race – Page 2 – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

By Scott J. Pearson | September 25, 2021September 25, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Recent events have caused many thoughtful Americans to reflect on our social cohesion and structures. In this book, Wilkerson performs this task through the educated lens of social theory and builds a compelling case for what needs to change in American culture. She does so by constructing a comprehensive, historical account of injustices done by “the dominant caste” to “the lower caste.” In so doing, she identifies how American society can still have enduring social…

Fiction-Stories

A Conspiracy of Mothers: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | September 4, 2021September 4, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

This story of race, family, and other “ties that bind” is a product of its environment – South Africa around the end of apartheid – as much as it is a story of universal human nature. Told from multiple perspectives, it represents the hard work of reconciliation in a culture divided by so many ephemeral things like ethnicity or skin color. It is also a story about real horrors also dividing us like sexual abuse,…

Fiction-Stories

The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett

By Scott J. Pearson | July 2, 2021July 2, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

This story contains themes from many strands of life: race, grief, family, sexuality, LGBTQI+ issues, authenticity, estrangement, speaking lies or truth, and self-determination. None of these predominate in the narrative; rather, they seem to dwell together in just the right amount. Perhaps that’s why it’s won so much acclamation since being published a year ago. Bennett’s tale begins in a small town in Louisiana with an African-American family under Jim Crow. The father was lynched…

Society

Tribe: Why Do All Our Friends Look Just Like Us?

By Scott J. Pearson | February 6, 2021February 6, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

This work is spawn out of two entities: Unger’s life experiences while leading a diverse church in a diverse, urban neighborhood and her thirst for advanced education and stimulating reading. Using these two springboards, she shares lessons from her journey from a fundamentalist/evangelical background to where she is today. She describes how she believes that her life is now richer than it was before. She touches on issues of tribalism that plague pluralistic societies today…

Psychology Society

Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do

By Scott J. Pearson | October 20, 2020October 20, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

This book was written in 2010 and covers how individual psychology affects society concerning race, gender, mental illness, age, and other differences. Its intended audience seems to consist primarily of Americans. However, it seems like the United States has travelled a long journey since 2010, since the beginning of the Obama era. That journey seems to have spanned places both on and off the beaten path towards social equality. After finishing this book, I’m left…

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

A Conspiracy of Mothers: A Novel

The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett

So You Want to Talk About Race

Tribe: Why Do All Our Friends Look Just Like Us?

Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do