More Beautiful and More Terrible: The Embrace and Transcendence of Racial Inequality in the United States

Just a great book for helping me, as a white person, see how racism operates in its less obvious forms in post-Civil Rights era American society. I couldn't stop underlining and notating it.Just one example of Perry's ability to create eye-opening explanations of what is going on is her paradigm of how race fits differently between the four quadrants created by plotting high/low status with insider/outsider status.. . . . . . .... . . . . INSIDERS . . .. . . . .. OUTSIDERSHIGH STATUS ..professional whites. . .professional Asian AmericansLOW STATUS ...inner-city blacks . . .. "illegal Mexicans"* So called "illegal immigrants"--Latino and Latina undocumented residents and anyone perceived to be such--get slotted in the "low status/high outsider" quadrant, making them noncitizens who are seen as a drain on society.* Urban blacks without a college degree are pigeonholed as insiders (therefore citizens) but low status, which paints them as problem citizens who are also a drain on society.* High-status outsiders--such as the educated Asian American--are perceived as contributors to society rather than "scabs" on society but are also judged to be members of the outgroup--"perpetual foreigners"--no matter the generations in America.* Perry notes that, relative to nonprofessional urban blacks who are seen as citizens but problem citizens, high status outsiders have more in common with high-status insiders (such as educated whites) even though they are perceived as non-citizens (regardless of whether they are or not).I wish every college student in America would read this before graduating.

In these days when 4 seconds is about all the time one gets to establish a position, this remarkable book by Princeton Professor Imani Perry asks us, no requires us, to think long and hard about the driving force in building and reproducing US society -- racism. Dr. Perry does not provide any easy answers for what must be done but provides many crucial questions about what we must think about in order to rid the US of this plague. In the end Perry suggests several strategies for proceeding towards a civilized society free of discrimination. All serious anti-racists should read this book and discuss it wherever possible. As Lorraine Hansberry wrote: "The matter of admitting the true nature of a problem before setting about rectifying it, or even pretending to, is of the utmost importance."Steve Whitman

An essential guide to both the history and implementation of racial discrimination. Breaks down the insidious ways that race and racial bias seep into public policy and daily life in clear, easily to understand terms, backed with thorough research. Best of all, it manages to do so without getting to deep into the academic language that can make studies on social issues inaccessible to many people.

Perry's style is beautiful, insightful and deeply honest. Aptly title, "More Beautiful. . ." follows in Baldwin's footsteps by depicting ugly patterns with poetic, illuminating and incisive analyses. This book is a must read for everyone who endeavors to leave the twenty-first century a better place for the next generation. If you follow Perry's scholarship, read her op-eds, read "More Beautiful..." and her many other publications, you will soon realize that she is one of this century's premier intellectuals.

Important work! I purchased the Kindle version and will be buying the paperback version soon. I still love the idea of having book in hand.

This remarkable book by Princeton Professor Imani Perry speaks to the enormous impact that racism has on American society both overt and covert. Weaving literature, epidemiology,critical race theory, law and history into a compelling and accessable narrative Perry urges us to embrace the truth about the enduring legacy of racism in America. No, we have not achieved a post racial society... not even close. Dr. Perry presents a compelling case for the persistence of the "color line" in American society to disasterous effect.Perry's writing is both engaging and lyrical,poetic, pointed and pertinent. She makes the case that most Americans fail to appreciate the contraints that racial inequality (often maintained by force) places on individuals, families and whole communities to the detriment of all of us. Her examples are illuminating and instructive (for example the leadership "glass ceiling" Asian Americans face or the role of police brutality on African-American community life.)Perry's solutions are more elusive than her powerful explication of race in American society. But "More Beautiful and More Terrible" does us all a service by stating the case for the lasting and deadly consequences of racial inequality and urging rectification at the individual and community levels. This should become a must read for all those interested in the "why" of American life.

This book truly brought me on an exploration journey. Dr. Perry is so wise, and her ideas on race are piercing and memorable. In her book, I was confronted with the "why" behind the persistence of inequality and the undying effect of discrimination in our daily lives. Ignoring racism, deciding to avoid discussing it, or claiming to be "post-racial" in the foolish hope that racism will go away will get us nowhere. I want to buy a copy for every person I've ever discussed race with. I now want to find them all & resume our conversation with the use of this book to guide us. This is an ABSOLUTE must read!

This is that rare type of academic literature that wakes up the mind and helps clarify real world dynamics without losing the reader in tangents. It causes you to pause and reflect on what you've just read.