Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card--And Lose

With a title like Stupid Black Men and the state of our PC society, it is no wonder author Larry Elder is experiencing (as he writes in an essay for Town Hall) difficulty in securing bookings to promote his book. He says, "Bookings to promote my new book Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card--and Lose," have been difficult. Many media outlets--television, radio, magazines--flatly turn me down, because they find the title `offensive.' The unwillingness to offend, to avoid the appearance of racism, proves one of the main points of my book--that white racism no longer poses a significant problem in American life." Author Elder is a problem for the PC crowd who thrives on controlling the black community through fear mongering. He decries the cottage industry of some black leaders that make victims out of the black community. As a black man, he has experience and as a learned black man, he points out the flaws in the victim mentality. Elder discusses the race issue openly and debunks the ideas set forth by those in the black community (and society at large) who would say the `man' is keeping the community `down.' He doesn't leave anyone behind in delivering his message. He takes on the liberal media, Hollywood celebrities, Al Sharpton, Hillary Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover and others. While Elder is witty and sometimes downright humorous, there is no mistaking his seriousness. And he follows up his assertions with facts and figures. He successfully tackles the state of `race' in America and also delivers a message of hope. Work hard, think, make good choices and be positive. Armchair Interviews says: Larry Elder's Stupid Black Men is a must read.

This book is a welcome relief to those of us who know what things were like before our country set out to right the wrongs of segregation. Mr. Elder examines the state of what he calls BMW (bitch, moan, whine) mindset and how such a fixation contributes to social stagnation among blacks. He specifies certain entertainers who although clearly have benefited from and live the American dream, still speak racist anti American sentiment to those who pay good money to see or hear these idiots perform. He so rightly attacks the hypocritical buffoon Al Sharpton and his con artist, bilking side-kick, Jesse Jackson for needing to keep blacks convinced that they really are hindered by whites since that is how these culprits earn their ill gotten money. He addressed the influence that Al Qaeda has over certain blacks in the prison system and how that will have negative consequences for all of us. His stance on the double standard of what blacks can say without consequences while whites could not do the same is sobering. Many blacks do play the race card when things don't go their way, which hurts us all in the long run. He does not come across as a self-hating black, but a successful man who has earned a slice of the American pie and has sense enough to realize that there is more than enough to go around. My complaint is that the book has no index, which makes it difficult to return to specific passages. Also, I really do think that there are sometimes situations in which blacks are the recipients of prejudice but so are women, Hispanics, Asians and others. Mr. Elder does not ignore this fact. His premise though is that if blacks let their entire lives become defined by these incidents it will continue to deprive them of their pursuit of happiness.

At first I thought this would just be a quick, informative and entertaining read, so I simply picked it up from my local library. After finishing it, I decided I needed to have this book as a permanent fixture in my collection so I could return to it for reference and inspiration; as well as ammunition whenever I find myself at odds with what Elder calls "victicrats". It's good to know that I'm not alone in my philosophy of self-reliance and I'm confident that many more black people will continue to move forward and reject our current crop of black "leaders" and their self-defeating practices. Thank you Mr. Elder for providing a level-headed and rational voice amid all the histrionics.

Elder advocates personal responsibility and hard work in this book, as opposed to the constant victim ideology espoused by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Elder's call is very similar to those by Bill Cosby - instead of using white people as scapegoats, let's fix our OWN problems first! Great book and a message the black community desperately needs to hear and apply.

Those who say there is no room for this perspective on race are unwittingly propogating the failures of recent history to "prop up" the black man who "needs your help". For how many more decades can we say that America has not given everyone a fair shake? This country was built on the "can-do" attitude of the literate and illiterate. If American minorities continually accept others' "help" and constant labeling as "in- need" and "unskilled", they embrace the same negative lables that conote "lazy" and "second-class". A first-class human helps themselves as much as they can, and even rejects kind-hearted help out of a sense of pride. Where is the pride in taking another persons' job just because you were born with different skin colors? Where is the pride of getting into college not because of performance, but because of DNA? Racial profiling is legal and considered just in this country. If you won't question these facts, how can you call yourself a free thinker?