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What's Race Got to Do with It?: Why It's Time to Stop the Stupidest Argument in America
Larry Elder and his straight talk are "controversial"*, "provocative"**, "iconoclastic"***, "refreshing". ****IS LIFE UNFAIR FOR BLACK AMERICANS?In What's Race Got to Do with It?, bestselling author Larry Elder takes on the touchiest topic in American Race. Some Americans think race is the biggest issue this country faces today. Elder What?!? What about the economy, what about war, what about the security of our borders and our citizens?IS A HUGE GROUP OF CITIZENS BEING KEPT DOWN BY "THE MAN"?Elder calls for an end to bitching, moaning and whining and the belief that somebody owes you a job, that self-esteem is given out for passing "go", that a black person in a position of authority is always a good thing, whether or not they have credentials and experience. He skewers the loudmouths—and the "mainscream" media—who point to racism as the root of all problems. Elder explains why Hillary Clinton doesn't get it, but Barack Obama does—at least most of the time.But What's Race Got to Do with It? has a positive message, there are leaders and role models today who want to urge everyone to share in the hard work, smart thinking and optimism that make America great and strong.*Publishers Weekly **Kirkus Reviews ***Los Angeles Times ****Publishers Weekly
372 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
52 people are currently reading
385 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 19, 2021
Larry Elder hit is right on the nose. So much good information here. Unfortunately the people that should read this book probably never will. If you enjoy learning about government history read this book.
October 14, 2020
Book is dated (refers to America’s dad Bill Cosby!) so wish author would do an updated edition but certainly statements that non-Black people could not say without being labeled racist.
People who cry racism seem incapable of distinguishing between equal rights and equal results. Results stem from hard work, focus, education and training, and the assumption of the consequences of one’s own actions. Yet racism, say some black leaders with their co-conspiring Democratic Party and liberal media, remains the real roadblock to self improvement.
Victim mentality and crying racism at every opportunity .
"Robinson, MLB’s first black manager spoke of Black Hall of Fame first baseman Eddie Murray’s older brother Charles who played in the minors in the 60s and quit baseball, emotionally crushed by the segregation he endured and fighting his way up. Robinson: he wasn’t strong. He went home. He didn’t pursue what he wanted to do in life. He let a barrier prevent him from doing that. If that was the case, then there would have been no blacks in baseball.”
Horrible violence, n-word and sexism in rap that isn’t called out
Chapter on local government mishandling of Katrina but Bush and racism took the brunt of the blame
Nannie Helen Burroughs booklet in early 1900s that talks about education, self-reliance and hard work.
-Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson even bigger scum bags (totally corrupt, self serving, narcissistic) than I realized. Harry Belafonte not portrayed well and others including Ed Asner, Kanye West, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Mary Blige don’t date much better. Criminals like Alcee Hastings (D-Fl) (and Marion Barry) with crimes and impeachments but they effectively convince their constituents that a racist criminal justice system unfairly went after them.
Education seen as white — Winfrey schools in S Africa i/o America because American kids want sneakers and iPhones; Africans want uniforms for school
Importance of personal responsibility and self reliance
Obama recognizes that “racists do not prevent kids from studying, racists do not demand that men father children outside of wedlock, that the complete and total eradication of racism cannot instill the necessary moral values that create healthy, prosperous communities”
People who cry racism seem incapable of distinguishing between equal rights and equal results. Results stem from hard work, focus, education and training, and the assumption of the consequences of one’s own actions. Yet racism, say some black leaders with their co-conspiring Democratic Party and liberal media, remains the real roadblock to self improvement.
Victim mentality and crying racism at every opportunity .
"Robinson, MLB’s first black manager spoke of Black Hall of Fame first baseman Eddie Murray’s older brother Charles who played in the minors in the 60s and quit baseball, emotionally crushed by the segregation he endured and fighting his way up. Robinson: he wasn’t strong. He went home. He didn’t pursue what he wanted to do in life. He let a barrier prevent him from doing that. If that was the case, then there would have been no blacks in baseball.”
Horrible violence, n-word and sexism in rap that isn’t called out
Chapter on local government mishandling of Katrina but Bush and racism took the brunt of the blame
Nannie Helen Burroughs booklet in early 1900s that talks about education, self-reliance and hard work.
-Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson even bigger scum bags (totally corrupt, self serving, narcissistic) than I realized. Harry Belafonte not portrayed well and others including Ed Asner, Kanye West, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Mary Blige don’t date much better. Criminals like Alcee Hastings (D-Fl) (and Marion Barry) with crimes and impeachments but they effectively convince their constituents that a racist criminal justice system unfairly went after them.
Education seen as white — Winfrey schools in S Africa i/o America because American kids want sneakers and iPhones; Africans want uniforms for school
Importance of personal responsibility and self reliance
Obama recognizes that “racists do not prevent kids from studying, racists do not demand that men father children outside of wedlock, that the complete and total eradication of racism cannot instill the necessary moral values that create healthy, prosperous communities”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2024
A REISSUANCE OF HIS EARLIER BOOK, WITH A NEW CHAPTER
Laurence [‘Larry’] Allen Elder (born 1952) is an American author and radio program host. This book was originally published in 2008 as ‘Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card---and Lose’; but this edition contains a chapter on the 2008 Presidential election.
He wrote in the Preface, “This book calls a lot of public figures’ bluffs---no more tiptoeing around. [This book] calls out black men and women, men and women of other races, the ‘empathetic’ liberal media, and Democratic Party sympathizers for their racism-done-me-wrong statements and policy measures that maximize victimhood and minimize personal responsibility… [This book] calls for an end to BWM---Bitching, Moaning, and Whining. These so-called black leaders… send a harmful message: standards of hard work and accountability do not apply to blacks. This hurts the very people they supposedly support.” (Pg. xv-xvi)
He states, “Democrats know that if blacks ever stop believing that racism holds them down, stop thinking like victicrats, stop looking at the world through race-tinted glasses and start looking at the things issue by issue, then the Democratic Party---especially at the national level---is doomed. Democrats, for their very preservation, need to cry ‘racism’ in order to keep blacks angry and keep their minds closed and eyes shut towards Republican policies.” (Pg. 33-34)
He asserts, “This brings us to the sordid history of the Democratic Party concerning race. Once a prominent black businessman told me he found voting Republican ‘no different than voting for the Klan.’ Well, at one time, a voter who cast his ballot for the Democratic party effectively DID vote for the Klan. Democrats founded the Klan, not just to stop blacks and Jews, but to halt the spread of Republicanism. Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the presidency, and he ran on a platform of halting the spread of slavery. The Republican Party originally counted many blacks within its ranks.” (Pg. 56)
Perhaps surprisingly, he saya, “Because of the success of the ‘get Whitey’ mentality, black Senator Barack Obama poses a serious dilemma. He shot to national prominence during the 2004 Democratic Convention, where he spoke of an undivided America… Obama represents a threat to the power, stature, and legitimacy of the Sharptons and Belafontes who huff, puff, and finger-point, standing on the twin pillars of white guilt and black anger. No doubt, in part, jealousy plays a role in the ‘coolness’ … that Sharpton and friends show toward Obama. A black president will force at least some black victicrats to rethink the ‘white man continues to hold me down’ theme. So why doesn’t a civil rights leaders like Sharpton enthusiastically embrace Barack Obama, the first black candidate with a serious shot at the presidency?” (Pg. 102)
He points out, “The black community, as a whole, needs the police and respects what they do. In 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported a federal study asking people whether they support the police in their own neighborhoods… They broke down the survey down city by city… What about Los Angeles, the cauldron of racial tensions that served as a setting for [the movie] Crash? According to the study, 86 percent of all Angelinos support the police. Whites support the police at 89 percent. And blacks? They support the police at 82 percent. The reason is not so complicated. In the inner city, blacks get targeted for crime at twice the rate as do whites. Thus, people living in the inner city need cops more than do people living in the suburbs.” (Pg. 164-165)
He notes, “Many blacks cite Driving While Black (DWB) as a prime example of racism in America. But… the facts get in the way. Numerous complaints of DWB were filed by blacks driving on the New Jersey Turnpike. So the state… agreed to federal monitoring … New Jersey commissioned a study, checking motorists’ speed with laser guns and photographing drivers of vehicles going fifteen miles per hour or more over the speed limit. The result? It turned out that more speeders were black than white, justifying why cops pulled over black motorists so often. The U.S. Justice Department … did not want the results released to the public… No, the facts did not fit the script. The next year, state police ‘stop data’ showed that… 30 percent of the drivers pulled over were minority… [The] New Jersey Attorney General commissioned another study. The result? Again, it turned out that a disproportionately higher percentage of drivers on that stretch of highway were black, AND that blacks were more likely to drive eighty miles an hour or faster.” (Pg. 175-176)
