| Contents |
A brief chronology of race in America -- Introduction -- Part one: Erasing Black history -- Barack Obama's election does not compensate for hundreds of years of racism -- Critical race theory is not indoctrinating school kids to be "woke" -- Dr. King didn't say America should be color-blind -- Republicans are no longer the "party of Lincoln" -- The Civil War was about slavery, not states' rights -- Black History Month is still needed in a society that denies Black contributions -- Part two: Centering white victimhood -- Affirmative action is not "reverse discrimination" -- Even the poorest white people have white privilege -- Yes, European immigrants struggled, but they were not slaves -- White Americans still benefit from the legacy of slavery -- Being called a "Karen" is not comparable to being called the N-word -- Part three: Denying Black oppression -- Complying with the police does not protect us -- No, we're not going back to Africa -- Black people don't have to prove our patriotism -- We will never reach equality without reparations -- Part four: Myths of Black inferiority -- There are more white people than Black people on welfare -- "Black-on-Black crime" is an outdated media trope -- Black families are not broken -- Black cities struggle because of decisions by white policy makers -- Part five: Rebranding racism -- There is no "race card" -- Black friends do not immunize people from racism -- People who say they "don't have a racist bone in their body" haven't searched hard enough -- Yes, you do see color, and there's nothing wrong with that -- "All lives matter" is a cheap excuse to avoid saying "Black lives matter" -- Yes, everything is about race. |
| Abstract |
"The Civil War was about states' rights, not slavery!" "If you don't like it here, you should go back to Africa." "What about Black-on-Black crime?" "You're just playing the race card." There's a whole arsenal of popular "gotchas" that crop up again and again in discussions about race in America. According to the people who use them, Critical Race Theory is a dangerous threat that promotes racial hatred, and affirmative action is reverse discrimination. At the same time, they insist that racism ended with the Obama presidency, and Black people should be grateful for the privilege of living in the United States. In Why Does Everything Have to Be About Race? Keith Boykin sets the record straight, explaining why such all-too-common assertions are simply not true. Effortlessly combining history, pop culture, and stories from his own life, Boykin lays out the truth about anti-Black racism and white supremacy in America. Racist lies and misbeliefs just don't seem to go away-but with the help of this book, they also won't go unchallenged"-- Provided by publisher. |
