Race: A History Beyond Black and White Hardcover - 2007

Race. You know it at a glance: he's black; she's white. They're Asian; we're Latino.

Racism. I'm better; she's worse. Those people do those kinds of things.

We all know it's wrong to make these judgments, but they come faster than thought.

Why? Where did those feelings come from? Why are they so powerful? Why have millions been enslaved, murdered, denied their rights because of the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes?

Acclaimed young-adult historian Marc Aronson tackles these and other questions in this astounding book, which traces the history of racial prejudice in Western culture back to ancient Sumer and beyond. He shows us Greeks dividing the world into civilized and barbarian, medieval men writing about the traits of monstrous men, until, finally, Enlightenment scientists scrap all those mythologies and come up with a new one: charts spelling out the traits of human races.

Aronson's journey of discovery yields many surprising discoveries. For instance, throughout most of human history, slavery had nothing to do with race. In fact, the idea of race itself did not exist in the West before the 1600s. But once the idea was established and backed up by "scientific" theory, its influence grew with devastating consequences, from the appalling lynchings in the American South to the catastrophe known as the Holocaust in Europe.

With one hundred images, this is a dynamic, thought-provoking work-history as quest, written as only Marc Aronson could do it.

Details

• Title Race: A History Beyond Black and White
• Author Marc Aronson
• Binding Hardcover
• Edition First Edition
• Pages 336
• Volumes 1
• Language ENG
• Publisher Atheneum Books for Young Readers, USA
• Date November 27, 2007
• Illustrated Yes
• ISBN 9780689865541 / 0689865546
• Weight 1.48 lbs (0.67 kg)
• Dimensions 9.08 x 6.28 x 1.02 in (23.06 x 15.95 x 2.59 cm)
• Ages 14 to 17 years
• Grade levels 9 - 12
• Reading level 1090
• Library of Congress subjects Race - History, Racism - History
• Library of Congress Catalog Number 2007031912
• Dewey Decimal Code 305.800

Race: a noun or a verb? To race...To compete. White Black Yellow Red Brown: A race. Human beings: the race made from all races no matter how we compete for prestige...power...raw materials...resources.
Marc Aronson in his intelligent easy to ready exploration of Race is asking questions that we all need to ponder for in reality there is only one race: against time to save ourselves from the foolishness of race hatred...race baiting...race pride. This is a book to read with your whole family to discover which side of the race you are on. -- Nikki Giovanni