I have loved Aasif Mandvi for quite a while, but that is not
why I picked up this book. I have been
alarmed since the Bush administration about the erosion of civil rights in
America. Social justice is no longer
something that is legally safe, and at no point were we a post-racial society,
so going down hill is a problem for me.
So when I read a list of the best books on being a person of color in
the United States that came out in 2014, I took note, and this book was one of
those books.
So how well does a
comedian and actor write? Incredibly
well it turns out, and with the humor that you would expect. It is a mature look at the experience of
being brown skinned when you live in a white society. He hails from England, and moved to Florida
as a child, so it is not just our country that has these problems, and I get
that. So while there is not new
information here, his non-threatening treatise demonstrates all too well how things
like police shootings of young brown skinned men go unpunished happens. It is all too common; what has changed is
that we as a nation are paying attention to it.
I highly recommend this to those amongst us who are not minorities. It is valuable to hear this perspective, and
this is an entirely enjoyable way to learn.
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