He reports, “‘You need only do three things to avoid poverty in this country,’ said UCLA public policy professor emeritus James Q. Wilson. ‘Finish high school, marry before having a child, and produce the child after the age of twenty. Only 8 percent of families who do this are poor; 79 percent of those who fail to do this are poor.’ But in many black communities, pursuing academics means ‘acting white.’ Incredible.” (Pg. 201)
He recounts, “Oprah Winfrey built a $40 million school for poor black girls in South Africa. Why South Africa? Why not in America? ‘I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn’t there,’ she says. She doesn’t think American students appreciate the free education offered to them, unlike African students, who have to pay for the privilege of schooling. ‘If you ask [American] kids what they want or need,’ says Oprah, ‘they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don’t ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school.’ Winfrey, in essence, complained about the values of American inner-city kids---values that come from parents who fail to instill an interest and enthusiasm for education. Why? Credit a lifetime of hearing that no matter how hard you work, the white man keeps you down.” (Pg. 203)
He contends, “America pays a price when so-called black leaders, the Democratic party, and the sympathetic we-feel-your-pain media exaggerate the impact of racism. America pays a price when this same group blames a ‘lack of access to capital’ for perpetuating black poverty. A 50 percent drop-out rate? Blame a racist disparity in funding between urban and suburban school districts. The country suffers when people cry racism to explain, for example, black-versus-white differences in access to health care. It’s not just the monolithic black vote that this kind of victicrat mentality creates. We also run the real risk of producing homicide bombers---born out of a culture of anger, hostility, and rage. Al Qaeda and other Islamofascist groups hope that this kind of anger creates a generation of jihadists to take up arms against their own country. We create victims, at their own---and at our nation’s---peril.” (Pg. 236-237)
This controversial book will be of great interest to Libertarians and many conservatives who are interested in ethnic issues.
Laurence [‘Larry’] Allen Elder (born 1952) is an American author and radio program host. This book was originally published in 2008 as ‘Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card---and Lose’; but this edition contains a chapter on the 2008 Presidential election.
He wrote in the Preface, “This book calls a lot of public figures’ bluffs---no more tiptoeing around. [This book] calls out black men and women, men and women of other races, the ‘empathetic’ liberal media, and Democratic Party sympathizers for their racism-done-me-wrong statements and policy measures that maximize victimhood and minimize personal responsibility… [This book] calls for an end to BWM---Bitching, Moaning, and Whining. These so-called black leaders… send a harmful message: standards of hard work and accountability do not apply to blacks. This hurts the very people they supposedly support.” (Pg. xv-xvi)
He states, “Democrats know that if blacks ever stop believing that racism holds them down, stop thinking like victicrats, stop looking at the world through race-tinted glasses and start looking at the things issue by issue, then the Democratic Party---especially at the national level---is doomed. Democrats, for their very preservation, need to cry ‘racism’ in order to keep blacks angry and keep their minds closed and eyes shut towards Republican policies.” (Pg. 33-34)
He asserts, “This brings us to the sordid history of the Democratic Party concerning race. Once a prominent black businessman told me he found voting Republican ‘no different than voting for the Klan.’ Well, at one time, a voter who cast his ballot for the Democratic party effectively DID vote for the Klan. Democrats founded the Klan, not just to stop blacks and Jews, but to halt the spread of Republicanism. Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the presidency, and he ran on a platform of halting the spread of slavery. The Republican Party originally counted many blacks within its ranks.” (Pg. 56)
Perhaps surprisingly, he saya, “Because of the success of the ‘get Whitey’ mentality, black Senator Barack Obama poses a serious dilemma. He shot to national prominence during the 2004 Democratic Convention, where he spoke of an undivided America… Obama represents a threat to the power, stature, and legitimacy of the Sharptons and Belafontes who huff, puff, and finger-point, standing on the twin pillars of white guilt and black anger. No doubt, in part, jealousy plays a role in the ‘coolness’ … that Sharpton and friends show toward Obama. A black president will force at least some black victicrats to rethink the ‘white man continues to hold me down’ theme. So why doesn’t a civil rights leaders like Sharpton enthusiastically embrace Barack Obama, the first black candidate with a serious shot at the presidency?” (Pg. 102)
