National Book Critics Circle Award WinnerNew York Times BestsellerA New York Times Notable Book of the YearA Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the YearA Boston Globe Best Book of 2016A Chicago Review of Books Best Nonfiction Book of 2016From the Civil War to our combustible present; acclaimed historian Carol Anderson reframes our continuing conversation about race; chronicling the powerful forces opposed to black progress in America.As Ferguson; Missouri; erupted in August 2014; and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as “black rage;†historian Carol Anderson wrote a remarkable op-ed in The Washington Post suggesting that this was; instead; "white rage at work. With so much attention on the flames;" she argued; "everyone had ignored the kindling."Since 1865 and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment; every time African Americans have made advances towards full participation in our democracy; white reaction has fueled a deliberate and relentless rollback of their gains. The end of the Civil War and Reconstruction was greeted with the Black Codes and Jim Crow; the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision was met with the shutting down of public schools throughout the South while taxpayer dollars financed segregated white private schools; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 triggered a coded but powerful response; the so-called Southern Strategy and the War on Drugs that disenfranchised millions of African Americans while propelling presidents Nixon and Reagan into the White House; and then the election of America’s first black President; led to the expression of white rage that has been as relentless as it has been brutal. Carefully linking these and other historical flashpoints when social progress for African Americans was countered by deliberate and cleverly crafted opposition; Anderson pulls back the veil that has long covered actions made in the name of protecting democracy; fiscal responsibility; or protection against fraud; rendering visible the long lineage of white rage. Compelling and dramatic in the unimpeachable history it relates; White Rage will add an important new dimension to the national conversation about race in America.
#1651585 in Books Orbis Books 2013-08-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.96 x .56 x 5.76l; .77 #File Name: 1626980438272 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. With a heart of both defiance and compassion is this journey recountedBy hmawUndeniably; much harm has been rendered throughout history by many who profess to be staunch representatives of their various religions. But life is never as cut and dry. Herein this book; one finds a man who has activated religious doctrine with a universal humanism that is at once authentic and life-affirming. He is a priest from New Zealand who ended up living in the midst of Apartheid South Africa. So spiritually unsettled was he by the macabre nature of this State gone mad; that he enlisted within the ANC's struggle. The subsequent price would be a near-death experience via a letter bomb that cost him both his hands and one of his eyes. But as life would have it; Father Michael Lapsley survived this tragedy and lived to see a liberated South Africa. This book is a tale of sordid evil and yet soaring hope; and therein lies its charm. It documents the life of a man who refused to be paralyzed by the inertia of a pututively apolitical church; instead enlivening a theology that humanely spoke of and fought for a truly inclusive freedom for everyone. Although Father Michael writes through a religious lens; his journey is more undergirded by a spiritual experientiality that we all share and it is recounted with a heart of both defiance and compassion. Amidst the din of much human suffering and rampant apathy; this story arises to remind us that the longest night has an end; and of the hope-engendering and healing potency within human brokenness. As Michael pens "hope is not naive; it requires commitment; hard work; struggles and sacrifice." May our too often faint hearts dare to emulate but an iota of this man's courage.Dr. Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Liberation and HealingBy Fr. Dennis MoormanWhile reading "Redeeming the Past: My Journey from Freedom Fighter to Healer" by Fr. Michael Lapsley and Mr. Stephen Karakashian; I was inspired and deeply moved to recommit myself to living in solidarity with those who suffer from injustice and to moving into deeper channels of healing and reconciliation within myself and in our broken world.As a trauma therapist and Catholic missionary priest; I appreciate the way in which Fr. Michael told his story to help me gain fresh insight and a new perspective on the important historical events that led to the transformation of South Africa from the oppressive reality of apartheid through the pain; and into healing; reconciliation and liberation. This story is deeply personal; communal and universal!While doing my own trauma work as well as accompanying others on the journey of healing; I have observed that many of us try to resolve our own pain and trauma by becoming activists and fighting against the injustices of the world we see on the outside while often neglecting the inner work of healing (which is also social) and which must accompany the dismantling of any unjust structures so that a reconstruction based on truth; justice and love may prevail.I appreciate Michael sharing with us his "passion narrative" of love and suffering; which is also the story of South Africa and her people as well as the story of so many others who suffer under unjust systems. May your testimony and healing work continue to challenge and encourage us to move beyond the prisons of unjust structures of society and religion as well as the prisons within to a place of authentic healing that leads to the fullness of liberation and joy for which we have been created to enjoy!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. this is one of the best books I ever readBy Customerundoubtedly; this is one of the best books I ever read. It offers a travel to the past of South Africa when the Apartheid regime conducted reprehensible atrocities against human rights. Father Michael Lapsley represented the poor and oppressed people and fought actively for them. After he is bombed and lost the sight of one eye and his to hands; became a healer to redeem the past of all of those who carry burden; It means for all of us.
