8/18/2019
A Force So Swift: Mao, Truman, and the Birth of Modern China, 1949 by Kevin Peraino
This might be my first book solely focused on Chinese history and/or China/US relations, so I felt a bit lost. I’ve since added a lot of China-specific books to this list.
The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley by Eric Weiner
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
Eric Weiner’s books were so compelling that I read them back to back in two days. Genius needs a bit of hardship. Necessity (and friction?) is the mother of invention. Wealth and comfort breed stagnation, not innovation (not much of a surprise there).
This was comforting and maybe a bit self-indulgent for me since I recently learned about a Pre-K program in NYC that costs a whopping $98k per year. I’m coming to terms with being somewhat (wholly) obsessed with wealth inequality in the city - and I might actually be grateful for it. Yes, it characterizes how I view the world, constantly and often in annoying ways, but I think the pesky lines I’m drawing are creating a better mental map for my writing.
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
I’ve been waiting for this book through NYPL for a solid..8 months? Only to read it and actually want to buy it, which makes all the waiting a funny frustration.
Takeaways from WF —>
Racism is a false binary. Mind blown. It shouldn’t be, but I hadn’t considered it (racism) in these terms. I’m obviously fresh off reading Bias so quite aware, but putting the words on it in that way was fresh.
DiAngelo has this incredible section talking about the reasons people often give for not being a racist (“I have black friends” “I’m married to a black person” “my kids are mixed” etc). She uses the example of gender, which had never hit me so hard. “You’re married to a man, so gender no longer affects you?” Oooh, that’s how that works. I actually am married to a black man and have mixed kids, and no amount of bias and racial deep diving will make me not racist. It’s biological. You will have responses, patterns are stubborn and these facts cannot be erased. But, I can build my capacity to endure discomfort by bringing it onto myself (as opposed to requesting from other people) to learn as much as possible to change my patterns. I must learn that my personal class suffering or gender suffering (insert X suffering here) does not erase me from my racial privilege.
The antidote to white guilt is action. Being nice is not courageous.
Stop using passive framing and call out what is. Being in a “safe” space for white people to talk or be listened to often means being in a “comfortable” space - comfortable for whites, not blacks.
Calling the all-white environments where remarks are made that perpetuate racism the “backstage.” It’s a perceived “safe” (white) environment, and calling out that aggressor violates a social code and triggers white fragility.
One of the biggest aggressions to black people today: “The pressure to collude with white fragility by minimizing their racial experiences to accommodate white fragility and defensiveness.” Black people can’t talk to white people about their aggressions because white people can’t handle it.