Race Matters Chapters 5 - 8

5 Sentences on the Big Picture

Cornel talks about Malcolm X, black sexuality, affirmative action, and Jewish people. Cornel talks about black anti-semitism, along with the struggle of the Jewish race and the African American race as the underdogs in society fighting for a chance. Cornel also talks about black sexuality, and how blacks need to stop hating their bodies and have better self esteem. There is an entire chapter dedicated to Malcolm X and his fight for African’s Americans rights in society. Cornel discusses many issues that are relevant in today’s society with African American culture and issues.

4 Key Passages

“Given the history of this country, it is a virtual certainty that without affirmative action, racial and sexual discrimination would return with a vengeance.” (page 95)

“Black anti-Semitism and Jewish antiblack racism are real, and both are as profoundly American as cherry pie. There was no golden age in which blacks and Jews were free of tension and friction.” (page 104)

“If the best of black cultures wanes in the face of black anti-Semitism, black people will become even more isolated as a community and the black freedom struggle will be tarred with the brush of immorality.” (page 115)

“This demythologizing of black sexuality is crucial for black America because much of black self-hatred and self-contempt has to do with the refusal of many black Americans to love their own black bodies – especially their black noses, hips, lips, and hair.” (page 122)

3 Terms

Xenophobia – intense or irrational dislike or fear of people

Affirmative action – an action favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination

Black anit-semitism – African American people not liking Jews

2 Connections

Cornel discusses the issues black people have with their bodies and self esteem. This issue is apparent in American culture in general, not just in the African American culture. So many women, and even some men hate their bodies because they think they are not thin enough or pretty enough, and this is an issue that so many people in America are dealing with every day.

I thought it was interesting how on page 112, where Cornel talks about black anti-Semitism, how he says that blacks hate Jews because it is “ a form of underdog resentment and envy.” I think this could be very true, because in general most people hate the people who have what they want. The Jews have gotten farther ahead in terms of class, and they used to be in the same situation as blacks, so now they hate the Jews because the Jews got what they wanted.

1 Question

Is African American and Jewish friction still prevalent today?