The Crime Without a Name: Ethnocide and the Erasure of Culture in America

by Barrett Holmes Pitner

In this incisive blend of personal narrative and philosophical inquiry, journalist and activist Barrett Holmes Pitner seeks a new way to talk about racism in America.

Can new language reshape our understanding of the past and expand the possibilities of the future? The Crime Without a Name follows Pitner’s journey to identify and remedy the linguistic void in how we discuss race and culture in the United States. Ethnocide, first coined in 1944 by Jewish exile Raphael Lemkin (who also coined the term "genocide"), describes the systemic erasure of a people’s ancestral culture. For Black Americans, who have endured this atrocity for generations, this erasure dates back to the transatlantic slave trade and reached new resonance in a post-Trump world.
 
Just as the concept of genocide radically reshaped our perception of human rights in the twentieth century, reframing discussions about race and culture in terms of ethnocide can change the way we understand our diverse and rapidly evolving racial and political climate in a time of increased visibility around police brutality and systemic racism. The Crime Without a Name traces the historical origins of ethnocide in the United States, examines the personal, lived consequences of existing within an ongoing erasure, and offers ways for readers to combat and overcome our country’s ethnocidal foundation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Race, History, Cultural, Social Justice, American History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 2021

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review will be in Booklist.
I am so impressed with this fresh take on what American racism has wrought— a linguistic and philosophical exploration. This is definitely unlike anything I’ve read before on racism and American culture which is the reason I give it 5 stars.

[Rebel Heart Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Baldwin once wrote “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” In The Crime Without a Name, Barrett Holmes Pitner makes a compelling and forceful case that nothing can be faced until it is named. Pitner investigates America’s caustic inability to name both its racist past and present, utilizing language to its fullest force and introducing readers to terms long forgotten or unknown within the American canon. In his expansive discussion of the word ethnocide, Pitner gives us the vocabulary to talk about the deep-rooted and corrosive truth of systemic racism and its unceasing imprint on American society. For Pitner, the act of naming is not an etymological exercise, but rather a deliberate and rousing attempt to forge a path toward indelible change. This unflinching narrative delivers an insightful blueprint to examine our individual complicity and a vital chance to rewrite our collective future.
- Roman Bobek and Eileen M.K. Bobek, Rebel Heart Books

[Makeda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic microscope looking into American Culture. A crime without a name acknowledges the suffering of so many while not dismissing the accountability of those who have inflicted that suffering. It is an extremely fresh take that navigates a journey of linguistic and philosophical ideas that applies a clear basis on how to address racism. If you want to learn how to not be racists, this is the book for you.

[Anton Frommelt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, insightful, and somehow fresh feeling take on racism and the destruction of culture in America. This book focuses on the linguistic and philosophical implications of America's genesis and continued ethnocide and is at its most interesting when it explores the lack of language America has to adequately describe its negative aspects (hence, crime without a name). Pitner also includes some great words from other languages and some he has created himself to fill the voids he exposes. Some of the Trump rhetoric in the book drags, not out of inaccuracy (in fact Trump's political rise is probably the most explicit representation of Pitner's points) but more out of a fatigue from hearing about it so much over the last few years. Overall, great read and I'm hopeful that Pitner writes more in the future from this linguistic and cultural perspective.

[Constance Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for every US college junior or senior and for every adult--especially those caught in the throes of white fragility. Part social analysis, part memoir, and part (accessible) intro to German philosophy, Pitner rationally and deftly demonstrates the dystopia that is mistaken for "culture" in the US. While I reserve judgment on whether I would identify as "Fricano," I would love to be part of Evtopia and appreciate Pitner's putting a name to the society I've been working toward in my own ways.

[Angelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected more from this book, but it's not fully of highly radical ideas. Maybe this is more of a starter book for those still in the nascent stages of reckoning with America's racism, but I found myself skimming parts because it offered nothing new. I think the writing was quite uninspired in terms of syntax, and it read like a textbook at times.

[Scott Haraburda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-argued discussion about racism within the United States. Throughout the book, the author introduced us to new words and how those words describe our current condition, which at times made it difficult to follow the discussion. Otherwise, a worthwhile read and addition to one's library.

[Patricia Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a complex and in depth take on American culture, with a thorough study of language and history, including the fascinating personal history of the author. There were moments I wished for a different organization of ideas.

[Peter Z. · Rating 1 out of 5]

TDS

[Amy]

Fascinating combination of light memoir and philosophy in looking at race in America, with a strong emphasis on how our lack of language erases our ability to name and improve our issues.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ideas in this book are out on a ledge. The author's writing style is well structured but the author's hatred of Trump make this into partisan political drivel.

[ais]

DNF. As much as I love a good SOC book, this was far too academic for me to even understand.

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow!this was really a piece of philosphy. It was incredible interesting and incredibly thorough- need to bully everyone into reading it

[Mackenzie Mccoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Highly recommend.