Race, Sex, and Suspicion

The Myth of the Black Male

D. Marvin Jones

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Year: 2005
• eBook ISBN: 9780313057021
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Exploring the basic conflict between the legal equality that black men possess as U.S. citizens and their social isolation stemming from white America's perceptions of them as culturally alien, the author sets out to provoke, stimulate, and change the negative images and stereotypes that indicate a fundamental defect in the mainframe of American culture. As the author states, the purpose of this book is not to defend the black male, but to deconstruct him and to libertate him from the negative images and stereotypes that have stultified his existence. Largely through the victories of the Civil Rights movement, everyone in the United States is—formally—equal. Yet there remains a basic conflict between that legal equality and the social isolation of black men that stems from white America's perceptions of them as, by nature, culturally alien. This tautly argued, eloquently written, and passionate book is must reading for anyone concerned with the ongoing problems of the American dilemma. Each essay in this wide- ranging book will provoke, stimulate, and change one's view of the myths and stereotypes surrounding black men.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. The Blessings of History
• 2. Gangs of New York: The Story of the Jogger Trial
• 3. What’s My Name? The Politics of Reception and the Politics of Rap
• 4. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
• 5. Will You Let the Tiger Loose? The Rhetoric of Race in American Criminal Trials
• 6. Crimes of Identity: the Birth of the Racial Profile
• 7. Don’t Hate The Player, Hate the Game: The Black Male As Athlete
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index