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The past decade has been one of the most racially turbulent periods in the modern era, as the complicated breakthrough of the Obama presidency gave way to the racially charged campaigning and eventual governing of Donald Trump. Keepin' It Real presents a wide-ranging group of essays that take on key aspects of the current landscape surrounding racial issues in America, including the place of the Obamas, the rise of the alt-right and White nationalism, Donald Trump, Colin Kaepernick and the backlash against his protests, Black Lives Matter, sexual politics in the black community and much more.
America's racial problems aren't going away any time soon. Keepin' It Real serves as a marker of the arguments raging right now, and an argument for the changes that need to be made to become the better nation it has long imagined itself to be.
'A raw study of racism. [...] The book's structure and wide range of subjects are admirable. Watson fits an impressive range of content into every short chapter without producing underdeveloped critiques. [...] He deftly aligns his essays to show how repeated patterns have been normalized, and argues that racism is a permanent and intrinsic component of the United States. In this way, Keepin' It Real might be compared to Derrick Bell's Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. Watson adeptly weaves pop culture and news into his observations. [...] Keepin' It Real is a reminder to non-Black readers that it is easy to praise conveniently selected pieces of a culture that is tied to a different race when we do not have to live their everyday struggle.'
PART I – THE POLITICS OF WHITELASH
1. When Racism Hits Close to Home: On Your Campus
2. The 2016 Olympics: The Trilogy of Hypocrisy, Racism, and White Privilege
3. Dylann Storm Roof: The Deranged, Dark Face of White Nationalism
4. Conservatives Still Scapegoating Barack Obama
5. Colin Kaepernick: The Undeniable Reality of American Racial Hypocrisy
6. Birtherism = Bullshit
7. Michelle Obama: Playa Hatin' on the Former First Lady
8. Denial of Supreme Court Seat: One of a Long Line of Racial Slights toward Predsident Obama
9. The Intersection of Racial, Gender, and Economic Politics
10. The Alt-Right and the Repulsive Spirit of White Supremacy
PART II – STAYING WOKE!
11. Authentically Black: The Debate Lives On
12. Mental Illness: Yes – It Is a Black Thing!
13. Black Lives Matter Too
14. Black History Month: Beyond One Month
15. Message to Starbucks: Tackling Racism Will Require More than a Few Hours of Racial Bias Training
16. We Must Focus More on Substantial Issues as Opposed to Fleeting Symbolism
17. An Open Letter to Some on the Conservative Right: Slavery Was Totally F*cked Up, Period
18. Self-Hatred in the Black Community
19. Rachel Dolezal: The Potential Perversity of White Privilege
20. The Black Community and the Complex Politics of Homophobia
21. Michael Dyson and Cornel West: Much Ado about Ego
22. 1-800-Blame-A-Black-Man
23. Does Black America Deserve Reparations? Yes, Period
PART III – PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE AGAINST BLACK BODIES
24. Violence against and Demonisation of Black Women is Often Overlooked
25. Emmett Till: Will Justice Ever Be Served?
26. Stephon Clark, Antwon Rose, Alton Sterling, Philando Castille: The Devaluation of Black Bodies
27. John Lewis: An American Icon
28. People of Color: Continually Demeaned, Devalued, and Dehumanized
29. Pepsi Fiasco Demonstrated the Crucial Need for Greater Diversity in Corporate America
PART IV – SOULFUL REFLECTIONS ON ENTERTAINMENT, ICONS, AND CELEBRITY
30. O.J. Simpson: Still Captivating and Polarizing the Nation
31. Muhammad Ali: Bold, Daring, Authentic, Problematic, and Kept It 100 Percent Real
32. Bill Cosby: America's Dad Hoodwinked Us
33. Prince: Bold, Daring, Black, and Unapologetically Controversial
34. Jemele Hill Spoke Truth to Power
35. Donald Trump and the NFL: The Politics of White Fragility and White Supremacy
36. Bill Maher, and the Nigger-Word Debate
37. Roseanne Barr and the Politics of Right-Wing Hypocrisy
38. Aretha Franklin: Feminist, Activist, Phenomenal Woman
39. Omarosa, Donald Trump, and Unalloyed Racial Bullhorns
40. Why Is the Conservative Right So Obsessed with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
41. R. Kelly and the Ongoing Disregard, Devaluation, Denigration and Degradation of Black Women