He points out, “The black community, as a whole, needs the police and respects what they do. In 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported a federal study asking people whether they support the police in their own neighborhoods… They broke down the survey down city by city… What about Los Angeles, the cauldron of racial tensions that served as a setting for [the movie] Crash? According to the study, 86 percent of all Angelinos support the police. Whites support the police at 89 percent. And blacks? They support the police at 82 percent. The reason is not so complicated. In the inner city, blacks get targeted for crime at twice the rate as do whites. Thus, people living in the inner city need cops more than do people living in the suburbs.” (Pg. 164-165)
He notes, “Many blacks cite Driving While Black (DWB) as a prime example of racism in America. But… the facts get in the way. Numerous complaints of DWB were filed by blacks driving on the New Jersey Turnpike. So the state… agreed to federal monitoring … New Jersey commissioned a study, checking motorists’ speed with laser guns and photographing drivers of vehicles going fifteen miles per hour or more over the speed limit. The result? It turned out that more speeders were black than white, justifying why cops pulled over black motorists so often. The U.S. Justice Department … did not want the results released to the public… No, the facts did not fit the script. The next year, state police ‘stop data’ showed that… 30 percent of the drivers pulled over were minority… [The] New Jersey Attorney General commissioned another study. The result? Again, it turned out that a disproportionately higher percentage of drivers on that stretch of highway were black, AND that blacks were more likely to drive eighty miles an hour or faster.” (Pg. 175-176)
He reports, “‘You need only do three things to avoid poverty in this country,’ said UCLA public policy professor emeritus James Q. Wilson. ‘Finish high school, marry before having a child, and produce the child after the age of twenty. Only 8 percent of families who do this are poor; 79 percent of those who fail to do this are poor.’ But in many black communities, pursuing academics means ‘acting white.’ Incredible.” (Pg. 201)
He recounts, “Oprah Winfrey built a $40 million school for poor black girls in South Africa. Why South Africa? Why not in America? ‘I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn’t there,’ she says. She doesn’t think American students appreciate the free education offered to them, unlike African students, who have to pay for the privilege of schooling. ‘If you ask [American] kids what they want or need,’ says Oprah, ‘they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don’t ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school.’ Winfrey, in essence, complained about the values of American inner-city kids---values that come from parents who fail to instill an interest and enthusiasm for education. Why? Credit a lifetime of hearing that no matter how hard you work, the white man keeps you down.” (Pg. 203)
He contends, “America pays a price when so-called black leaders, the Democratic party, and the sympathetic we-feel-your-pain media exaggerate the impact of racism. America pays a price when this same group blames a ‘lack of access to capital’ for perpetuating black poverty. A 50 percent drop-out rate? Blame a racist disparity in funding between urban and suburban school districts. The country suffers when people cry racism to explain, for example, black-versus-white differences in access to health care. It’s not just the monolithic black vote that this kind of victicrat mentality creates. We also run the real risk of producing homicide bombers---born out of a culture of anger, hostility, and rage. Al Qaeda and other Islamofascist groups hope that this kind of anger creates a generation of jihadists to take up arms against their own country. We create victims, at their own---and at our nation’s---peril.” (Pg. 236-237)
This controversial book will be of great interest to Libertarians and many conservatives who are interested in ethnic issues.
January 10, 2018
Larry gets it right again
Would have been five stars if only it had been written after seeing the disaster that was the Obama Presidency.....,I know Larry would have really lit into him for him, Obama, and his minions, pulling the wool over our eyes, and the rug out from under America
Would have been five stars if only it had been written after seeing the disaster that was the Obama Presidency.....,I know Larry would have really lit into him for him, Obama, and his minions, pulling the wool over our eyes, and the rug out from under America
September 21, 2020
An interesting and informative read.
March 8, 2021
Interesting read. Don't agree with everything he opines, but there were some valid points made. One thing for sure, it's given me a number of things to consider and rethink.
July 18, 2020
Success is what you make it.
The book is not to difficult to read , technically. I found it very hard to listen to the generalizations made within. Enjoyed the virtues shared by Americans.
The book is not to difficult to read , technically. I found it very hard to listen to the generalizations made within. Enjoyed the virtues shared by Americans.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews