

[Sara Salem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read but seems geared more towards an audience that needs to be convinced that racism exists institutionally in the US today. Some excellent points about the way race functions in "post-racial" America especially in terms of how different groups aw racialized. Would have been good to have more on race and neoliberalism though, even though she touches on it once in a while.

[Theon Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imani Perry's second book, More Beautiful and More Terrible, was a joy to read. She offers penetrating insights into the reality of contemporary racial inequalities and makes several suggestions throughout the book of individual, local, and national opportunities to combat such inequalities. One of the most helpful concepts in the book was the notion of "post-intentional racism" as a organizing concept for the practices of racial inequality that persist in 21st century America. She uses this concept to capture the individual and structural forms of racism that surface in daily American life. Although I've read countless books on race and racism in society, Perry offered me a fresh perspective to consider as I continue to grow in my understanding of the ongoing significance of the color line in America.

[Leigh Patel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perry is one of the pre-eminent thinkers on race, society, and inequality. More beautiful and more terrible manages to be comprehensive, insightful, substantiated, and forward-thinking - no small task for a thinker who can't help but make connections across disciplines normally set asunder. The job is for the reader, most of us miseducated to think about binaries of systems or individuals, to grasp Perry's points about practices of inequality and take up her charge for what we need to theorize, research, and do differently.

[Heather Bouyear · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a textbook for a study group course I took on Social Justice and Social Action. Only a few chapters were assigned. The level of language it is written in can be difficult to navigate. It was useful, but the information was not as easily accessible. It took much more effort to get through it. It was my least favorite for that reason, but the content is very good.

[Rita]

2011. I'm unlikely to read it, but the argument is important.

Theon Hill:
"Imani Perry's second book, More Beautiful and More Terrible, was a joy to read. She offers penetrating insights into the reality of contemporary racial inequalities and makes several suggestions throughout the book of individual, local, and national opportunities to combat such inequalities. One of the most helpful concepts in the book was the notion of "post-intentional racism" as a organizing concept for the practices of racial inequality that persist in 21st century America. "

[Drick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Imani Perry starts with the premise (based on ample evidence) that U.S. culture is inherently unequal in the way it treat whites and people of color. The purpose of the book is to identify and describe what she calls "practices of inequality", which are ways of thinking and acting that reinforce the inequities across race in this culture. She focuses most of her attention on the ways these practices of inequality create disadvantages for Blacks, but occasionally offers examples of Latinos and Asians as well. Her basic thesis is that racism in this country will not be eradicated until we address these culturally bound ways of thinking and acting. At times the book becomes overladen with detail from legal and sociological studies, but this is only because she has drawn from a wide range of research in the critical race study field. While much of what she says has been said by others, she brings together this research in a way that emphasizes that racism is not just personal or legal, but deeply embedded in American culture and must be addressed at that level.

[Myriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the book and still thinking about some of the ideas within it; strikes me that the author does not situate herself in such a way that makes clear her own identity so that there are some confusing statements about President Obama, and others, for instance, whom she categorizes as "African American" while arguing for the transcendence of racial inequality...basically, some of the categories utilized don't quite add up and some of the argumentation falls short.

[Mills College Library]

305.80097 P4634 2001