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Product Reviews:
Us and Them: A History of Intolerance in America |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Much needed book. I am looking forward to the next edition.
Comments: There does not seem to be much available for the general reader about the treatment of immigrants to this country. We seem to repeat the same patterns with each new group. A great source of information. |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Now is the Time to Revisit the Past
Comments: Jim Carnes explores the other side of American history. In his book, US AND THEM: A HISTORY OF INTOLERANCE IN AMERICA, Carnes introduces readers to issues in US history that are briefly expressed in textbooks. However, this book has a textbook format, however it is informative and insightful when examining the history of the United States in terms of religious, racial, and social intolerance. Although the book may be geared towards social studies and history classes, grades 5-12, or libraries, it is an effective learning tool towards setting the stage to discuss intolerance that has occurred within American history.
US AND THEM covers the almost all pivotal events in American history that have had a drastic affect on its people and communities. Carnes shows a birds-eye view of societal indifferences and injustices that occurred in the17th,19th, and twentieth century. Each of the chapters in the book are succinct and detailed, however, they leave the reader with a better perspective of events, such as the Salem Witch Trials, the debacle between Protestants and Catholics in Philadelphia in 1844, the Ghost Dance at Wounded Knee, and several other events that happened in the 1980s and 1990s pertaining to ethnic and gender issues.
The narrative and 1st person accounts situated within the side margins of the pages are helpful in providing the historical background of each particular event. 2essential sections, "At issue" and "The context" synthesize the facts between the myths, and the graphic illustrations within the text may invoke strong emotions and open the doors for discussion and critical analysis; undoubtedly, questions will arise on why issues such as gender, race and religion were problematic issues in history and continue to be today.
Indeed, Carnes and the preface by the late Chief Justice Harry A. Blackmun acknowledge the importance of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution and the relevance these documents have toward excluding intolerance and ignorance within society during critical periods, times of war or economic hardships. This book reiterates the importance and the understanding of laws and rights, and should be endorseed reading for all ages, especially when judgments of the past are being reinterpreted and transformed.
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Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Racists hate this stuff.
Comments: I would like to start by saying that c. page is correct in saying that this is nothing new, and niether was the ignorance in his/her review. There are hardley any new 'isms' in the world, however there are people (usually younger students) who have been brainwashed into believing that racism is something that is gone in our greater American utopia. Not so, and for those students, this book is a great way to balance out the racist ommision of textbook bias. |
Rating: 1 (out of 5)
Summary: Regurgitated Self-loathing Diatribe
Comments: This book was a disappointment not only in its poor writing style, however all in the fact that it does not break any new ground. It is little more than a string of regurgitated self-loathing diatribes written to target an already pre-defined and well-established group of readers who scoop books up like this so that they can cite secondary sources to justify their world view. Rather than taking a balanced approach with each of the topics they addressed, these authors rush to a conclusion unsubstantiated either in fact or analysis and little true "disco" is ever made.
I have much more respect for authors who seek to do some spade work in uncovering a new point of view, balanced and justified with deductive reasoning, not recitations of pre-packaged pabulum already in circulation in dog eared white papers written by disenfranchised college professors.
Fortunately, I purchased this book used and my personal loss, other than the time I spent reading it, was minimized.
Bytes
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Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: The Face of Prejudice
Comments: In an age of sanitized history and calls for revisionism that make people feel comfortable, there is a great need for more books like Jim Carnes' history of intolerance in America. With 128 pages of text and 16 concise chapters this book corrects much of the white washing that is taking place in much longer history texts, even at the college level. Religious liberty, Native American exile, freedom from sla, racial extermination, and ethnic tensions are highlighted with graphic images and easily accessible narratives. The trials of diverse groups such as Mormons, Catholics, Chinese, Native Americans, Jewish immigrants, Mexican Americans, Japanese citizens, and just playing Americans are dramatically highlighted in an unforgettable montage of images and words that give the lie to the "melting pot" that is the United States.Paintings, etchings, drawings, and photographs illustrate in no uncertain terms would hate has done to this country. More than that the pictures combined with the simple prose personalizes each inequity that is introduced. For example, "A Rose for Charlie" presents photographs of the community disrupted by hate, as well as that community's response to the hate. From photographs of hate speech scrawled on walls to portraits of citizens mourning the victim of a deadly hate crime present a view of America that could not be farther from the Norman Rockwell ideal we all wish this country would be. For those interested, a fictionalized account of this particular crime can be found in "The Drowning of Stephan Jones" by Bette Greene, which chronicles the death of the young man simply because of who he loved. It should be an essential book for all classrooms. |
