RyanK

Dear Mr. Aronson,

Over the last few weeks I have been studying your book both in my English class, and in Social Studies. I can honestly say I have enjoyed reading //Race//. I like your style of writing, and you also bring up many interesting historical points. At previous schools, I had never read a real book in my history class; we always used textbooks. As you can imagine these were not very interesting to read. //Race//, however, is much more engaging and feels more personal than a textbook. The way you tie personal stories from your own life into the book made it more enjoyable to read, and it helped relate the material to my own life. Another aspect I like about //Race//, in terms of style, is your titles. If I am skimming through the book looking for a phrase, your titles are very helpful, being concise yet meaningful. Your style of switching from telling about an event, to offering your opinion on it, also adds to the personal, non-textbook feel. In the introduction to //Race//, you talk about the four assumptions people make about race. Then throughout the book you keep coming back to them, giving reasons directly, or indirectly, to show how each of them is not true. This technique is very helpful in tying the book together, and it also helped me remember your different points more easily. Before reading //Race//, I never thought about why there was prejudice. Beyond the obvious facts of slavery, I was completely oblivious to the history of prejudice. I find it quite fascinating that you brought in ancient instincts, like having to decide whether to kill or let live in an instant based on appearances. Although I had never thought about that before, it really makes a lot of sense. Another thing //Race// taught me was how prejudice came to be viewed as scientific fact. That demonstrated to me how off track people’s thinking was. The main thing I liked about //Race// was that it helped fill in a lot of the details about what happened before the civil rights sit-ins and Freedom Rides began, and before Dr. King gave his 1936 speech. For example you state that after the holocaust people said, “Never again.” However you give examples of many occasions when mass killing has happened again. Maybe it is not true for everyone, but I would say I might have gotten even more from your book if you had spent more on the earlier times and the development of prejudice. I do understand the book wouldn’t be complete without touching on the topics, and it did help with concluding the book. The way you were completely honest about your prejudice against blacks, as well as Germans, made me feel more like I could read //Race// and have the impression it was honestly written even though it is on a difficult subject. Your style was personal, and your historical facts were quite eye-opening. I personally appreciate the hours and hours of research and drafting you put into //Race//. Sincerely,  Ryan Kuck