AlexM

Dear Mr. Aronson, The Subbie population here at Uni has been reading, discussing, and completing assignments for topics mentioned in //Race// for about two weeks now. We discuss your thoughts and our own thoughts about prejudice, racism, and the history of racism. The chapters we read each night are the same for both English and Social Studies, so I’d like to thank you for reducing what our homework amount //could// be. I really enjoyed reading the information you gave about Blumenbach, Gobineau, and Chamberlain, and what theories of race they came up with. I learned much about prejudice, the Holocaust, the Civil Rights Movement, and race itself. However, I didn’t like a few things about the book. The first thing that I didn’t like was how you used as many points of views that you did. You used 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person. I find 3rd person to be critical because most of the time in //Race// you were talking about the history of race, prejudice, and racism. In my opinion, your usage of first person isn’t really necessary, when you explained what you thought about theories, and conflicts. You also clearly showed your attitude towards Germans. I can see why you resent all the things Germany has, but you don’t need to include that in the book. I find the main focus of the book is to inform the reader of the nature of race, prejudice, and racism, not how much you dislike Germany. Not every German was Nazi and not every German supported concentration camps. As for 2rd person, I feel you shouldn’t have used it. I just think that it isn’t necessary for you to tell us what you’re going to say, it isn’t needed. Putting 2nd person in a book whose focus is to explain the history and theories of race and prejudice doesn’t really make everything flow. I say this because I found that when you use 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person in Race, and you do so inconsistently, it isn't a solid narrative. Another problem that I had with the book was in the last chapter, when you said people can “act black,” or “act white.” I find this extremely prejudiced and racist. Not all black people wear baggy pants and do not strive to be their best in school; and not all white people do well in school and act polite. Despite the problems that I had with //Race//, I found it to be a well written and informative book. Sincerely, Alex Mestre