Review by Choice Review
This edited volume explores neglected aspects of reconciliation between blacks and whites in the US that were discussed in 2016 at a workshop at Amherst College. Ogletree (Harvard) and Sarat (Amherst) have gathered six contributions on the roots of racial animosity and possible strategies for racial reconciliation. Matthew Pratt Guterl argues that race is fictional and performative, being grounded in culture and appearance more than in biology. For Osagie Obasogie, the consequences of the prevalence of the biological explanation of race can be overcome by proactive legislation and race impact assessments. In their chapters, Carla Shedd shows that urban schools fail to promote racial reconciliation, Naomi Murakawa suggests that calls for racial reconciliation in policing are equally inadequate, and Valerie Cooper deplores the continued segregation that still divides Christian churches. The book concludes with a chapter by Kirstie Dorr that focuses on transnational, indigenous, and women-of-color perspectives. These timely essays raise key points and propose feasible avenues for change at a critical junction for the US. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Lavinia Stan, St. Francis Xavier University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
