Basic Black: Home Training for Modern Times

by Karen Grigsby Bates, Karen E. Hudson

Etiquette for real people who live real lives. In Basic Black, Karen Grigsby Bates and Karen Elyse Hudson have gathered those elements that are, well, just basic to making life more livable–and they’ve added something specific to modern life. The information in Basic Black goes from "CP Time" to "Don’t You Dare," from addressing your wedding invitations to addressing a police officer who has perhaps arbitrarily stopped you as you’re driving through the city. It covers traditional etiquette, such as table settings, being a good host, letter writing, and tipping. Basic Black covers the essentials of black American joining a church, mentoring young people, planning a funeral, family reunions, participating in clubs and organizations. In addition, some delicate areas seldom discussed in other etiquette books are addressed here, such as race in the workplace, handling service people who are less than enthusiastic about having black customers, and keeping your job and your temper when racial slurs are used in your presence.As Bates and Hudson like to note, etiquette is about more than just which fork goes "As far as we’re concerned, no one will die if you use the wrong fork, but we’ll each lose a little piece of ourselves if we choose to live our lives without genuine respect for morality, character, kindness and other people."

Genres: Nonfiction, African American, How To

634 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1996

Reviews

[D D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great home training tips!

What I liked is that this book is a one-stop shop for anything home training. It even filled the gaps in things you wouldn’t have thought of. It talks about how to behave yourself in different settings, what you should and shouldn’t wear on different occasions, and so much more. It even gives you tips on how to politely and gracefully say no; like when you have an unexpected visitor stop by your house without telling you first. I recommend this book to all families.

[Elizabeth]

As heard on Code Switch:
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/11/112822...

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read about simple ettiquete in modern times.